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Do Composts Affect the Soil Microbial Community?

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Microbes at Work

Abstract

Compost amendments have been shown to provide manifold benefits, as long as compost of good quality is used and care is taken not to accumulate heavy metals or organic pollutants as a consequence of repeated applications. Among the advantages of compost as soil amendment is its potential to maintain soil organic matter, foster nutrient availability, suppress plant diseases and increase soil microbial abundance and activity, thus enhancing soil quality and fertility. However, only little is known about how compost amendments act as microbial inoculum to the soil and if the compost-borne microflora leaves a long-term imprint on soil microbial communities. In this chapter, it will be analysed if and to what extent soil microbial biomass, activity and community structure are affected by compost amendments. A long-term field study, in which four different composts have been applied annually since 1991, will be presented in detail.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by FWF grant P16560. Margarita Ros was supported by a grant from Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte, Spain. We also wish to thank the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) for the permission to sample their site, and in particular K. Aichberger and J. Söllinger for their support with chemical soil analyses and for maintaining the plots. Andrea Rainer is acknowledged for performing soil microbial biomass and respiration measurements as well as assisting in sampling of soils.

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  1. Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Brigitte A. Knapp & Heribert Insam

  2. Department of Soil and Water Conservation and Organic Waste Management, Centro de Edafologia y Biologia Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS-CSIC), 164, 30100, Espinardo-Murcia, Spain

    Margarita Ros

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  1. Brigitte A. Knapp
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Correspondence to Brigitte A. Knapp .

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  1. Inst. Mikrobiologie, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, Innsbruck, 6020, Austria

    Heribert Insam

  2. Inst. Mikrobiologie, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, Innsbruck, 6020, Austria

    Ingrid Franke-Whittle

  3. Inst. Mikrobiologie, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, Innsbruck, 6020, Austria

    Marta Goberna

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Knapp, B.A., Ros, M., Insam, H. (2010). Do Composts Affect the Soil Microbial Community?. In: Insam, H., Franke-Whittle, I., Goberna, M. (eds) Microbes at Work. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04043-6_14

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