Quality of fresh plant residue affects sequestration of residue derived organic material by humic acid

Abstract

Increasing the retention and sequestration of plant residue carbon in agricultural soils by incorporating humic acid is the main focus of this study. This study aims to examine the effect of humic acid addition on the decomposition of plant residues of varying degrees of lability. Respiration experiments were conducted to estimate the ability of humic acid to protect plant derived organic compounds from decomposition. Humic acid reduced mineralization from all added residues and this protection effect followed the lability of the residues: vetch> wheat> oak. This could be attributed to the chemical interaction between different plant-derived organic compounds and the humic acid. Lysine was strongly adsorbed to humic acid and mineralization was reduced by 23% as a result of the strong electrostatic interaction. Applying humic acid with vetch reduced all microbial indices as a result of less substrate availability for miroorganisms. On the other hand, applying humic acid with wheat might have simulated the synthesis of extracellular enzymes and the co-metabolism of humic acid (brimming effect), resulting in an enhanced microbial structure toward a higher fungal population. This study suggests: (1) Applying humic acid to ecosystems that receive labile residues (such as vetch) to reduce mineralization and enhance carbon sequestration (2) Applying less labile residues (such as wheat) in combination with humic acid to recover degraded soils and enhance carbon sequestration.

Keywords

• Carbon sequestration,enzymatic activity,humic acid,plant residue quality

References

1. Bailey, V. L., Smith, J. L., Bolton, H., 2002. Fungal-to-bacterial ratios in soils investigated for enhanced C sequestration. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 34(7): 997–1007.
2. Baumann, K., Marschner, P., Smernik, R.J., Baldock, J.A., 2009. Residue chemistry and microbial community structure during decomposition of eucalypt, wheat and vetch residues. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 41(9): 1966–1975.
3. Bremner, J.M., 1996. Nitrogen-total. In: Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 3, Chemical Methods, Sparks, D.L., Page, A.L, Helmke, P.A., Loeppert, R.H., Soltanpour, P.N., Tabatabai, M.A., Johnston, C.T., Sumner, M.E. (Ed.). American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America. Madison, Wisconsin, USA. pp. 1085-1022.
4. Brookes, P.C., Joergenseu, R.G., 2005. Microbial biomass measurements by fumigation- extraction, In: Microbiological methods for assessing soil quality, Bloem, J., Hopkins, D.W., Benedetti, A., (Ed.). CBA, Wallingford, pp. 77- 83.
5. ESA, 2000. Carbon sequestration in soils. Ecological Society of America. Available at [Access date: 18.01.2020]: https://www.esa.org/esa/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/carbonsequestrationinsoils.pdf
6. Fontaine, S., Henault, C., Aamor, A., Bdioui, N., Bloor, J.M.G., Maire, V., Mary, B., Revaillot, S., Maron, P.A., 2011. Fungi mediate long term sequestration of carbon and nitrogen in soil through their priming effect. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 43(1): 86- 96.
7. Gee, G.W., Bauder, J.W., 1986. Particle-size Analysis. In: Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 2, Chemical and Microbiological Properties. Page, A.L., Miller, R.H., Keeney, D.R. (Eds.), 2nd Edition. Agronomy Monograph No. 9, American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America. Madison, Wisconsin, USA. pp. 383-411.
8. Jien, S.H., Wang, C.C., Lee, C.H., Lee, T.Y., 2015. Stabilization of organic matter by biochar application in compost-amended soils with contrasting pH values and textures. Sustainability 7 (10): 13317–13333.

9. Lammirato, C., Miltner, A., Wick, L. Y., Kästner, M., 2010. Hydrolysis of cellobiose by β-glucosidase in the presence of soil minerals – Interactions at solid–liquid interfaces and effects on enzyme activity levels. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 42(12): 2203–2210.
10. Lin, Q., Brookes, P.C., 1999. An evaluation of the substrate-induced respiration method. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 31(14): 1969–1983.
11. Liu, Z., Lee, C., 2007. The role of organic matter in the sorption capacity of marine sediments. Marine Chemistry 105(3-4): 240–257.
12. Mahmoodabadi, M., Heydarpour, E., 2014. Sequestration of organic carbon influenced by the application of straw residue and farmyard manure in two different soils. International Agrophysics 28(2): 169–176.
13. Melas, G.B., Ortiz, O., Alacañız, J.M., 2017. Can biochar protect labile organic matter against mineralization in soil?. Pedosphere 27(5): 822–831.
14. Moscatelli, M.C., Di Tizio, A., Marinari, S., Grego, S., 2007. Microbial indicators related to soil carbon in Mediterranean land use systems. Soil and Tillage Research 97(1): 51–59.
15. Nelson, D.W., Sommers, L.E., 1996. Total carbon and soil organic matter. In: Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 3, Chemical Methods. Sparks, D.L. Page, A.L., Helmke, P.A., Loeppert, R.H., Soltanpour, P.N., Tabatabai, M.A., Johnston, C.T., Sumner, M.E. (Eds.). American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America. Madison, Wisconsin, USA. pp. 961-1010.
16. Parham, J.A., Deng, S.P., 2000. Detection, quantification and characterization of β-glucosaminidase activity in soil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 32(8–9): 1183–1190.
17. Piccolo, A., Spaccini, R., Haberhauer, G., Gerzabek, M. H., 1999. Increased sequestration of organic carbon in soil by hydrophobic protection. Naturwissenschaften 86(10): 496–499.
18. Piccolo, A., Spaccini, R., Nieder, R., Richter, J., 2004. Sequestration of a biologically labile organic carbon in soils by humified organic matter. Climatic Change 67(2–3): 329–343.
19. Pituello, C., Dal Ferro, N., Simonetti, G., Berti, A., Morari, F., 2016. Nano to macro pore structure changes induced by long-term residue management in three different soils. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 217: 49–58.
20. Rasmussen, C., Southard, R. J., & Horwath, W. R., 2006. Mineral control of organic carbon mineralization in a range of temperate conifer forest soils. Global Change Biology 12(5): 834–847.
21. Rothstein, D.E., 2010. Effects of amino-acid chemistry and soil properties on the behavior of free amino acids in acidic forest soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 42(10): 1743–1750.
22. Rovira, P., Vallejo, V.R., 2003. Physical protection and biochemical quality of organic matter in mediterranean calcareous forest soils: A density fractionation approach. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 35(2): 245–261.
23. Six, J., Frey, S.D., Thiet, R.K., Batten, K.M., 2006. Bacterial and Fungal Contributions to Carbon Sequestration in Agroecosystems. Soil Science Society of America Journal 70(2): 555–569.
24. Spaccini, R., Piccolo, A., Conte, P., Haberhauer, G., Gerzabek, M.H., 2002. Increased soil organic carbon sequestration through hydrophobic protection by humic substances. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 34(12): 1839–1851.
25. Tabatabai, M.A., 1994. Soil enzymes. In: Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 2, Microbiological and biochemical properties. Mickelson, S.H., Bighan, J.M. (Eds). American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America. Madison, Wisconsin, USA. pp. 775-826.
26. Thomas, G.W., 1996. Soil pH and soil acidity. In: Methods of Soil Analysis Part 2 Chemical and Microbiological Properties 2nd Edition, Page, A.L., et al. (Eds). American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. pp. 475–490.
27. Tian, G., Chiu, C.Y., Franzluebbers, A.J., Oladeji, O.O., Granato, T.C., Cox, A.E., 2015. Biosolids amendment dramatically increases sequestration of crop residue-carbon in agricultural soils in western Illinois. Applied Soil Ecology 85: 86–93.
28. Vieublé Gonod, L., Jones, D.L., Chenu, C., 2006. Sorption regulates the fate of the amino acids lysine and leucine in soil aggregates. European Journal of Soil Science 57(3): 320–329.
29. Walter, H.G., 1986. Water content. In: Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 1, Physical and Mineralogical Methods, Klute, A. (Ed.). American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America. Madison, Wisconsin, USA. pp. 493- 541.
30. Wang, H., Boutton, T.W., Xu, W., Hu, G., Jiang, P., Bai, E., 2015. Quality of fresh organic matter affects priming of soil organic matter and substrate utilization patterns of microbes. Scientific Reports 5: 10102.
31. Wang, X., Butterly, C.R., Baldock, J.A., Tang, C., 2017. Long-term stabilization of crop residues and soil organic carbon affected by residue quality and initial soil pH. Science of the Total Environment 587–588: 502–509.
32. Witthuhn, B., Klauth, P., Klumpp, E., Narres, H. D., Martinius, H., 2005. Sorption and biodegradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol in the presence of organoclays. Applied Clay Science 28(1-4): 55–66.