title: Biochar improves N cycling during composting of olive mill wastes and sheep manure.
abstract: The use of biochar has been revealed to have beneficial effects during the composting of manures and other N-rich materials by reducing N losses and enhancing the rate of the process. However, the impact of biochar has not been explored in other complex organic matrices with low N nitrogen that may hinder the composting process. The main novelty of this work was to study the impact of a small amount of biochar (4%) on the composting process of olive mill wastes, which are characterised by a recalcitrant lignocellulosic composition with reduced nitrogen (N) availability. Two treatments: (i) control (olive mill waste 46%+sheep manure 54%, dry weight) and (ii) the same mixture treated with biochar (4%), were composted during 31 weeks. The incorporation of a small amount of biochar improved N cycling by increasing NO3(-)-N content, indicating a higher nitrifying activity, and reducing N losses by 15% without affecting the amount of N2O released. The use of biochar as an additive for composting could improve the value of olive mill waste composts by reducing N losses and increasing N availability in lignocellulosic and N-poor materials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil and Water Conservation and Organic Waste Management, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura, CSIC, P.O. Box 164, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Inés
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: López-Cano
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil and Water Conservation and Organic Waste Management, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura, CSIC, P.O. Box 164, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Asunción
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roig
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil and Water Conservation and Organic Waste Management, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura, CSIC, P.O. Box 164, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: María Luz
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Cayuela
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil and Water Conservation and Organic Waste Management, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura, CSIC, P.O. Box 164, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Alburquerque
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil and Water Conservation and Organic Waste Management, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura, CSIC, P.O. Box 164, 30100 Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: monedero@cebas.csic.es.
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Monedero
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002606:Charcoal / Q000032:analysis*; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D008372:Manure / Q000032:analysis*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D058458:Nitrogen Cycle; D031658:Olea; D012756:Sheep
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D008372:Manure; C540010:biochar; D002606:Charcoal; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Charcoal; Greenhouse gases; Lignocellulose; Methane; Nitrous oxide