Assessment of the effect of different compost materials on aggregation and mechanical properties in an Entisol

• Published in: Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis Vol. 52; no. 8; pp. 871 - 885
• Main Authors: Temiz, Cagla, Akca, Muhittin Onur, Cayci, Gokhan, Baran, Abdullah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Taylor & Francis 28.04.2021; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Aeration; Agglomeration; Aggregation; Animal wastes; Bulk density; compost; Composting; Composts; consistency limits; Field capacity; Incubation period; Liquid limits; Mechanical properties; Moisture content; Organic carbon; Organic matter; Organic soils; Physical properties; Porosity; Poultry manure; Residues; Saturation; Sheep; Shrinkage; Soil; Soil investigations; Soil management; Soil mechanics; Soil mixtures; Soil moisture; Soil physical properties; Soil porosity; Soil properties; Soils; Water content; Wilting; Wilting point
• ISSN: 0010-3624; 1532-2416; 1532-4133
• DOI: 10.1080/00103624.2020.1869770

It is necessary to know the effect of organic matter on soil physical properties for successful soil management. A short-term incubation study was carried out to investigate the effects of different compost materials on soil aggregation and mechanical properties. Compost materials derived from cattle, sheep, poultry manure, plant residues, and a blend of an equal amount of those residues/wastes (called as mixture) were mixed with soil at doses of 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% with control treatment and subjected to a 60-day incubation period. It was revealed that compost materials significantly increased the values of water-stable aggregate (WSA), organic carbon (OC) and moisture content at tension values of pF 0 (saturation), pF 1.7 (aeration porosity), pF 2.54 (field capacity) and pF 4.2 (permanent wilting point), as well as the hydraulic conductivity (HC) and liquid limit (LL) values; however, they decreased the bulk density (BD) and coefficient of linear extensibility (COLE) values. On the other hand, WSA, OC, saturation, BD, LL, and shrinkage limit (SL) values showed distinct changes in application doses. However, it was found that material and dose applications had no effect on the plasticity index (PI), shrinkage index (SI) or clay activity (CA). The increases in WSA, HC and OC values compared to the control due to the increasing amount of compost were more evident than other aggregation properties. Overall, the results showed that compost materials and dose applications are more effective on the soil aggregation properties compared to the mechanical properties.