Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One graduate student working on this project received an M.S. degree. Another student's M.S. degree is in progress. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We presented results at a recent professional meeting: Audrey Laffely, Susan Erich, and Ellen Mallory Evaluating Root Effects on the CO2 Flush from Laboratory Dried and Rewetted Soils. Soil Science Society of America meeting, Tampa, FL. Oct. 25, 2017. Audrey Laffely (graduate student) also gave a presentation on her project to the public at the Roger Farm field day, Jully 6, 2017. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
High yield agricultural systems, such as high tunnel (HT) vegetable production, require a large supply of soil nutrients, especially nitrogen (N). Compost is a common amendment used by HT growers both to supply nutrients and to improve physical and biological soil properties. We examined commercially-available composts and their effects on soil N, plant N uptake, and tomato yield in HT cultivation. In addition, a laboratory study examined N and carbon (C) mineralization from the composts, and the usefulness of compost properties as predictors of compost N mineralization was assessed under field and laboratory conditions. The field study used a randomized complete block design with four replications to compare four compost treatments (all added at the rate of 300 kg total N ha-1 ) with unamended soil and an inorganic N treatment (110 kg N ha-1 ). Tomatoes were grown in Monmouth, ME during the summers of 2013 and 2014. Compost NO3--N and NH4+-N application rates were significantly correlated with soil NO3--N and NH4+-N concentrations throughout the growing season. Marketable yield was positively correlated with compost total inorganic N and NO3--N in both years, and with NH4+-N in 2014. There were no significant differences among composts in percentage of organic N mineralized and no correlations were observed with any measured compost property. In the laboratory study, all compost-amended soils had relatively high rates of CO2 release for the initial few days and then the rates declined. The compost-amended soils mineralized 4-6% of the compost organic N. This study suggested compost inorganic N content controls N availability to plants in the first year after compost application. The CO2 flush is the amount of CO2 released from laboratory dried and rewetted soil; it has been used as a rapid, inexpensive soil quality test. We examined the effects of root growth on the CO2 flush in a field experiment. We found that although the CO2 flush was significantly higher from planted plots than from bare plots, the effect was relatively minor. LiCOR results were similar to the commercial CO2 flush test (Solvita, Woods End Laboratory, Mt. Vernon, ME). Planted plots had higher soluble organic C and higher microbial biomass compared to bare plots.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Audrey Laffely, Susan Erich, and Ellen Mallory Evaluating Root Effects on the CO2 Flush from Laboratory Dried and Rewetted Soils. Soil Science Society of America meeting, Tampa, FL. Oct. 25, 2017
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Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Through journal articles and presentations at grower meetings and professional meetings What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?A new graduate student is planning her thesis project around the goals of the project.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
High yield agricultural systems, such as high tunnel (HT) vegetable production, require a large supply of soil nutrients, especially nitrogen (N). Compost is a common amendment used by HT growers both to supply nutrients and to improve physical and biological soil properties. We examined commercially-available composts and their effects on soil N, plant N uptake, and tomato yield in HT cultivation. In addition, a laboratory study examined N and carbon (C) mineralization from the composts, and the usefulness of compost properties as predictors of compost N mineralization was assessed under field and laboratory conditions. The field study used a randomized complete block design with four replications to compare four compost treatments (all added at the rate of 300 kg total N ha-1 ) with unamended soil and an inorganic N treatment (110 kg N ha-1 ). Tomatoes were grown in Monmouth, ME during the summers of 2013 and 2014. Compost NO3--N and NH4+-N application rates were significantly correlated with soil NO3--N and NH4+-N concentrations throughout the growing season. Marketable yield was positively correlated with compost total inorganic N and NO3--N in both years, and with NH4+-N in 2014. There were no significant differences among composts in percentage of organic N mineralized and no correlations were observed with any measured compost property. In the laboratory study, all compost-amended soils had relatively high rates of CO2 release for the initial few days and then the rates declined. The compost-amended soils mineralized 4-6% of the compost organic N. This study suggested compost inorganic N content controls N availability to plants in the first year after compost application.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Marshall, K.; Erich, M.S.; Hutton, M.; Hutchinson, M.; Mallory, E.B. 2016. Nitrogen availability from compost in high tunnel tomato production. Compost Sci. Util. 24:147-158.
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Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Through a peer-reviewed journal article. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Another peer-reviewed journal article plus a presentation to the New England Fruit and Vegetable Conference in NH in December 2015.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The Araucaria moist forest was once widespread in southern Atlantic Brazil but today, due to agriculture and timber harvesting, only remnants remain, mainly in mountainous regions of southern Brazil. This study combines Hedley sequential extraction to determine phosphorus (P) fractionation with 31P NMR, fluorescence spectroscopy, and ESI-FT-ICR-MS to examine soil P and organic matter chemistry at five different Araucaria moist forest sites, including two natural sites, grassland and native forest, and three altered sites, two apple orchard sites (fertilized apple rows and unfertilized soil between apple rows) and a pine plantation site without fertilization. This study examined how land use change has altered soil chemistry compared to native vegetation, focusing specifically on P and C fractions. Although the native grassland site contained the highest amount of soil C, the sites were similar in total P. The largest extractable fraction at all sites was NaOH-extractable organic P (Po), and the quantity of Po (0.1M plus 0.5M extractions) did not differ significantly among the soils. The31P NMR analysis revealed the majority of NaOH-extractable P was present as either inorganic P (Pi) orthophosphate (49%) or Po monoesters (34%). Pi orthophosphate was highest in pine plantation and apple orchard in the row sites (66 and 67% of P detected, respectively) and lowest in native grassland (20% of P detected), while Po was highest in the native grassland soil (75% of P detected). In our samples ~ 1% or fewer of labile C compounds contained P, while 5-6% of adsorbed C compounds contained both N and P. Using 31P NMR and ESI-FT-ICR-MS approaches, we found evidence of chemical changes in native soil P and organic matter to due land use change, specifically loss of organic forms of P and increased organic matter aromaticity in apple soils compared to native soils. This research shows that the conversion of native grasslands to apple orchards led to a decrease in organic matter quality and Po depletion while conversion to pine plantations has a low impact on these parameters. These analytical techniques are promising approaches to improving our understanding of both P and C chemistry and the effects of land use changes on coupled biogeochemical cycles.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Boeira de Oliveira , C.M., Erich, M.S., Gatiboni, L.C., Ohno, T. 2015. Phosphorus fractions and organic matter chemistry under different land use on Humic Cambisols in Southern Brazil. Geoderma Regional 5:140-149.
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Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Two presentations were given at the 2014 Maine Vegetable and Fruit School, March 10 and 11, 2014 in Portland and Bangor Maine on compost use as a soil amendment to supply nitrogen. The audience was primarily growers, scientists, and students. A poster was presented at the annual American Society for Horticultural Sciences meeting in July, 2014. The audience was primarily scientists and students. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? One graduate student is working on this project How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Presentations were given at the Maine Vegetable and Fruit School in Portland and Bangor, Maine and at the American Societyof Horticultural Science meeting in Orlando, FL. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? A publication will be submitted in the next reporting period.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We conducted an experiment examing four finished composts from commercial producers in Maine, including their properties and how they performed in a field study. The composts were analyzed for nutrient content, pH, conductivity, lignin, and soluble C. A randomized complete block design with four replications was used to compare the four compost treatments with an unamended control and a control receiving inorganic N in a field study. Composts were all added at the rate of 270 lb. of total N acre-1, while inorganic fertilizer was added at the rate of 100 lb. N acre-1. Tomatoes were grown in these treatments in caterpillar tunnels at the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station Farm in Monmouth, ME during the summers of 2013 and 2014. Soil nitrate (NO3- ), ammonium (NH4+), and moisture were measured throughout the growing season, along with total marketable tomato yield and tomato N uptake at the end of the season. Composts had significantly different properties. In 2013 compost treatments affected early season soil NO3- and NH4+, and total marketable yield, and composts with high levels of inorganic N produced higher total marketable yields. Results from 2013 were reported at the American Society for Horticultural Sciences annual meeting Orlando, FL. The citation for this presentation is: Marshall, K., S. Erich, M. Hutton, M. Hutchinson, E. Mallory. 2014 Compost for High Tunnel Tomato Production. (Abstract) https://ashs.confex.com/ashs/2014/webprogram/Paper19760.html
Publications
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Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Because it is early in the project, we do not yet have many results to report. My graduate student reported on her study of compost as a soil amendment for tomatoes grown in high tunnels at the Highmoor Farm Field day at Highmoor Farm, Monmouth, Maine on July 31, 2013. The audience included scientists, producers, and staff from state and private agencies. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? I have one graduate student working on a project on the effects of four different composts on yield and nitrogen content of tomato plants grown in high tunnels. She developed her thesis proposal, conducted one summer of field research, and is now analyzing her data. She is also planning a laboratory incubation to look at compost decomposition and nitrogen release. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? My graduate student will carry out a laboratory incubation and conduct another summer of field research.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
I was sabbatic leave in the spring semester of 2013, spending 10 weeks at the Institute of Agro-Environmental Sciences in Tsukuba, Japan, where I conducted a short term experiment examining the chemistry and biodegradation of extractable C. Using two soils (tilled and no-till) and two incubation temperatures (15 and 35), both water- and pyrophosphate-extractable C were extracted at 4 times of incubation. The following properties were measured: pH, uv absorbance, ICP [Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, K] , NPOC, total N, and biodegradability. Data is being analyzed and interpreted.
Publications
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