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Effects of long-term compost and fertilizer application on stability of aggregate-associated organic carbon in an intensively cultivated sandy loam soil

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Abstract

The study examined the influence of compost and mineral fertilizer application on the content and stability of soil organic carbon (SOC). Soil samples collected from a long-term field experiment were separated into macroaggregate, microaggregate, and silt + clay fractions by wet-sieving. The experiment involved seven treatments: compost, half-compost N plus half-fertilizer N, fertilizer NPK, fertilizer NP, fertilizer NK, fertilizer PK, and control. The 18-year application of compost increased SOC by 70.7–121.7%, and mineral fertilizer increased by 5.4–25.5%, with no significant difference between control soil and initial soil. The C mineralization rate (rate per unit dry mass) in microaggregates was 1.52–2.87 mg C kg−1 day−1, significantly lower than in macroaggregate and silt + clay fractions (P < 0.05). Specific C mineralization rate (rate per unit SOC) in silt + clay fraction amounted to 0.48–0.87 mg C g−1 SOC day−1 and was higher than in macroaggregates and microaggregates. Our data indicate that SOC in microaggregates is more stable than in macroaggregate and silt + clay fractions. Compost and mineral fertilizer application increased C mineralization rate in all aggregates compared with control. However, compost application significantly decreased specific C mineralization rate in microaggregate and silt + clay fractions by 2.6–28.2% and 21.9–25.0%, respectively (P < 0.05). By contrast, fertilizer NPK application did not affect specific C mineralization rate in microaggregates but significantly increased that in silt + clay fractions. Carbon sequestration in compost-amended soil was therefore due to improving SOC stability in microaggregate and silt + clay fractions. In contrast, fertilizer NPK application enhanced SOC with low stability in macroaggregate and silt + clay fractions.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Andrea Donnison for reviewing this paper. This study was financially supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-YW-439), the Natural Science Foundation of China (40725003, 41001173), and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu province (SBK200922477, BK2008057, BK2009338).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Hongyan Yu, Weixin Ding, Ruilin Geng & Zucong Cai

  2. Climate, Land and Environment, AgResearch, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand

    Jiafa Luo & Anwar Ghani

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  1. Hongyan Yu
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  2. Weixin Ding
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  3. Jiafa Luo
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  4. Ruilin Geng
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Correspondence to Weixin Ding.

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Yu, H., Ding, W., Luo, J. et al. Effects of long-term compost and fertilizer application on stability of aggregate-associated organic carbon in an intensively cultivated sandy loam soil. Biol Fertil Soils 48, 325–336 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-011-0629-2

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