Effects of municipal solid waste compost and sewage sludge on mineralization of soil organic matter

This work sets out to verify whether the application of municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) or treated urban sewage sludge (USS) organic amendments efficiently promote organic matter (OM) increases in a Haplic Podzol (PZha) and in a Calcic Vertisol (VRcc). For that purpose, carbon (C) mineralization and C kinetic parameters were studied, using a laboratory experimental incubation setup. The results showed that the addition of the amendments to the soils increased their mineralization capacities, and that the highest C mineralization rate was reached at the end of the first 2 d of incubation. The different characteristics of the soils seem to have influenced the C mineralization rates during the 28-d incubation. The USS induced higher C mineralization than the MSWC, and the PZha soil gave rise to higher C mineralization than VRcc. For all treatments, C mineralization adjusted well to an exponential plus linear kinetic model, suggesting that the organic C of the amendments was made up of two organic pools of differing degrees of stability. With the exception of the application of USS 60 t ha−1, all the treatments increased the OM content on both soils, or at least the OM remained constant throughout the incubation.