Additives to stimulate microbial activity

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Table of contents

Chapter 1 Improving the environmental footprint and properties of compost and vermicompost through mineral, organic and biological additives
1. Principle and differences of two waste management strategies: composting and vermicomposting
1.1. Definition of the composting process
1.2. Definition of the vermicomposting process
1.3. Advantages and disadvantages of these processes
2. Optimizing composting processes by using additives
2.1. Different types and sources of additives
2.2. Effects of additives on the composting processes
2.2.1. Effects of additives on composting temperature profile
2.2.2 Additives to stimulate microbial activity
2.2.3. Additives to improve aeration
2.2.4. Additives to regulate the moisture content
2.2.5. Additives to buffer pH
4. Influence of the additives on gas emissions during composting
4.1 Odour emissions
4.2. GHG emissions
3. Effects of application of co-compost on soil properties and plant development
3.1. General soil definition and soil “health” definitions
3.2. Qualities of co-compost as potting media or soil amendments: influences of additives on nutrient availability, metal availability and soil fertility
3.2.1. Reduction of environmental hazards due to heavy metals
3.2.2. Influence of additives on the nutrient contents and availability
3.2.3 Co-compost stability and carbon sequestration potential of soil amended with cocompost
4. Stabilization of organic matter: mechanisms occurring in soil Innovative waste treatment by composting with minerals and worms
4.1. Physical and chemical stabilization mechanisms
4.1.1. Biochemical protection through organo-mineral associations
4.1.2. Physical protection through macro- and microaggregates
4.1.3. Chemical protection through recalcitrance
4.2. Worm implications in stabilization of organic matter
Chapter 2 Influence of worms and minerals on fresh organic matter degradation and compost stabilization
1. Materials and methods
2.1. Fresh organic matter and mineral properties
2.2. Worm species
2.3. Model (compost and vermicompost) systems
2.4. Analysis of mineral and organic constituents
2.5. NMR spectroscopy
2.6. Transmission electron microscopy
2.7. Calculation and statistical analysis
2. Results
2.1. Macroscopic observations of organic residue degradation
2.2. Microscopic structure of the end-products: TEM analysis
2.3. Carbon dynamics during incubations
2.4. Properties of the final products after 196 days of incubation
2.4.1. Carbon content and dissolved organic carbon
2.4.2. NMR spectroscopy
3. Discussion
3.1. Carbon mineralisation without worms: effect of clay and iron oxide addition
3.2. Changes in compost chemical composition with mineral addition
3.3. Influence of worms on the protection of fresh organic matter through organo-mineral associations
4. Conclusion
Chapter 3 Addition of clay, iron oxide and worms during composting affects N, P nutrients, microbes and physicochemical properties of composts
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Experimental set-up
2.2. Analytical methods
2.2.1. Elemental analysis
2.2.2. Phosphorus fractionation
2.2.3. Microbial biomass
2.2.4. Phospholipids fatty acids (PLFA)
2.3. Statistical analysis
3. Results
3.1. Physico-chemical characteristics of the composts and vermicomposts
3.2. Microbial abundance and community structure in composts and vermicomposts
3.3. Phosphorus and nitrogen availability
4. Discussion
4.1. Influence of minerals on the compost physico-chemical characteristics
4.2. Influence of minerals on the microbial parameters of the composts
4.3. Influence of minerals on the compost nutrient availability
4.4. Worms may counterbalance the negative effects of minerals
5. Conclusion
Chapter 4 Influence of application to soil of co-compost and co-vermicompost produced with clay minerals and iron oxides on carbon mineralization and distribution
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Soil sampling and preparation
2.2. Composts and vermicomposts materials
2.3. Experimental design
2.4. Microbial biomass
2.5. Carbon fractionation
2.6. Analytical methods
2.7. Statistical analysis
3. Results
3.1. Characteristics of the organic amendments
3.2. Amended soil characteristics
3.3. Carbon mineralization and evolution of the microbial biomass
3.4. Carbon repartition in fractions of amended soils
4. Discussion
4.1. Effect of co-compost application to soil on organic matter mineralization and microbial biomass carbon Innovative waste treatment by composting with minerals and worms
4.2. The application of co-compost changed soil carbon distribution and soil nitrogen forms
4.3. Co-vermicompost with minerals: an efficient strategy to increase soil carbon storage?
5. Conclusion
Chapter 5 Growth of Arabidopsis Thaliana in potting media made of co-vermicompost and co compost with clay minerals
1. Introduction
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Potting media and organic amendments
2.2. Experimental set up
2.3. Plant and substrate analysis
2.3.1. Seed, root and shoot biomass
2.3.2. Measurement of leaf surface area and projected surfaces
2.3.3. Heavy metal contents and nutrient contents
3. Results
3.1. Carbon and nitrogen composition of roots and shoots during plant growth
3.1.1. Non fertilized treatments
3.1.2. Fertilized treatments
3.2. Evolution of plant growth parameters
3.2.1. Non fertilized treatments
3.2.2. Fertilized treatments
3.3. Length of inflorescence and seed yields
4. Discussion
4.1. Growth parameters and seed yields with compost and vermicompost
4.2. Influence of clay application within compost and vermicompost
4.3. Nitrogen concentration in plant tissues depends on the substrate and the presence of clay
5. Conclusion
Chapter 6 Addition of worms during composting with red mud and fly ash reduces CO2 emissions and increases plant available nutrient contents
1.Introduction
2. Materials and methods
2.1 Fresh organic matter, additives and worms
2.2 Elemental and chemical analysis
2.3 Incubation experiment and measurements of CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions
2.4 Microbial biomass and phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA)
2.5 Phosphorus fractionation
2.6 Calculation and statistical analysis
3.Results
3.1 End-product characteristics
3.2 Gas emissions and decomposition rate
3.3 Microbial biomass amounts and communities
3.4 Phosphorus fractions and nutrient contents
4. Discussion
4.1 Alkaline materials influenced GHG emissions, in particular CO2
4.2 Alkaline materials influenced the qualities of the final products
4.3 Worms increased co-compost qualities but also GHG emissions
5. Conclusion