The effect of Hydropolymers on soil microbial activities in Mediterranean areas

El efecto de los polímeros absorbentes en la actividad microbiologica del suelo bajo condiciones mediterráneas

Objectives. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the hydropolymer TerraCottem on soil microbial activity by measuring soil respiration and leaching of mineral nitrogen. Materials and methods. The incubation experiment contained control variants with natural soil of Nerja area (South Spain, inside the Sierra Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Park, 36.7985173° N 3.8511693° W; WCGS84), variants with the addition of easy available nitrogen compounds (kg N ha-1), easy accessible carbon compounds (1% glucose solution) and a combinations of both. Within each variant, the recommended amount of control hydropolymers (1.5 kg/m3) and a double dose of 3.0 kg/m3 were compared. Results. Showed that respiration activity of the soil in this Mediterranean area was not eliminated by the lack of ready available nitrogen or carbon substrates. Furthermore, differences in CO2 production between the variants containing different amounts of hydropolymers were not significant. A statistically significant difference in the CO2 production was found in the first week compared to longer time periods. Conclusions. The mineral nitrogen leaching measurement showed that the biological activity of the studied is not affected by nitrogen dynamics which is balanced regardless of the amount of applied hydropolymer. On the other hand, leaching processes occurred when soil was doped only with nitrogen compounds or only carbonaceous, a problem that can appear after fertilizers applicatio

1. Hueso-González P, Ruiz-Sinoga R S, Martínez-Murillo J, Lavee H. Overland flow generation mechanisms affected by topsoil treatment: Application to soil conservation. Geomorphology 2015; 228:796–804. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.10.033
3. Sheoran V, Sheoran AS, Poonia P. Soil Reclamation of Abandoned Mine Land by Revegetation: A Review. International Journal of Soil, Sediment and Water 2010; 3(2):13.
5. Jeffries L, Peter D. The contribution of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in sustainable maintenance of plant health and soil fertility. Biol Fertil Soils 2003; 37:1–16.
7. Jiménez MN, Fernández-Ondo-o E, Ripoll MA, Castro-Rodríguez J, Huntsinger L, Bruno Navarro F. Stones and organic mulches improve the Quercus ilex L. afforestation success under Mediterranean climatic conditions. Land. Degrad. Dev 2013; 27:357–365. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2250
9. Perring M P, Standish R J, Price J N, Craig M D, Erickson T E, Ruthrof K X, Whiteley A S. Advances in restoration ecology: rising to the challenges of the coming decades. Ecosphere 2015; 6:1–25. https://doi.org/10.1890/ES15-00121.1
11. Macci C, Doni S, Peruzzi G E, Masciandaro C, Mennone C, Ceccanti B. Almond tree and organic fertilization for soil quality improvement in southern Italy. J Environ Manage 2012; 95(S2):215–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.10.050
13. Chaudhuri S, McDonald L M, Skousen J, Pena-Yewtukhiw E M. Soil organic carbon molecular properties: effects of time since reclamation in a minesoil chronosequence. Land Degrad Dev 2013; 26:237–248. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2202
15. Johansson I, Karlsson I M, Shukla V K, Chrispeels M J, Larsson C, Kjellbom P. Water transport activity of the plasma membrane aquaporin PM28A is regulated by phosphorylation. The Plant Cell 1989; 10(3):451–459. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.10.3.451
17. Danneels P and Van Cotthem W. The effect of a soil conditioning mixture on plant growth: Some experiments in pots. Belgian Journal of Botany 1994; 25:17–25.
19. Brevik EC, Cerdà A, Mataix-Solera J, Pereg L, Quinton J N, Six K J. The interdisciplinary nature of SOIL. SOIL 2015; 1:117–129. https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-117-2015
21. Callaghan TV, Abdelnour H, Lindley DK. The environmental crisis in the Sudan: the effect of water-absorbing synthetic polymers on tree germination and early survival. Journal of Arid Environments 1988; 14(3):301–317.
23. Ghani A, McLaren R G, Swift R S. The incorporation and transformations of 35 S in soil: effects of soil conditioning and glucose or sulphate additions. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 1993; 25(3):327–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(93)90131-T
25. Keith H, Wong S C. Measurement of soil CO 2 efflux using soda lime absorption: both quantitative and reliable. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 2006; 38(5):1121–1131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2005.09.012
27. Kinsbursky R S, and Saltzman S. CO2-nitrification relationships in closed soil incubation vessels. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 1990; 22(4):571–572. https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(90)90195-6
29. Binkley D, and Matson P. Ion exchange resin bag method for assessing forest soil nitrogen availability. Soil Science Society of America Journal 1983; 47:1050–1052. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1983.03615995004700050045x
31. McGuire K L, and Treseder K K. Microbial communities and their relevance for ecosystem models: decomposition as a case study. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 2010; 42(4):529–535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2009.11.016
33. Unger S, Máguas C, Pereira J S, David T S, Werner C. The influence of precipitation pulses on soil respiration–Assessing the "Birch effect" by stable carbon isotopes. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 2010;42(10):1800–1810. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.06.019
35. Bohnert D W, Del Curto T, Clark A A, Merrill M L, Falck S J, Harmon D L. Protein supplementation of ruminants consuming low-quality cool-or warm-season forage: Differences in intake and digestibility. Journal of animal science 2011; 89:3707–3717. https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2011-3915
37. Li Y, Liu Y, Wu S, Niu L, Tian Y. Microbial properties explain temporal variation in soil respiration in a grassland subjected to nitrogen addition. Scientific reports, 5;2015
39. Bond-Lamberty B, Bolton B H, Fansler S, Heredia-Langner A, Liu C, McCue L A. 2016. Soil Respiration and Bacterial Structure and Function after 17 Years of a Reciprocal Soil Transplant Experiment. PLoS ONE 2016; 11: e0150599. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150599
41. Schimel J, Bennett J. Nitrogen Mineralization: Challenges of a Changing Paradigm. Ecology 2004; 85:591–602. https://doi.org/10.1890/03-8002
43. Kindler R, Miltner A, Thullner M, Richnow H H, Kästner M. Fate of bacterial biomass derived fatty acids in soil and their contribution to soil organic matter. Organic Geochemistry 2009; 40(1):29–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2008.09.005
45. Dise N B, Matzner E, Forsius M. Evaluation of organic horizon C: N ratio as an indicator of nitrate leaching in conifer forests across Europe. Environmental Pollution 1998; 102(1):453–456. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0269-7491(98)80068-7
47. Elbl J, Plošek L, Kintl A, Přichystalová J, Záhora J, Friedel J K. The effect of increased doses of compost on leaching of mineral nitrogen from arable land. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies 2014; 23(3):697–703.
49. Gutser R, Ebertseder T, Weber A, Schraml M, Schmidhalter U. Short-term and residual availability of nitrogen after long-term application of organic fertilizers on arable land. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 2005; 168(4):439–446. https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.200520510
51. Abrol V, Shainberg I, Lado M, Ben-Hur M. Efficacy of dry granular anionic polyacrylamide (PAM) on infiltration, runoff and erosion. European Journal of Soil Science 2013; 64:699–705. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12076
53. Heuer H, and Smalla K. Plasmids foster diversification and adaptation of bacterial populations in soil. FEMS microbiology reviews 2012; 36(6):1083–1104. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6976.2012.00337.x