Survival Rates of Microbial Communities from Livestock Waste to Soils: A Comparison between Compost and Digestate

Abstract

Livestock waste-based products, such as composted manure, are often used in crop production systems. The products’ microbial characteristics differ depending on animal waste treatment methods used (e.g., biogas production/composting). The question remains whether different livestock waste-based products differently impact soil microbiota. A pot experiment with five treatments (control, chemical fertilizer, digestate + chemical fertilizer, wheat straw compost + chemical fertilizer, and woodchip compost + chemical fertilizer) was conducted to compare the survival rates of microbial communities from digestate and composted manure, after their application to agricultural soil. Potatoes were planted in each pot. The changes in soil pH, the concentration of ammonium and nitrate, and the microbial community properties were monitored after 1, 6, 10, and 14 weeks of the application of livestock waste-based products. The application of composted manure, especially woodchip compost, showed a relatively more extensive impact on the soil microbial community structure than the other treatments. Woodchip compost contained a relatively more abundant and diverse bacterial community than digestate, and its family-level bacterial community structure was similar to that of the soil. These characteristics might determine the extent of the impact of livestock waste-based products on soil microbial communities. Digestate markedly influenced the inorganic nitrogen concentrations in soils but did not affect the soil microbial community. In conclusion, the survival rate of microbes of livestock waste-based products varies depending on the product type. Further investigation is needed to fully understand their impact on soils’ microbial functions.

Effect of Organic Amendments Obtained from Different Pretreatment Technologies on Soil Microbial Community

“…It is not surprising that the majority of the compost microbes were detected 3 months after incorporation into the soil since compost and soil share similar aerobic conditions as well as the majority of the microbes (Mehta et al, 2014). However, this contradicts other research, which found that compost had more extensive effects on soil microbial structure than digestate, and that digestate mainly affected the abiotic properties of soil (Akari and Uchida, 2021). Ferment and digestate are notably different from soil in terms of their physicochemical properties, leading to fewer ferment and digestate microbes being detected in the soil compared with compost and the selection of native soil microbes after incorporation (Andreev et al, 2018).…”

Differences in Bacterial Communities and Pathogen Indicators of Raw and Lagoon-Stabilized Farm Dairy Effluents

“…More information is needed on the microbial community composition and diversity of untreated and lagoon-stabilized DE and its seasonal variability. Other studies have proposed that the impact and the survival rate of microbes from manure waste-based products on soil microbiomes largely depend on the type of treatment applied to manure [ 12 ]. Many studies focus on environmental risk assessment by studying antibiotic-resistant bacteria or their genes.…”