Abstract
Solid–liquid separation is now a common slurry management on European farms and many separation techniques are now available. The choice of technique used is based mostly on financial reasons even if the dry matter separation efficiency is also considered. Nevertheless, previous studies showed that the separation technique used influenced the composition of the resulting liquid (LF) and solid (SF) fractions. Hence, our hypothesis is that separation technique influences the C and N dynamics in soils amended with the resulting SF and LF. A laboratory incubation was performed with a sandy soil to assess the influence of five different separation techniques on the N and C dynamics in soil amended with the resulting LF and SF, namely the potential of each fraction for N and organic matter supply to plant and soil systems. Our results showed that the separation technique affects significantly the soil C pools in soils amended with the resulting LF and SF. Nevertheless, the differences between SFs were very low, whereas higher C losses were observed from LFs obtained with active separation techniques such as sieving relative to passive techniques such as sediment settling. The N dynamics in soils amended with the different SF obtained were similar but the extent of NH4 + immobilization differs with the LF considered. Furthermore, higher and faster nitrification was observed with LFs obtained by sediment settling and centrifugation relative to sieving. A higher N mineralization relative to untreated slurry was observed in most fractions and the N mineralization rates were significantly influenced by the separation technique.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) for financially supporting this research through the projects “Animal slurry management: sustainable practices at field scale” (PTDC/AGR-PRO/119428/2010) and (ProjectPEst-OE/AGR/UI0528/2011). David Fangueiro has received a grant from the FCT (SFRH/BPD/84229/2012).
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Fangueiro, D., Coutinho, J., Borges, L. et al. Nitrogen and carbon availability of liquid and solid fractions of pig slurry obtained using different separation technologies. Biol Fertil Soils 50, 333–341 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-013-0861-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-013-0861-z