Summary
The value of sewage sludge for improving the fertility and productivity of a degraded semi-arid grassland soil was tested by quantifying and describing the effects of surface application of sewage sludge on soil chemical properties and the soil microbial community. Three surface application rates (22.5, 45, and 90 Mg sludge ha−1) were tested over the course of two growing seasons. Most nutrient levels, including N, P, and K, increased linearly with increasing sludge application rates. Soil pH, however, declined linearly, from 7.8 to 7.4, with increasing sludge application rates. With the exception of Zn, heavy metals, including Cd, did not increase with the small decrease in pH or with increasing sludge application rates. Soil bacterial, fungal, and ammonium oxidizer populations increased linearly with increasing sludge application rates, and Streptomyces spp. populations remained relatively unchanged. The diversity of fungal groups declined initially with increasing sewage sludge rates but rebounded to near pretreatment levels under the low and intermediate application rates within 1 year. High fungal populations and low fungal diversity were related to the high nutrient contents provided by sludge amendment. Mucor spp. and Penicillium chrysogenum dominated the sludge-amended soils, and their densities in the treated soils in the first growing season were almost directly proportional to the sludge application rates. The improvement in soil fertility of a degraded semi-arid grassland due to sludge application was reflected in populations, diversity, and composition of the soil microbial community.
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The research reported here was conducted in cooperation with the USDI Bureau of Land Management which furnished funds and field study locations
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Dennis, G.L., Fresquez, P.R. The soil microbial community in a sewage-sludge-amended semi-arid grassland. Biol Fert Soils 7, 310–317 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00257825
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00257825