Abstract
Urban agriculture has the potential to support the health and sustainability of urban communities across the globe. Nonetheless, little information is available on urban soil management and strategies for supporting different aspects of soil health in the context of urban farming. We performed a greenhouse trial to investigate the effects of a variety of organic amendments derived from local municipal waste products on the soil microbiome as well as tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum , L.) productivity and quality in an urban agricultural soil from the San Francisco Bay Area (USA). We hypothesized that organic soil amendments could enhance microbial abundance, activity, and diversity in urban soils, however the specific effects may be dependent on the physicochemical and biological properties of the amendments used. Further, we hypothesized these shifts in soil biology could correspond to changes in crop productivity and quality. Liquid food waste hydrolysate and mixed herbivore waste compost increased microbial abundance in the soil compared to mineral fertilizer, likely due to increases in available carbon and nutrients. Analysis of potential extracellular enzyme activity showed solid amendments could enhance microbial carbon cycling in the soil as a result of increases in organic matter. 16S rRNA sequencing indicated that solid amendments altered the composition of the soil microbiome, including the relative abundances of dominant soil bacterial phyla. Mineral-fertilized tomato plants generally had higher productivity and yields compared to plants grown with amendments, but plants treated with the hydrolysate and mixed herbivore waste compost had enhanced fruit soluble sugar content (i.e., °Brix). This study documents significant effects of diverse amendments derived from local municipal waste products on microbiomes found in urban soils. Further, the data suggests linkages between soil management, soil biology, and crop taste, which should be explored in future research.
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Food waste hydrolysate and herbivore waste compost increased soil microbial abundance relative to mineral fertilizer.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicumt0 - Treatment
- Liquid food waste hydrolysate and mixed herbivore waste composte0
- Outcome
- microbial abundance in the soile0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Comparator
- mineral fertilizere0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Liquid food waste hydrolysate and mixed herbivore waste compost increased microbial abundance in the soil compared to mineral fertilizer”
t0“tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum , L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Solid amendments enhanced potential soil extracellular enzyme activity and carbon cycling.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- solid amendmentse0
- Outcome
- microbial carbon cycling in the soile0
- Direction
- enhancee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“solid amendments could enhance microbial carbon cycling in the soil as a result of increases in organic matter”
t0“tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum , L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Solid amendments altered soil microbiome composition.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- solid amendmentse0
- Outcome
- composition of the soil microbiomee0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“solid amendments altered the composition of the soil microbiome, including the relative abundances of dominant soil bacterial phyla”
t0“tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum , L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Mineral fertilizer generally produced higher tomato productivity and yield than organic amendments.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume0
- Treatment
- Mineral-fertilizede0
- Outcome
- productivity and yieldse0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- plants grown with amendmentse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Mineral-fertilized tomato plants generally had higher productivity and yields compared to plants grown with amendments”
Claim · model-written summary
Hydrolysate and mixed herbivore waste compost increased tomato fruit soluble sugar content.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- hydrolysate and mixed herbivore waste composte0
- Outcome
- fruit soluble sugar contente0
- Direction
- enhancede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“plants treated with the hydrolysate and mixed herbivore waste compost had enhanced fruit soluble sugar content (i.e., °Brix)”
t0“tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum , L.)”
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