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Soil carbon and nitrogen and barley yield responses to repeated additions of compost and slurry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2016

D. W. HOPKINS ,
R. E. WHEATLEY ,
C. M. COAKLEY ,
T. J. DANIELL ,
S. M. MITCHELL ,
A. C. NEWTON  and
R. NEILSON
D. W. HOPKINS*
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 6JS, UK
R. E. WHEATLEY
Affiliation:
James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK
C. M. COAKLEY
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FF, UK
T. J. DANIELL
Affiliation:
James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK
S. M. MITCHELL
Affiliation:
James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK
A. C. NEWTON
Affiliation:
James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK
R. NEILSON
Affiliation:
James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK
*
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed. Email: david.hopkins@rau.ac.uk
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Summary

The yields of spring barley during a medium-term (7 years) compost and slurry addition experiment and the soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents, bacterial community structure, soil microbial biomass and soil respiration rates have been determined to assess the effects of repeated, and in some cases very large, organic amendments on soil and crop parameters. For compost, total additions were equivalent to up to 119 t C/ha and 1·7 t N/ha and for slurry they were 25 t C/ha and 0·35 t N/ha over 7 years, which represented very large additions compared to control soil C and N contents (69 t C/ha and 0·3 t N/ha in the 0–30 cm soil depth). There was an initial positive response to compost and slurry addition on barley yield, but over the experiment the yield differential between the amounts of compost addition declined, indicating that repeated addition of compost at a lower rate over several years had the same cumulative effect as a large single compost application. By the end of the experiment it was clear that the addition of compost and slurry increased soil C and N contents, especially towards the top of the soil profile, as well as soil respiration rates. However, the increases in soil C and N contents were not proportional to the amount of C and N added, suggesting either that: (i) a portion of the added C and N was more vulnerable to loss; (ii) that its addition rendered another C or N pool in the soil more susceptible to loss; or (iii) that the C inputs from additional crop productivity did not increase in line with the organic amendments. Soil microbial biomass was depressed at the highest rate of organic amendment, and whilst this may have been due to genuine toxic or inhibitory effects of large amounts of compost, it could also be due to the inaccuracy of the substrate-induced respiration approach used for determining soil biomass when there is a large supply of organic matter. At the highest compost addition, the bacterial community structure was significantly altered, suggesting that the amendments significantly altered soil community dynamics.

Type
Crops and Soils Research Papers
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 155 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 141 - 155
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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