Dynamics of growth and succession of bacterial and fungal communities during composting of feather waste

Succession of communities of different bacteria and fungi, mainly proteolytic and keratinolytic ones, was observed during composting of chicken feathers with pine bark (FB) and with pine bark/rye straw (FBS). The succession was dominated by fungal than bacterial communities. Bacteria, including Actinomycetes, grew intensively during the first 2–4 weeks of composting and included mainly proteolytic, rarely cellulolytic, populations; afterwards, bacteria were gradually replaced by fungi. Meso- and thermophilic ubiquitous fungi, including cellulolytic ones, appeared among fungal representatives as the first, while keratinolytic strains were detected in the compost biomass at the 6th week of the process. The development of strains within the second fungal group was significantly more intensive than that of cellulolytic populations. The intensity of growth of particular ecological–physiological communities was found to be dependent on chemical content and C/N ratio of biomass and was the strongest in C/N = 25 composts.