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Approach to the potential usage of two wood ashes waste as soil amendments on the basis of the dehydrogenase activity and soil oxygen consumption

  • Reclamation and Management of Polluted Soils: Options and Case Studies
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Abstract

Purpose

We investigated the effect that ashes may have on the soil microbial activity. Our hypothesis is that different wood ashes and different proportions of them could have beneficial or detrimental effects depending on the applied dose.

Materials and methods

Dehydrogenase activity and soil oxygen consumption were used to evaluate the potential improvement of soil conditions through the application of two different wood ashes coming from industrial waste. Different ash proportions and time dependence have been used to make comparisons. The respiration curves obtained through a closed-jar incubation experiment were well fitted by a sigmoidal function, the derivative of which yields the time evolution of the consumption rate.

Results and discussion

The results indicate that the dehydrogenase activity and soil oxygen consumption are very sensitive to the presence of ashes in the soil, and the reached values of both are linked to the applied dose of them. In our research, soil oxygen consumption is time and rate dependent of ash application. The curves show that parameter was affected by the ashes in different way, raising the respiration rate, and stretching the biological activity period.

Conclusions

Dehydrogenase activity and soil oxygen consumption are very sensitive to the presence of ashes and can be used to assess their potential use as amendments. The results of this paper can contribute to the required knowledge in order to use ashes in a sustainable way. Ashes coming from olive marc and vine shoots may affect positively the soil respiration and, therefore, the soil fertility, if they are applied in moderate amounts.

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Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the support provided by the Almaden School of Mines (UCLM) and Ciudad Real School of Agronomic Engineers (UCLM).

Funding

This study has been partly funded by project CGL2015-67644-R (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento Producción Vegetal y Tecnología Agraria ETSIA-UCLM, 13074, Ciudad Real, Spain

    Juan A. Campos, Jesús D. Peco, Carmen Moreno, José A. Amorós & Marta M. Moreno

  2. Departamento Física Aplicada ETSIA-UCLM, Ciudad Real, Spain

    José A. De Toro

  3. Instituto Geología Aplicada, EIMI-UCLM, Almadén, Spain

    Eva M. García-Noguero & Pablo Higueras

Authors
  1. Juan A. Campos
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  2. Jesús D. Peco
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  8. Pablo Higueras
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Correspondence to Juan A. Campos.

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Responsible editor: Elena Korobova

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Campos, J.A., Peco, J.D., De Toro, J.A. et al. Approach to the potential usage of two wood ashes waste as soil amendments on the basis of the dehydrogenase activity and soil oxygen consumption. J Soils Sediments 18, 2148–2156 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-017-1840-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-017-1840-z

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