Manure

Effects of Charcoal on Manure in a Temperate Forest Ecosystem: A Greenhouse Study
Clarice Pina, Project Train 2005, University of Montana, 2005 with Tom Deluca.

http://www.umt.edu/projecttrain/posters/2005%20Posters/Clarice%20Pina.ppt

Abstract
A greenhouse study was conducted for and eight week period studying the effects of charcoal on manure within a temperate forest ecosystem. Charcoal posses properties that lead us to devise the creation of a unique synergy between manure and charcoal, a land use treatment used in ancient Amazonia. A negative effect was observed with respect to overall biomass per treatment caused by manure application but this effect was eliminated with the addition of charcoal. Manure significantly increased the amount of available phosphorus. Fresh manure may have cause a microbial inhibition to occur yielding unexpected results with ammonium and nitrate concentrations. Altering the rates of both manure and charcoal may help us to locate the source of these unexpected results.

Results:
Salient findings:
Additions of charcoal and manure individually did not have a significant effect on the amount of available NH4+, but the Manuchar treatments were found to have a moderately significant effect on available NH4+ (refer to Figure 1).
All treatments (charcoal only, manure only, as well as manuchar) have a highly significant effect on the amount of available NO3- (refer to Figure 2).
Manure significantly decreased the total amount of NO3-.
With regard to the amount of available P, the manure only treatment had the greatest concentration measured as mg kg-1 PO4-.
Manure applications had a very highly significantly effect, increasing the amount of available-P by almost a factor of 2(refer to Figure 3).
Manuchar treatments were also found to have a highly significant effect on the amount of available-P.
Significant differences were found between treatments with regard to biomass obtained, and manure applications were found to have a negative effect on biomass (refer to Figure 4).

Phosphorus Speciation in Manure and Manure-Amended Soils Using XANES Spectroscopy
S. Sato, D. Solomon, C. Hyland, Q.M. Ketterings, and J. Lehmann, NSLS Science Highlights, February 9, 2006

Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
It is important to know what inorganic phosphorus (P) species are being formed in soils subjected to high, long-term poultry-manure application in order to understand P accumulation and release patterns. Phosphorus K-edge XANES spectra of fresh manure showed no evidence of crystalline P minerals, but did exhibit a dominance of soluble calcium phosphates (CaP) and free and weakly bound phosphates. Soils with a short-term manure history contained both Fe-associated phosphates and soluble CaP. Long-term application resulted in a dominance of CaP and a transformation from soluble to more stable CaP species. However, none of the amended soils showed the presence of crystalline CaP. Maintaining a high pH is therefore an important strategy that can be used to minimize P leaching in these soils.

Knowing when plants capture phosphorus
Luis Pons, USDA Agricultural Research, Jan, 2003
ARS research into how and when plants use the phosphorus in manure may aid farmers as they try to stem nutrient runoff into waterways.
"A future challenge," says soil scientist Thomas J. Sauer, "will be not only to avoid over-application of phosphorus to soil, but also to ensure that in doing so a farmer does not make the land phosphorus deficient."
Sauer and soil scientist John L. Kovar focus on phosphorus as they study nutrient management of animal manure at ARS' National Soil Tilth Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.
This research is part of Water and Quality Management, an ARS National Program (#201) described on the World Wide Web at http://www.nps.ars.usda.gov.
Thomas J. Sauer and John L. Kovar are with the USDA-ARS National Soil Tilth Laboratory, 2150 Pammel Drive, Ames, IA 50011-4420; phone (515)294-3416 [Sauer], (515)294-3419 [Kovar], fax (515) 294-8125, e-mail sauer@nstl.gov.kovar@nstl.gov.

Long term Effects of manure, charcoal and mineral fertilization on crop production and fertility on a highly weathered Central Amazonian upland soil January 2007
Christoph Steiner · Wenceslau G. Teixeira · Johannes Lehmann ·Thomas Nehls · Jeferson Luis Vasconcelos de Macêdo · Winfried E. H. Blum · Wolfgang Zech

Abstract