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Animal manure functions as soil amendment for urban green space in the Loess Plateau

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Evangelos Petropoulos

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This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by ALOKI Applied Ecological Research and Forensic Institute Ltd., 2020.

For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.


Abstract

Urban green space could efficiently tackle surface water management issues in modern cities. To achieve this purpose, it is necessary to transform traditional urban infrastructure accordingly, especially the areas of soil that support plantation. Constrained by poor soil structure and limited but unevenly distributed precipitation, the Loess Plateau is characterized by a fragile ecological system. Organic amendments could improve soil structure and the concomitant water holding capacity by increasing soil organic matter and aggregation stability, in which soil microorganism could play a key role. Here, three typical agricultural organic materials, animal manure (AM), plant residue (PR) and mushroom residue (MR), were evaluated in soil amelioration in the Loess Plateau. In addition, a new kind of synthetic polymers, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and a widely used inorganic soil conditioner, volcanic pumice (VOP) were also included in the comparison. The results showed that AM imposed the greatest beneficial effect on soil water holding capacity, aggregate stability, and enzyme activities, as well as microbial diversity and community composition, followed by PR and MR. PVA and VOP imposed no obvious, if not negative, effect on soil properties. In conclusion, animal manure could be a good soil amendment in the arid area of the Loess Plateau or other regions with similar soil properties.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Zhang J, Huang M, Petropoulos E, Song L, He SY

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Applied Ecology and Environmental Research

Year: 2020

Volume: 18

Issue: 3

Pages: 3861-3872

Online publication date: 08/01/2020

Acceptance date: 08/01/2020

Date deposited: 01/06/2020

ISSN (print): 1589-1623

ISSN (electronic): 1785-0037

Publisher: ALOKI Applied Ecological Research and Forensic Institute Ltd.

URL: https://doi.org/10.15666/aeer/1803_38613872

DOI: 10.15666/aeer/1803_38613872


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