title: Soil microbial properties after long-term swine slurry application to conventional and no-tillage systems in Brazil.
abstract: Swine waste can be used as an agricultural fertilizer, but large amounts may accumulate excess nutrients in soil or contaminate the surrounding environment. This study evaluated long-term soil amendment (15 years) with different levels of swine slurry to conventional (plow) tillage (CT) and no tillage (NT) soils. Long-term swine slurry application did not affect soil organic carbon. Some chemical properties, such as calcium, base saturation, and aluminum saturation were significantly different within and between tillages for various application rates. Available P and microbial parameters were significantly affected by slurry addition. Depending on tillage, soil microbial biomass and enzyme activity increased up to 120 m(3) ha(-1) year(-1) in all application rates. The NT system had higher microbial biomass and activity than CT at all application levels. There was an inverse relationship between the metabolic quotient (qCO2) and MBC, and the qCO2 was 53% lower in NT than CT. Swine slurry increased overall acid phosphatase activity, but the phosphatase produced per unit of microbial biomass decreased. A comparison of data obtained in the 3rd and 15th years of swine slurry application indicated that despite slurry application the CT system degraded with time while the NT system had improved values of soil quality indicators. For these Brazilian oxisols, swine slurry amendment was insufficient to maintain soil quality parameters in annual crop production without additional changes in tillage management.
authors.affiliation: IAPAR - Agronomic Institute of Paraná State, 86001-970 Londrina, Paraná, Brazil. Electronic address: balota@iapar.br.
authors.forename: Elcio L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Balota
authors.affiliation: IAPAR - Agronomic Institute of Paraná State, 86001-970 Londrina, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Oswaldo
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Machineski
authors.affiliation: IAPAR - Agronomic Institute of Paraná State, 86001-970 Londrina, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karima I A
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Hamid
authors.affiliation: IAPAR - Agronomic Institute of Paraná State, 86001-970 Londrina, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ines F U
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Yada
authors.affiliation: IAPAR - Agronomic Institute of Paraná State, 86001-970 Londrina, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Graziela M C
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.affiliation: EMBRAPA Soja, Caixa Postal 231, CEP 86001-970 Londrina, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Andre S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Nakatani
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington KY 40546, USA.
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Coyne
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005308:Fertilizers; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013552:Swine; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers; D012987:Soil
keywords: Microbial biomass; No-tillage; Polysaccharide; Soil enzymes; Soil management; Swine manure