Open access publications in the SLU publication database

Abstract

The recirculation of biologically treated organic waste back to soil will help to promote sustainable agricultural development. However, although the use of such waste residues as fertilizers generally is beneficial for the soil ecosystem there is concern regarding their content of pollutants. In this thesis, the effects of biologically treated organic waste residues on the structure and function of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and total bacteria communities in agricultural soils were investigated using molecular fingerprinting methods in combination with potential activity measurements. The AOB perform the rate-limiting step in the nitrification process and are considered to be sensitive to environmental disturbances. Using AOB activity as an indicator, different organic waste residues were demonstrated to contain organic compounds that inhibit this group of organisms. Furthermore, it was possible to identify a correlation between the degree of inhibition of AOB activity and the concentration of phenols. However, in these studies no link between activity inhibition and shifts in community structure was seen. The possibility to link effects on bacterial activity to community structure was further studied by targeting the active AOB by BrdU incorporation. In this way, short-term effects of a pollutant (4-ethylphenol) on the active AOB community structure were identified, which could not be detected on the total community. Effects of different fertilization regimes on the structure and function of AOB became more evident when a long-term field study was investigated. A link between AOB community structure and metabolic function was detected in a soil subjected to different fertilization regimes for 50 years. In addition, a low AOB diversity was detected in soil treatments in which the total bacterial community also showed signs of stress. Thus, the decrease in AOB activity and diversity also indicated a stressed soil environment. In conclusion, this thesis has demonstrated that pollutants in biologically treated organic waste residues can have negative impacts on the structure and function of AOB communities in soil. However, potential risks must be compared with the benefits arising from the use of organic waste residues in agriculture.