Biology subjects

Deinert, L.

Publications and source records attributed to Deinert, L..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

The impact of struvite and ash recycling-derived fertilizers on microbial phosphorus mobilization capabilities and community structure in a Lolium perenne field trial

Rock phosphate is a non-renewable primary source for mineral phosphorus (P) fertilizers that intensive agriculture is highly dependent on. To avoid P fertilizer shortages and limit negative environmental impacts, circular economy approaches are needed with recycling-derived fertilizer (RDF) applications such as struvites and ashese. Hence, a grassland field trial was conducted with four RDFs, two struvites (potato wastewater, municipal wastewater) and two ashes (poultry-litter ash, sewage-sludge ash) at a P application rate of 40 kg P ha-1 (n=5). The impact of the RDFs on the soil microbial P cycling community was compared to conventional mineral P-fertiliser and a P-free control. Topsoil samples were taken directly after Lolium perenne grass cuts at months three, fife and 15. Cultivable phosphonate and phytate utilizing bacteria, potential acid and alkaline phosphomonoesterase activity, and phoC and phoD copy numbers responded stronger to seasonal effects than treatment effects. No significant overall effect of the fertilizer application was detected in the beta diversity of the bacterial and fungal communities after 15 months, but individual phylogenetic groups were affected by the treatments. The ash treatments demonstrated some distinguishing results across the bacterial and fungal community, with significantly higher relative abundance of Firmicutes and Rokubacteria and lower relative abundance of Actinobacteriota. Sewage-sludge ash had significantly lowest abundances of genera Bacillus and Bradyrhizobium (month 15s) that are well known for their P cycling abilities. The struvite RDFs either positively influenced the P cycling microbial community or did not affect it at all, while demonstrating better tri-calcium phosphate solubilizing capabilities after the 3 months harvest. These findings indicate that struvites could be a suitable replacement for conventional P fertilizers in the future.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2023

Short Term Impact of Recycling-Derived Fertilizers on Their P Supply for Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne)

Phosphorus is a finite, essential macronutrient for agriculture. Various nutrient recycling technologies in waste streams management are currently under development in many European countries in order to alleviate the dependency of the EU on imports of non-renewable raw material for the production of mineral phosphorus fertilizers commonly used in agriculture. The resulting products such as struvites and ashes need to be assessed for their application as so-called recycling-derived fertilisers (RDF) in the agricultural sector prior to commercialisation. Albeit high phosphorus abundance in most soils, the phosphorus availability for plant growth promotion in the soil solution is usually low due to strong P sorption in soil and depends vastly on the microbial mobilisation capability of the soil. To investigate the impact of different phosphorus fertilizers on plant growth and the soil P cycling microbiota, a short-term pot trial was conducted over the period of 54 days. Lolium perenne (var. AberGreen) was grown with application of superphosphate (SP) as inorganic fertiliser, two ashes (poultry litter ash (PLA) and sewage sludge ash (SSA) and two struvites (municipal wastewater struvite (MWS) and commercial CrystalGreen(R) (CGS) in rates of 20 and 60 kg P ha-1 in four replicates. A P-free control (SP0) was also included in the trial. Post-harvest, a positive correlation between dry weight yield and struvite application was detected, struvite P also was higher readily available and ACP activity was significantly improved for struvites at the high P application rate. The ash RDFs showed a liming effect at 60 kg P ha-1, and PLA60 negatively affected ACP activity, while PLA20 had significantly lower phoD copy numbers. P mobilization from phosphonates and phytates was not affected, TCP solubilization was negatively affected by mineral SP fertilizer application at both P concentrations. Overall, the bacterial and phoD harbouring community were not strongly affected by the P fertilization in this study.

microbiology↗