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Ten-year application of cattle manure contributes to the build-up of soil organic matter in eroded Mollisols

  • Soils, Sec 4 • Ecotoxicology • Research Article
  • Published:
Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Amendment of animal manures into eroded soils is an important approach to improving nutrient status and increasing the concentration of soil organic carbon (SOC). However, the contribution of the manure carbon to SOC and its variation along soil profile has not been quantified.

Materials and methods

We simulated soil erosion in a mollisol by removing the top soils of 0-, 5-, 10-, 20-, and 30-cm depth and compared SOC in soil profiles 10 years after either chemical fertilization alone or combined with cattle manure application.

Results and discussion

Increasing erosion depth decreased SOC concentration and weakened soil aggregation. Compared to the chemical fertilization only, the addition of cattle manure significantly increased SOC accumulation and soil aggregation, which mainly occurred in 0–40-cm depths. The greatest effect of manure application was observed in the 10-cm erosion treatment. The application of cattle manure increased the 13C abundance in aggregates and bulk soil in the top 40 cm of soil profile. Using the natural 13C abundance method, we quantified the contribution of the cattle manure to SOC at 0–40-cm depths ranging from 1.1 to 8.4% across erosion treatments.

Conclusions

The greatest contribution of the manure-C to SOC occurred in surface layer with 10 cm of soil removal. The application of animal manures was recommended for restoring severely eroded soils.

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Funding

This research was partially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 41671274, 41471240] and the Abroad Study program from Chinese Scholarship Council [grant number 201808320145].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanjing University of Information Sciences & Technology, 219 Ningliu Road, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Shujie Miao & Yunfa Qiao

  2. Fujian Normal University, 8 Shangsan Road, Fuzhou, 350007, China

    Yunfeng Yin

  3. Key Laboratory of Mollisols Agroecology, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 138 Haping Road, Harbin, 150081, China

    Jian Jin & Xiaobing Liu

  4. Department of Animal, Plant & Soil Sciences, Centre for AgriBioscience, La Trobe University (Melbourne Campus), Bundoora, VIC, 3086, Australia

    Jian Jin & Caixian Tang

  5. Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Burger Martin

Authors
  1. Shujie Miao
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  2. Yunfa Qiao
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  3. Yunfeng Yin
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  4. Jian Jin
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  5. Burger Martin
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  6. Xiaobing Liu
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  7. Caixian Tang
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Correspondence to Xiaobing Liu.

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Responsible editor: Qiaoyun Huang

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Miao, S., Qiao, Y., Yin, Y. et al. Ten-year application of cattle manure contributes to the build-up of soil organic matter in eroded Mollisols. J Soils Sediments 19, 3035–3043 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-019-02289-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-019-02289-4

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