Abstract
Manure-derived organic amendments are a cost-effective tool that provide many potential benefits to plant and soil health. For example, amendment applications may increase soil fertility, improve soil structure, stimulate microbial activity, and suppress plant pathogens. Yet, responses to these applications may have unintended consequences. Inherent variability in the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of these materials can result in inconsistent outcomes observed after their application. These differences are manifested in plant growth, soil physiochemical properties, and soil microbial community composition. Popular manure-derived organic amendments include dairy manure compost and poultry manure pellets. Dairy manure is an abundant resource on many diversified farms and poultry manure pellets are an economical and commercially available source of nitrogen. Despite a growing body of research demonstrating the plant growth enhancing and disease suppressing potential of vermicompost, its’ relative price and availability has limited its widespread adoption in field-grown vegetable production systems. Additional research which determines how and why vermicompost performs differently than alternative amendments is necessary to justify its greater adoption. A container study was conducted to evaluate how dairy manure compost, dairy manure compost-derived vermicompost, and dehydrated poultry manure pellets impact the tripartite relationship among plant growth, soil physiochemical properties, and microbial community composition. Organic amendments increased soil porosity and soil water holding capacity but delayed plant maturation and decreased plant biomass. Of those treated with organic amendments, vermicompost-amended plants displayed the greatest root growth and overall plant health through time. Distinct microbial communities were detected for each treatment, with an abundance of Massilia, Chryseolinea, Scedosporium, and Acinetobacter distinguishing the control, vermicompost, dairy manure compost, and dehydrated poultry manure pellet treatments, respectively. Known ecological roles of these organisms support the observations made in this study: Massilia and Chryeolinea promote plant growth, Scedosporium abundance reflects the immaturity of the dairy manure compost provided, and Acinetobacter, among several taxa present in the poultry pellet-amended treatment, highlights existing concerns about the safety of poultry manure-based fertilizers in agriculture. This study validates that organic amendments alter the rhizosphere microbiome by influencing plant growth and soil physiochemical properties. In addition, this study highlights the impact of organic amendment application on the physical soil environment and the influence this change has, both directly and indirectly, on soil microbial community composition. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that there is a strong interaction between root growth and the spatial heterogeneity of soil and root-associated microbial communities. The varied response to organic amendment application in this study demonstrates that a more comprehensive characterization of these materials, and their impact on the soil environment, is required to successfully utilize these products in an effort to improve soil health and modify soil microbial communities. While highlighting a widespread need for additional research, this study serves to suggest that vermicompost is a valuable tool to promote plant health and manage disease and supports the adoption of a vermicomposting curing step to stabilize manure-derived fertilizer products.
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Claims 20
Claim · model-written summary
Organic amendments increased soil porosity and water holding capacity in the tomato container study.
- Taxon
- Tomato
Solanum lycopersicumt0 - Treatment
- Organic amendmentse0
- Outcome
- soil porosity and soil water holding capacitye0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Organic amendments increased soil porosity and soil water holding capacity but delayed plant maturation and decreased plant biomass.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Organic amendments delayed tomato maturation.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- Organic amendmentse0
- Outcome
- plant maturatione0
- Direction
- delayede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Organic amendments increased soil porosity and soil water holding capacity but delayed plant maturation and decreased plant biomass.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Organic amendments decreased tomato biomass.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- Organic amendmentse0
- Outcome
- plant biomasse0
- Direction
- decreasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Organic amendments increased soil porosity and soil water holding capacity but delayed plant maturation and decreased plant biomass.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Among amended tomato plants, vermicompost plants had the greatest root growth.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- vermicompost-amendede0
- Outcome
- root growthe0
- Direction
- greateste0
- Comparator
- those treated with organic amendmentse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Of those treated with organic amendments, vermicompost-amended plants displayed the greatest root growth and overall plant health through time.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Among amended tomato plants, vermicompost plants had the greatest overall health over time.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- vermicompost-amendede0
- Outcome
- overall plant healthe0
- Direction
- greateste0
- Comparator
- those treated with organic amendmentse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Of those treated with organic amendments, vermicompost-amended plants displayed the greatest root growth and overall plant health through time.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Each amendment treatment produced a distinct tomato-associated microbial community.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- each treatmente0
- Outcome
- Distinct microbial communitiese0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Distinct microbial communities were detected for each treatment”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Massilia abundance distinguished the tomato control community.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- controle0
- Outcome
- abundance of Massiliae0
MassiliaOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“an abundance of Massilia, Chryseolinea, Scedosporium, and Acinetobacter distinguishing the control, vermicompost, dairy manure compost, and dehydrated poultry manure pellet treatments, respectively.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Chryseolinea abundance distinguished vermicompost-amended tomato soil.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- vermicomposte0
- Interactor
- ChryseolineaChryseolineae0other
- Outcome
- Chryseolineae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“an abundance of Massilia, Chryseolinea, Scedosporium, and Acinetobacter distinguishing the control, vermicompost, dairy manure compost, and dehydrated poultry manure pellet treatments, respectively.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Scedosporium abundance distinguished dairy manure compost-amended tomato soil.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- dairy manure composte0
- Interactor
- Scedosporium
Scedosporiume0other - Outcome
- Scedosporiume0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“an abundance of Massilia, Chryseolinea, Scedosporium, and Acinetobacter distinguishing the control, vermicompost, dairy manure compost, and dehydrated poultry manure pellet treatments, respectively.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Acinetobacter abundance distinguished poultry pellet-amended tomato soil.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- dehydrated poultry manure pellet treatmentse0
- Interactor
- Acinetobacter
Acinetobactere0other - Outcome
- Acinetobactere0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“an abundance of Massilia, Chryseolinea, Scedosporium, and Acinetobacter distinguishing the control, vermicompost, dairy manure compost, and dehydrated poultry manure pellet treatments, respectively.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors interpret Massilia and Chryseolinea as promoting tomato growth.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Outcome
- plant growthe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Massilia and Chryeolinea promote plant growth”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors interpret Chryeolinea as promoting tomato growth.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Interactor
- Chryeolineae0symbiont
- Outcome
- plant growthe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Massilia and Chryeolinea promote plant growth”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Scedosporium abundance was interpreted as indicating immature dairy manure compost.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- dairy manure composte0
- Interactor
- ScedosporiumScedosporiume0other
- Outcome
- Scedosporium abundancee0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Scedosporium abundance reflects the immaturity of the dairy manure compost provided”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Acinetobacter in poultry pellet-amended tomato soil was interpreted as raising fertilizer safety concerns.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- poultry pellet-amended treatmente0
- Interactor
- AcinetobacterAcinetobactere0other
- Outcome
- safety of poultry manure-based fertilizerse0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Acinetobacter, among several taxa present in the poultry pellet-amended treatment, highlights existing concerns about the safety of poultry manure-based fertilizers in agriculture.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Organic amendments altered tomato rhizosphere microbiome through plant growth and soil properties.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- organic amendmentse0
- Outcome
- rhizosphere microbiomee0
- Qualifier
- influencing plant growth and soil physiochemical propertiese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“organic amendments alter the rhizosphere microbiome by influencing plant growth and soil physiochemical properties.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The physical soil environment changed by amendments influenced tomato-associated microbial communities.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- organic amendment applicatione0
- Outcome
- soil microbial community compositione0
- Qualifier
- physical soil environmente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the impact of organic amendment application on the physical soil environment and the influence this change has, both directly and indirectly, on soil microbial community composition.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Tomato root growth interacted strongly with spatial heterogeneity of soil and root-associated microbial communities.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Organ / stage
- roote0
- Outcome
- root growthe0
- Qualifier
- spatial heterogeneity of soil and root-associated microbial communitiese0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“there is a strong interaction between root growth and the spatial heterogeneity of soil and root-associated microbial communities.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend more comprehensive characterization of amendments and soil impacts for their use.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Outcome
- a more comprehensive characterization of these materials, and their impact on the soil environmente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a more comprehensive characterization of these materials, and their impact on the soil environment, is required to successfully utilize these products”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest vermicompost to promote plant health and manage disease.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- vermicomposte0
- Outcome
- promote plant health and manage diseasee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“vermicompost is a valuable tool to promote plant health and manage disease”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors support a vermicomposting curing step to stabilize manure-derived fertilizers.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Outcome
- adoption of a vermicomposting curing step to stabilize manure-derived fertilizer productse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“supports the adoption of a vermicomposting curing step to stabilize manure-derived fertilizer products.”
t0“Tomato”
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