Changes on microbial C and enzyme activities in soil with amendment of composted tannery sludge after 9 years

Authors

• Antonio Victor Cavalcante Rocha Silva ¹
• Francisco Barbosa De Macedo Junior ¹
• Jadson Emanuel Lopes Antunes ¹
• João Pedro Alves De Aquino ¹
• Regina Maria Silva Sousa ¹
• Louise Melo De Souza Oliveira ¹
• Ademir Sérgio Ferreira De Araujo ¹

• Soil Quality Lab., Agricultural Science Center, Federal University of Piauí, Teresina, PI, 64049-550, Brazil

Abstract

Purpose The consecutive amendment of composted tannery sludge (CTS) could promote changes in the status of soil microorganisms. Thus, this study evaluated the changes on microbial C and enzyme activities in soil after 9 years of CTS amendment.
Methods CTS was amended from 2009 to 2018 at five rates: 0, 2.5, 5, 10, and 20 ton ha⁻¹. In 2018, the soil chemical properties (pH, electric conductivity, P, K, Cr, and total organic C), microbial C and enzyme activities were evaluated after 30 days from the amendment.
Results The values of chemical properties increased after nine years of CTS application. The content of microbial C and the enzyme activities increased with the amendment of 2.5 and 5 ton ha⁻¹, and decreased with the amendment of10 and 20 ton ha⁻¹.
Conclusion This study showed that the amendment of10 and 20 ton ha⁻¹ of CTS increased soil pH and Cr concentration and promoted a decreasing on soil microbial C and enzyme activities.

Keywords

• Waste management
• Microbial biomass 
• Industrial waste
• Enzymes activities