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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Evangelos Petropoulos
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by ALOKI Applied Ecological Research and Forensic Institute Ltd., 2020.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
Urban green space could efficiently tackle surface water management issues in modern cities. To achieve this purpose, it is necessary to transform traditional urban infrastructure accordingly, especially the areas of soil that support plantation. Constrained by poor soil structure and limited but unevenly distributed precipitation, the Loess Plateau is characterized by a fragile ecological system. Organic amendments could improve soil structure and the concomitant water holding capacity by increasing soil organic matter and aggregation stability, in which soil microorganism could play a key role. Here, three typical agricultural organic materials, animal manure (AM), plant residue (PR) and mushroom residue (MR), were evaluated in soil amelioration in the Loess Plateau. In addition, a new kind of synthetic polymers, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and a widely used inorganic soil conditioner, volcanic pumice (VOP) were also included in the comparison. The results showed that AM imposed the greatest beneficial effect on soil water holding capacity, aggregate stability, and enzyme activities, as well as microbial diversity and community composition, followed by PR and MR. PVA and VOP imposed no obvious, if not negative, effect on soil properties. In conclusion, animal manure could be a good soil amendment in the arid area of the Loess Plateau or other regions with similar soil properties.
Author(s): Zhang J, Huang M, Petropoulos E, Song L, He SY
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Applied Ecology and Environmental Research
Year: 2020
Volume: 18
Issue: 3
Pages: 3861-3872
Online publication date: 08/01/2020
Acceptance date: 08/01/2020
Date deposited: 01/06/2020
ISSN (print): 1589-1623
ISSN (electronic): 1785-0037
Publisher: ALOKI Applied Ecological Research and Forensic Institute Ltd.
URL: https://doi.org/10.15666/aeer/1803_38613872
DOI: 10.15666/aeer/1803_38613872
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