Carbon Decomposition in Selected Alabama Soils Amended with Broiler Litter ALASSANE SISSOKO *and K. KPOMBLEKOU-A.

Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences College of Agricultural, Environmental and Natural Sciences Tuskegee University Tuskegee, Alabama 36088
ABSTRACT Organic carbon is generally low in Alabama soils and varies considerably with cropping systems. Decomposition rates of organic C in ten Alabama soils treated with two broiler litter (BL) samples were investigated under laboratory conditions at room temperature. A 20-g surface (0-15 cm) soil (< 2-mm) was mixed with appropriate amounts of BL to give 9 g organic C kg-1 soil. The soil-BL mixture was transferred into a French square bottle and moistened to attain 0.03 MPa (60% water holding capacity). The incubation bottle was connected to a continuous aerobic incubation apparatus. Air from a laboratory outlet was connected to a scrubber consisting of 4 M NaOH, concentrated H2SO4, a nanometer to regulate air flow, and a manifold of tygon tubes passing the CO2-free air through the incubation bottles, and test tubes containing 25 mL of standarized NaOH solution (0.2 M) to trap the CO2 evolved from the incubation bottles. Controls were included to estimate the CO2 evolved from untreated soils. The trapping solution was replaced with fresh solution on a regular basis. The CO2 trapped was determined potentiometrically by titrating a 20-mL aliquot of the NaOH solution in the test tube with a standardized HCl solution (0.2 M). Before titration, an excess 0.375 M BaCl2 solution was added to precipitate carbonate. Similarly soil samples were obtained from organic farming plots. These soils were collected in 2002 and 2005 at incremental depths at 0-1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-5, 5-10, and 10-15 cm. The samples were airdried and passed through a 2-mm sieve and incubated for 30 days under laboratory conditions as previously stated. Among the ten soil samples, Appling contained the highest amount of organic C (26.4 g kg-1), N (3.90 g kg-1), and S (0.60 g kg-1). Colbert soil contained the least amounts of C (6.88 g kg-1) and N (2.53 g kg-1). The potentially carbon mineralizable showed some differences and similarities in all soil treated or untreated with broiler litter. In Cecil soil, there was no significance difference among the three treatments at (P< 0.05). On the other hand Colbert showed a significance difference among the three treatments. These results suggest that the amount of Co depends not only on the organic fractions in the broiler litter samples but also on soil properties.

Table 3. Selected soil properties at the organic farming site.

7

CO2 evolved, g C kg-1 soil

L n organic C ram aining (ln g)

Property Values pH 5.40 5.40 Textural class Loamy sand Silt, % 18.8 Sand, % 76.2 Clay, % 5.00 Analyses represent averages of triplicate samples. Soil pH was determined by a combination glass electrode (soil: water ratio 1:2.5); particle-size distribution by the pipette method (Kilmer and Alexander 1949).
Incubation Studies The soil in the French square bottle was moisten to obtain a matric potential of 0.03 MPa. The bottle was then connected to an incubation apparatus. The incubation apparatus used was similar to that describe by Cheng and Coleman (1989) and Ajwa and Tabatabai (1994). Air from a laboratory outlet was connected to a scrubber consisting of 4 M NaOH (2 L) used to remove CO2 from the flowing air through a tygon tube. Concentrated H2SO4 was used to remove hydrocarbon contaminants and ammonia. A nanometer was also used to regulate air flow. A tygon tube connected the scrubber to the French square bottles containing the soil samples. The French square bottles were connected to test tubes (Kimble Glass Inc.) containing 25 mL of a standardized KOH (0.2 M) used to trap the CO2 evolved. Blanks were included to account for any trace amounts of CO2 that might have come from the scrubber. The air flow to each incubation bottle was set at about 10 mL min-1 using a pich clamp. The test tubes containing the trapping KOH solutions were replaced daily and the CO2 trapped was determined potentiometrically by titrating 20-mL aliquot against a standardized HCl solution (0.2 M ) after precipitating the carbonate using 6 mL of BaCl2 (0.375 M). The BaCl2 and HCl solution were added on-line using an automated titrator (Mettler Toledo titrator T70, Schwerzenbach, Switzerland) fitted with an autosampler (Rondo 60, Mettler Toledo, Schwerzenbach, Switzerland).The soil samples were incubated for 43 days (experiment 1) or 30 days (experiment 2). Model Description and Statistical Analysis The mineralizable organic C pools (Co) and the first-order rate constant (k) were estimated using the non-linear regression approach described by Smith et al. (1980) to solve the equation below: Cm = Co (1- e -kt), where Cm is the organic C mineralized (g kg-1) at a specific time (t). The Statistical Analysis System (SAS) computer language was used to calculate Co and k (Barr et al., 1976). The decomposition rate (ki) of the organic C pool was calculated from slopes of the linear segment of curves obtained from plotting the natural log of organic C remaining against time as described by (Gilmour et al., 1997). The fitting of the mathematical models was done using SASProcNLIN (SAS Institute, 1990), an iterative method using MARQUADART (1963) algorithm.

A 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
7
3 .1

Table 10. Regression equations for organic carbon mineralized (Cm) in sweetpotato (Beauregard) from organic farming plots in 2002 and 2007.
3 .3 A p p lin g a lo n e o A p p lin g + b ro ile r litte r n 1 o A p p lin g + b ro ile r litte r n 2

Sucarnoochee alone Sucarnoochee + broiler litter no1 Sunarnoochee + broiler litter no2

3 .2

k1 K2

Treatment Control

Sampling depth (cm) 0-1 1-2 2-3 3-5 5-10 10-15

Regression equations, year specified 2002 2007 Cm = 1.19 (1-e-0.007t) Cm = 3.60 (1-e-0.009t) Cm = 2.01 (1-e-0.013t) Cm = 123 (1-e-0.0003t) Cm = 2.14 (1-e-0.0142t) Cm = 2.62 (1-e-0.0101t) Cm = 2.24 (1-e-0.0066t) Cm = 2.61 (1-e-0.013t) Cm = 5.48 (1-e-0.0037t) Cm = 163 (1-e-0.00022t) Cm = 1.89 (1-e-0.016t) Cm = 1.89 (1-e-0.016t) Cm = 3.18 (1-e-0.005t) Cm = 2.81 (1-e-0.013t) Cm = 1.99 (1-e-0.014t) Cm = 174 (1-e-0.0002t) Cm = 2.14 (1-e-0.0161t) Cm = 1.35 (1-e-0.0209t) Cm = 5.22 (1-e-0.003t) Cm = 3.95 (1-e-0.0075t) Cm = 1.37 (1-e-0.021t) Cm = 181 (1-e-0.0019t) Cm = 1.38 (1-e-0.025t) Cm = 1.49 (1-e-0.018t) Cm= 1.95 (1-e-0.013t) Cm = 2.29 (1-e-0.020t) Cm = 106 (1-e-0.0005t) Cm = 67.2 (1-e-0.003t) Cm = 3.83 1-e-0.016t) Cm = 0.97 (1-e-0.065t) Cm = 1.70 (1-e-0.014t) Cm = 2.10 (1-e-0.022t) Cm = 127 (1-e-0.0004t) Cm = 9.97 (1-e-0.030t) Cm = 5.41 (1-e-0.009t) Cm = 1.02 (1-e-0.051t) Cm = 1.92 (1-e-0.012t) Cm = 5.39 (1-e-0.008t) Cm = 232 (1-e-0.0002t) Cm = 14.4 (1-e-0.021t) Cm = 160 (1-e-0.0003t) Cm = 1.20 (1-e-0.034t) Cm = 1.91 (1-e-0.014t) Cm = 1.80 (1-e-0.029t) Cm = 276 (1-e-0.0002t) Cm = 15.4 (1-e-0.025t) Cm = 2.27 1-e-0.055t) Cm = 1.9 (1-e-0.014t)

B
6 Troup alone Troup + broiler litter no1 Troup + broiler litter no2

Crimson clover alone

3 .1 C e c il a lo n e 3 .0 o C e c il + b ro ile r litte r n 1 o C e c il + b ro ile r litte r n 2

X D a ta B

2 .9

k1
2 .8

INTRODUCTON
Soils in Southeastern of the US are low in organic carbon with low soil water-holding capacity. A degraded soil is characterized by a high bulk density, low porosity, low cation exchange capacity, low base saturation, and a slow infiltration leading to a decreased soil productivity. An increase in soil organic matter content through addition of organic amendments has shown to be a valuable practice for maintaining or restoring soil quality (Wander et al., 2002). Alternative agricultural practices such as organic farming have been promoted as environmentally beneficial (Oquist et al., 2007) as they reduce agricultural impacts on water quality. Recent studies on the use and management of cover crops in agricultural systems have been directed towards conservation of resources, improvements of soil quality, reduction in pest incidences, improvement in soil fertility, and reduction in weed competition in conservation tillage systems (Caamal-Maldonado et al, 2001). Organically managed soils have significantly higher biological activity and microbial biomass leading to improved soil health. Limited studies have documented the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations on dynamics of soil C and N in different ecosystems (Zak et al., 1993) and most of these data were obtained from aerobic soils. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the carbon component of soil organic matter directly derived from plants and animals (Charmen and Roper, 1991); it plays a central role in soil quality (Chan, 2001). However, traditional agricultural practices such as land clearing and deep plowings have led to a rapid decomposition of SOC with a subsequent loss of SOC as CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. Organic matter is an essential ecosystem component; its dynamics are affected by soil management practices. The importance of soil organic matter as a sink in the C sequestration process has been recognized (La et al, 1999; Follett 2001). There are several strategies for increasing C sequestration in the soil. These strategies include: conservation tillage, soil amendment with biosolids or organic wastes, and improved crop rotations (Lal, 2004; Smith 2004). Carbon and nitrogen mineralization processes are of great importance in maintaining soil titlh. Mineralization processes are significant, particularly in wetlands affected by long-term cultivations and different cropping practices (Qualls and Richardson, 2000; Mendelssohn et al, 1999). From an environmental and agronomic point of view, judicious use of broiler litter will increase organic N and C contents of Alabama soils and improve physical and chemical properties of these sandy soils. Therefore, knowledge of carbon mineralization rates in broiler litter-amended soils of Alabama is of a great interest. In addition, large quantities of organic amendments (animal wastes, crop residues, and cover crops) are used in organic farming systems. Understanding of added organic C decomposition rates in soils helps predict contributions of organic C pools to global CO2 balance. Therefore the objectives of the present studies were to assess the C decomposition rates in broiler litter-amended Alabama soils and to compare the C decomposition rates as a function of soil depths in an organic farming system under various treatments.

2
2 .7

K2

0-1 1-2 2-3 3-5 5-10 10-15 Crimson clover + broiler litter 0-1 1-2 2-3 3-5 5-10 10-15 Crimson clover + NPK 0-1 1-2 2-3 3-5 5-10 10-15

1
2 .6

10

20 Time, day

30

40

50

2 .5 0 10 20 30 40 50

Fig. 5. Cumulative organic carbon released as CO2 from Sucarnoochee soil (A) or Troup soil (B) amended with broiler litter no.1 or no.2 and incubated for 43 days at room temperature under aerobic conditions.

T im e , d a y

F ig . 6 . N a tu ra l lo g o f o rg a n ic C re m a in in g in A p p lin g a n d C e c il so il a m e n d e d o o w ith b ro ile r litte r sa m p le n 1 o r n 2 a s a fu n c tio n o f tim e .

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Cecil

47.1 40.3 23.2 8.64 20.5 12.3 9.34 7.25 17.4

16.4 18.3 20.1 8.70 14.5 5.79 21.8 0.95 20.2

Table 4. Organic carbon, sulfur, and total nitrogen contents of selected Alabama surface soils used .

Colbert Decatur

Soil series

MATERIALS AND METHODS To achieve objectives of the present studies, two sets of experiments were conducted. The first experiment was conducted with ten non-calcareous Alabama soils and the second experiment was conducted with soil samples obtained from an organic farming system in 2002 and 2005. Experiment 1. Carbon Decomposition Rates in Broiler Litter-Amended Alabama Soils. Ten surface (0-15 cm) soil samples were collected from various Alabama Counties (Appling and Cecil soils, Tallapoosa County; Colbert, Hartsells, and Linker soils, Dekalb County; Dothan soil, Coffee County; Decatur soil, Talladega County; Maytag and Sucarnoochee soils, Bullock County; and Troup soil, Barbour County). The samples were air-dried and ground to pass through a 2-mm sieve. A subsample was finely ground to pass through a 100-mesh (149 m) sieve for analysis of organic carbon and total nitrogen. Selected properties of the soils used are shown in Table 1. In the analysis reported in Table 1, soil pH was determined by a combination glass electrode (soil: water ratio 1:2.5), organic C by the Mebius method (1960), total N by a semi-micro Kjeldahl procedure (Bremmer and Mulvaney, 1973); inorganic N by steam distillation (Keeney and Nelson 1982); and particle-size distribution by the pipette method (Kilmer and Alexander 1949). The soils collected represent Alabama noncalcareous agricultural soils that have never received broiler litter. A 20-g soil (2-mm) was thoroughly mixed with broiler litter no1 or no2 to give 9 g organic C kg-1 soil. The mixture was transferred into a French square bottle (250-mL). Selected properties of the broiler litter samples used are shown in Table 2.
Table 1. Selected properties of the soils used. Soil series Organic carbon Total nitrogen

Organic carbon Total nitrogen Organic sulfur ---------------------------------g kg-1----------------------------------26.4 3.90 0.60

Dothan Hartsells Linker Maytag

Appling

Cecil

19.0

3.38

0.48

Sucarnoochee Troup

Colbert

6.88

2.53

0.43

The percentages were obtained by dividing the difference in organic C mineralized from the treated and untreated soils by the amount of organic C in the broiler litter added to the soil.

Decatur

14.3

3.91

0.75
Table 6. Regression equations (for curves in Figs 1-5) for organic carbon mineralized (Cm) in selected Alabama soils. Treatments specified Soil series Untreated Soil + broiler litter Soil + broiler litter soil no1 no2 Cm = 3.60 (1-e Cm = 5.98 (1-e0.151t 0.082t Appling Cm = 3.68 (1-e-0.039t) ) ) Cm = 6.55 (1-e Cm = 4.78 (1-e0.089t 0.050t Cecil Cm = 3.16 (1-e-0.027t) ) ) Cm = 5.68 (1-e Cm = 4.75 (1-e0.108t 0.053t Colbert Cm = 2.34 (1-e-0.044t) ) ) Cm = 4.48 (1-e Cm = 5.33 (1-e0.095t 0.055t Decatur Cm = 2.96 (1-e-0.035t) ) ) Cm = 4.00 (1-e Cm = 5.10 (1-e0.067t 0.038t Dothan Cm = 3.64 (1-e-0.040t) ) ) Cm = 5.30 (1-e Cm = 5.33 (1-e0.100t 0.085t Hartsells Cm = 4.35 (1-e-0.037t) ) ) Cm = 4.55 (1-e Cm = 4.10 (1-e0.075t 0.082t Linker Cm = 4.04 (1-e-0.038t) ) ) Cm = 4.16 (1-e Cm = 6.92 (1-e0.082t 0.045t Maytag Cm = 3.69 (1-e-0.045t) ) ) Cm = 4.66 (1-e Cm = 4.53 (1-e0.096 0.055t Sucarnoochee Cm = 7.00 (1-e-0.019t) ) ) Cm = 4.31 (1-e Cm = 6.09 (1-e0.078t 0.042t Troup Cm = 2.80 (1-e-0.060t) ) )

Dothan

9.37

2.57

0.44

Hartsells

9.58

2.67

0.45

Maytag

7.37

2.55

0.45

pH

----g kg-1---Appling Cecil Colbert Decatur Dothan Hartsells Maytag Linker Sucarnoochee 5.95 5.87 6.05 5.90 6.48 6.06 5.95 6.31 5.91 20.6 10.9 6.87 10.4 9.37 9.56 7.37 9.71 11.5 3.90 3.38 2.53 3.66 2.57 2.67 2.55 2.73 2.82

Inorganic N + NH4 -(NO2-+NO3-)-N -------mg kg-1-----14.3 14.4 13.1 8.91 12.0 3.91 2.55 3.10 6.87 9.57 20.8 23.0 8.73 21.2 5.39 3.05 7.02 3.39

Texture Clay Silt Sand -----g kg-1-------75 75 75 125 125 25 75 125 225 125 100 650 300 325 350 475 800 700 875

Linker

9.71

2.73

0.47

Sucarnoochee

11.4

2.82

0.53

Troup

20.1

3.30

0.29

Median

10.6

2.78

0.46

900 275 575 550 625 450

7
Appling alone

Table 8. Comparison of mineralizable organic C pools (Co) in Alabama soils. Untreated soil Soil + broiler litter no1 Soil + broiler litter no2 --------------------------g C kg-1-------------------------4.72ab 4.415a 2.43c 5.36ab 5.14a 5.37b 4.33a 5.26ab 7.30a 3.82b 6.88a 6.24a 4.90b 4.37a 5.59b 4.92a 4.45b 5.12b 5.99a 6.36a 4.90b 5.93a 5.76a 6.72a 5.27a 7.04a 4.76b

Mean

20.1

3.30

0.29

Samples analyzed using the CHNS Vario EL III Analyzer

Soil series

Appling
7

A
6 5 4

Colbert alone o Colbert + broiler litter n 1 o Colbert + broiler litter n 2

Cecil Colbert Decatur Dothan

CO2 evolved, g C kg-1 soil

CO2 evolved, g C kg-1 soil

Troup 6.64 20.2 3.30 2.16 5.07 125 75 800 Appling: Fine, kaolinitic thermic kanapludult; Cecil: Fine, kaolinitic thermic, Typic kanapludults; Colbert; Fine, smetitic, thermic Vertic Hapludults; Decatur; Clayey, kaolinitic thermic Rhodic Paleudults; Dothan; Fine-loamy, siliceous,thermic Plinthic Paleudults; Hartsells; Fine-loamy, siliceous subactive thermic Typic Hapludults; Maytag; Fine montmorillonitic, thermic, oxyaquic Hapluderts; Linker; Fine-loamy, siliceous semiactive thermic Typic Hapludults; Sucarnoochee; montmorillonitic, thermic chromic Epiaqurand; Troup; Loamy, siliceous, Thermic Grossarenic Paleudults.

6 5 4

o Appling + broiler litter n 1 o Appling + broiler litter n 2

3 2 1 0
7 Decatur alone 6 o Decatur + broiler litter n 1 o Decatur + broiler litter n 2

2 1 0 7 6 5 4

Hartsells
B

Table 2. Selected properties of the broiler litter used. Broiler litter ID 1 2

Linker Maytag Sucarnoochee

Inorganic N Organic Total + pH C N NH4 (NO2- + NO3-) C/N g kg-1.. 8.4 229 27.5 1.61 1.03 8.32 8.6 351 46.1 4.39 1.95 7.59

Bedding material Pine Sawdust Peanut hulls

Litter age Month 9 9

Cecil alone o Cecil + broiler litter n 1 o Cecil + broiler litter n 2

3 2 1 0 0 10 20

Troup 2.96c 4.62b 6.18a Means with the same letter in the same row are not significantly different at P< 0.05.
Table 9. First-order rate constants for decomposition of organic C in selected Alabama soils treated with broiler litter. Broiler litter Sample ID None None None None None None None None None None 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Percentage of C evolved at each phase D1 D2 ..%...... 10.3 4.44 6.10 3.45 7.40 2.90 7.70 3.60 9.70 4.16 11.6 5.51 11.5 5.11 11.6 4.27 11.3 7.47 10.7 3.05 20.5 1.32 26.6 3.94 22.5 2.10 21.4 3.12 14.6 3.70 22.0 3.45 19.5 4.21 18.7 3.48 20.8 2.73 17.7 3.45 25.2 4.49 16.1 5.07 18.5 3.80 16.8 5.01 13.9 6.45 21.3 3.43 16.2 2.73 22.1 8.55 15.9 5.33 18.6 6.89 Half life of C remaining day 119 139 41 81 39 32 35 26 38 105 81 36 9 35 3 19 22 16 11 59 57 60 15 37 26 19 29 9 33 53

From K. Kpomblekou-A. 2006.

10

20 Time, day

30

40

50

Fig. 2. Cumulative organic carbon released as CO2 from Colbert soil (A) or Decatur

Time, day

30

40

50

soil (B) amended with broiler litter no.1 or no.2 and incubated for 43 days at room temperature under aerobic conditions.

CO2 evolved, g C kg-1 soil

CO2 evolved, g C kg-1 soil

Experiment 2. Carbon Decomposition Rates as a Function of Soil Depths in an Organic Farming System under Various Treatments. The soil samples were collected from an organic farming field established in 2002 at the George Washington Carver Agricultural Experiment Station at Tuskegee University, Tuskegee Alabama. The soil at the site is a Marvyn sandy loam (fineloamy, kaolinitic, thermic, Typic Kanhapludults). The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with four replicates and four treatments. The main plot (54 20) was split into three equal subplots. The treatments included a weed control (with no cover crop, no fertilization or broiler litter application), crimson clover alone, crimson clover plus broiler litter, and crimson clover plus NPK, (mineral fertilizers). Each year since 2002 with exception of the weed control plots, late in fall, the field is planted with crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L) at a seeding rate of 45 kg ha-1. Before planting the crimson clover seeds are inoculated with Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii innoculum at a rate of 2 g kg-1 of seeds and air dry. In spring the cover crop is cut with a mower and incorporated into soil. In addition, broiler litter is broadcasted annually at a rate of 4.65 Mg ha-1 (broiler litter treatment); ammonium nitrate is applied annually at a rate of 150 kg N ha-1 in two split applications; phosphorus is applied annually at 120 kg P2O5 ha-1 as triple super phosphate and potassium at 160 kg K2O ha-1 as potassium chloride (NPK treatment). Three sweet potato cultivars (606258; Asp-12.6; and Beauregard) were planted in June 2002 and beginning from 2003 the sweetpotato cultivars 606258 and ASP-12.6 were replaced with Porto Rico and Nugget. Soil samples were collected at incremental depths of 0-1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-5, 5-10, and 10-15 cm from sweet potato treatment plots just before harvest. Six soil samples were collected from each sub-plot within the two middle rows with an auger. Samples from each sub-plot and depth were composited and mixed in a big plastic bag for analysis. Samples were sieved moist through a < 2-mm sieve, air dried for 48 hours, stored in plastic sandwich bags until analysis. Selected properties at the experiment site are shown in Table 3.A 20-g soil sample was thoroughly mixed and transferred into a French square bottle (250-mL).

Fig. 1. Cumulative organic carbon released as CO2 from Appling soil (A) or Cecil soil (B) amended with broiler litter no.1 or broiler litter no.2 and incubated for 43 days at room temperature under aerobic conditions.

Soil series Appling Cecil Colbert Decatur Dothan Hartsells Linker Maytag Sucarnoochee Troup Appling Cecil Colbert Decatur Dothan Hartsells Linker Maytag Sucarnoochee Troup Appling Cecil Colbert Decatur Dothan Hartsells Linker Maytag Sucarnoochee Troup

7 A 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7
Hartsells alone Dothan alone Dothan + broiler litter no1 Dothan + broiler litter no2

7
Linker alone

A
Linker + broiler litter no1 Linker +Broiler litter no2

6 5 4 3 2 1 0
7

B
Maytag alone 6 Maytag + broiler litter no1 Maytag + broiler litter no2

6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0

o Hartsells + broiler litter n 1 o Harsells + broiler litter n 2

X Data
2

10

20 Time, day

30

40

50

10

20 Time, day

30

40

50

Fig. 3. Cumulative organic carbon released as CO2 from Dothan soil (A) or Hartsells soil (B) amended with broiler litter n .1 or n .2 and incubated for 43 days at room temperature under aerobic conditions.
o o

Fig. 4. Cumulative organic carbon released as CO2 from Linker soil (A) or Maytag soil (B) amended with broiler litter no.1 or no.2 and incubated for 43 days at room temperature under aerobic conditions.

Rate constant k k1 k2 -1 . day ............ 0.039 0.004 0.002 0.027 0.003 0.002 0.044 0.011 0.005 0.035 0.006 0.003 0.040 0.012 0.006 0.037 0.013 0.008 0.038 0.013 0.007 0.045 0.018 0.009 0.019 0.010 0.008 0.060 0.005 0.002 0.15 0.008 0.001 0.089 0.016 0.003 0.108 0.063 0.015 0.095 0.017 0.003 0.067 0.019 0.006 0.100 0.032 0.005 0.075 0.024 0.007 0.082 0.033 0.009 0.096 0.022 0.038 0.078 0.009 0.002 0.082 0.010 0.002 0.050 0.008 0.003 0.053 0.031 0.016 0.055 0.014 0.005 0.038 0.017 0.010 0.085 0.030 0.007 0.082 0.020 0.004 0.045 0.041 0.035 0.052 0.015 0.006 0.042 0.009 0.004

Co g kg-1 3.68 3.16 2.34 2.96 3.64 4.55 4.04 3.69 7.00 2.80 3.60 6.56 5.68 4.48 4.00 5.30 4.55 4.16 4.66 4.31 5.98 4.78 4.75 5.33 5.10 5.33 4.10 6.92 4.53 6.09

References Ajwa, H.a., Tabatabai, M.A., 1994. Decomposition of different organic materials in soils. Biol. Fertil. Soils 18: 175-182. Barr, A.J., Goodnight, J.H., Sall, J.P., Helwig, J.I. 1976. A users guideto SAS, SAS Institute Inc Raleigh, NC. Bremmer, J.M., Molvaney, C.S. 1982. Nitrogen-total. In: Page AL, Miller, H.R., Keeney, D.R. (eds) Agronomy 9, Part 2, 2nd edn. Am Soc Agron, Madison Wis, pp 595-624. Broadent, F.E., Nakashima, T. 1974. Mineralization of carbon and nitrogen in soil in soil amended with carbon-13 and nitrogen-15 labeled plant material. Soil Sci Am Proc 38: 313-315. De Graaff, M.-A., Six, J., Harris, D., Blum, H., Van Kessel, C. 2004. Decomposition of soil and plant carbon from pasture systems after 9 years of exposure to elevated CO2 : impact on C cycling and modeling. Global Change Biology 10 1922-1935. Khalil, M.I., Hossain, M.B., Schmidhalter, U. 2005. Carbon and nitrogen mineralization in different uplandsoils of the subtropics treated with organic materials. SoilBiology & Biochemistry 37, 1507-1518. Kpomblekou,K.A. 2006. Relative proportion of inorganic and total nitrogen in broiler litter as determined by various methods. J. Sci. Food Agrc 86: 2354-2362. Mebius, L.J. 1960. A rapid method for determination of organic carbon in soil. An Chim Acta 22:120-124. Mrabet, R., 2002. Stratification of soil aggregation and organic matter under conservation tillage systems in Africa. Soil Till. Res. 66: 119-128.

Experiment 1. Carbon Decomposition Rates in Broiler Litter-Amended Alabama Soils. Organic C, N, and S contents of the soil samples are presented in Table 4. Among the ten soil samples, Appling contained the highest amount of organic C (26.4 g kg-1), N (3.90 g kg-1), and S (0.60 g kg-1). Colbert soil contained the least amounts of C (6.88 g kg-1) and N (2.53 g kg-1). Organic C and N contents of soils are to a large extent a function of climate and vegetation. Thus soils in the southeastern US tend to contain less organic C and N than soils in the northeast and Midwest US because of a rapid mineralization and turnover of organic carbon. The interrelationships among several soil properties (organic C, total N, sand, clay, etc.) may affect substrate availability to microorganisms and have a profound influence on C mineralization rates, influencing the mineralization rate and extent. As shown in Table 4, analytical results demonstrated that soils from Alabama Counties vary considerably in organic C and N with medians and means of 10.6 and 20.1 for organic C and 2.78 and 3.30 g kg-1 soil for total N, respectively. a. The amounts of CO2 evolved varied with soil types and broiler litter samples. Both broiler litter samples in soils released different amounts of CO2 suggesting that fractions of organic C in the broiler samples are not the same. Differences in the amounts CO2 evolved from the same broiler litter sample in two different soils (Fig. 1A and 1B) suggest that CO2 evolved in the broiler litter sample depends not only on the organic fractions in the broiler samples but also on soil properties. Similarly the broiler litter samples behaved differently in Colbert (Fig. 2A), Maytag (Fig. 4B), and Sucarnoochee soils (Fig.5A). In Decatur, Dothan, Hartsells, Linker, and Troup soils, the decomposition of broiler litter followed a much closer similar trend (Figs. 2B, 3A and B, 4B and 5B). Using three Iowa surface (0-15 cm) soil samples, Ajwa and Tabatabai (1994) reported that soil properties did not markedly affect amount of CO2 evolved. The decomposition rate of native soil organic C in a given soil was assumed to be the same in the presence of different organic materials (priming effect) by various investigators (Pinck et al., 1950; Hallan and Bartholomew 1953, Broadbent and Nakashima 1974). Thus in these studies differences in CO2 evolved in the same soil may be solely attributed to difference in the soluble fractions of organic C in the broiler litter samples. When broiler litter no1 or no2 was added to Sucarnoochee soil, only 7.25 % and 0.95 % organic C evolved as CO2, respectively (Table 5). Sucarnoochee has a montmorillonitic clay (Table 1) and one may speculate that it protected the broiler litter added from microbial decomposition. Regression equations for curves in Figs. 1-5 are shown in Table 6. b. Statistical analyses showed that Alabama soils untreated with broiler litter have distinct differences in their ability to release their native organic matter as CO2. Sucarnoochee soil contains a moderate amount of organic C (11.5 g kg-1, Table 1) but with the highest mineralizable C (Co, Table 7) released (7.30 g C kg-1 soil). The second distinct group of soils have Co varying between 5.4 and 3.00 g C kg-1 soil (Hartsells, Decatur, Maytag, Dothan, Appling, Cecil, and Linker soils). The third group have a Co less than 3.00g C kg-1 soil (Troup and Colbert soils). c. When treated with broiler litter, the mineralizable C (Co) released varied greatly with soils. The analysis of variance showed that in general as far as potentially mineralizable C is concerned, Alabama soils tested can be divided into three distinct groups. Those with high Co greater than 5.6 g C kg-1 soil (Hartsells and Cecil soils), those with Co greater than 4.8 but less than 5.6 g C kg-1 (Sucarnoochee, Maytag, Decatur, Dothan, Appling, and Linker soils), and those with Co less than 4.6 g kg-1 (Troup and Colbert). It is important to notice that Troup soil has the second highest organic C content (20.2 g kg-1) but represents with Colbert soils with the least Co (Table 7). d. Sample curves for organic C remaining in soil after 43 days of incubation are shown for Appling and Cecil soils in Fig. 6. The decomposition of native C or organic C from broiler litter treated soils occurred in two phases represented by D1 and D2 in Table 8. In all the treatments, the largest portion of the organic C evolved during phase I; this portion that mineralized in phase I represents the easily decomposable fraction. For the untreated soils, it varied from 6.10 % in Cecil soil to 11.6 % in Hartsells and Maytag soils (Table 8). The average organic C evolved in phase II of the untreated soil varied from 2.90 % (Colbert soil) to 7.47 % (Sucarnoochee soil). In Cecil soil treated with broiler litter no1, 26.6 and 3.94 % organic C evolved in phase I and II, respectively. Among the soils treated with broiler litter no2, Maytag soil released 22.1 % in phase I and 8.55 % in phase II of organic C. In all only 18.3 % organic C evolved from Dothan soil treated with broiler litter no1 with 14.6 % and 3.70 % organic evolved in phase I and II, respectively. Half-life of C remaining in untreated soils varied from 26 days in Maytag soil to 139 days in Cecil soil. The organic C in these untreated soils represents a very stable form of the organic C that could not be easily decomposed by soil microorganisms. In the treated soils, the half-live of remaining C varied considerably with soil type and broiler sample. Experiment 2. Carbon Decomposition Rates as a Function of Soil Depths in an Organic Farming System under Various Treatments. The organic C accumulated under each treatment varied considerably with depths and treatments. Organic C evolved as CO2 in 2002 and 2007 from soil samples collected in control, crimson clover alone, crimson clover + broiler litter, or crimson clover + NPK are provided in Figs. 7 and 8 as illustration. a. It is noticeable that at the beginning of the experiment, the soil was very low in organic C, thus only small amounts of CO2 evolved. The cumulative CO2 evolved was below 1.2 g C kg-1 in 2002. After years of cultivation, organic C content of the soil increased significantly and the cumulative CO2 evolved reached 8.00 g C kg-1 soil in the crimson clover + NPK treatment in 2007. b. Irrespective of treatments and years, the 3-5 cm showed the largest quantities of organic C evolved as CO2. The total CO2 evolved in the control weed plot in 2007 was 5.41 g C kg-1 at the 3-5 cm depth (Fig. 7). In the crimson clover plot, the CO2 evolved was 5.98 g C kg-1 in 2007. Amendment of broiler litter seemed to have increased the CO2 evolved from the crimson clover + broiler litter plot (6.78 g C kg-1) in the 3-5 cm depth (Fig. 8). Similarly, complementation of NPK to crimson clover increased the amount of C evolved (8.17 g C kg-1) in the 3-5 cm. c. Regression equations describing curves in Figs. 7 and 8 are shown in Table 9. Although in the control plots shown for 2007, the CO2 evolved increased considerably in the 3-5 cm depth, the mineralizable C (Co) pool decreased from 123 to 67.2 g kg-1 soil. In the crimson clover alone plot, the Co increased from 5.48 g kg-1 in 2002 to 127 g C kg-1 in 2007 at 2-3 cm depth, however in the 2002, it decreased from 163 to 9.97 g C kg-1 at the 3-5 cm depth. There was a shift of CO2 evolved with depths in the crimson clover + broiler litter and crimson clover + NPK. The Co increased in depths 2-3 cm and 5-10 cm depths in the crimson clover + broiler litter treatment. In the crimson clover + NPK, the Co increased at depth 2-3 cm but decreased considerably at 0-1, 1-2, and 3-5 cm depths.
Table 10. Regression equations for organic carbon mineralized (Cm) in sweetpotato (Beauregard) from organic farming plots in 2002 and 2007. Sampling Regression equations, year specified depth (cm) 2002 2007 0-1 1-2 2-3 3-5 5-10 10-15 0-1 1-2 2-3 3-5 5-10 10-15 Cm = 1.19 (1-e-0.007t) Cm = 3.60 (1-e-0.009t) Cm = 2.01 (1-e-0.013t) Cm = 123 (1-e-0.0003t) Cm = 2.14 (1-e-0.0142t) Cm = 2.62 (1-e-0.0101t) Treatment Control Cm= 1.95 (1-e-0.013t) Cm = 2.29 (1-e-0.020t) Cm = 106 (1-e-0.0005t) Cm = 67.2 (1-e-0.003t) Cm = 3.83 1-e-0.016t) Cm = 0.97 (1-e-0.065t) Cm = 1.70 (1-e-0.014t) Cm = 2.10 (1-e-0.022t) Cm = 127 (1-e-0.0004t) Cm = 9.97 (1-e-0.030t) Cm = 5.41 (1-e-0.009t) Cm = 1.02 (1-e-0.051t) Cm = 1.92 (1-e-0.012t) Cm = 5.39 (1-e-0.008t) Cm = 232 (1-e-0.0002t) Cm = 14.4 (1-e-0.021t) Cm = 160 (1-e-0.0003t) Cm = 1.20 (1-e-0.034t) Cm = 1.91 (1-e-0.014t) Cm = 1.80 (1-e-0.029t) Cm = 276 (1-e-0.0002t) Cm = 15.4 (1-e-0.025t) Cm = 2.27 1-e-0.055t) Cm = 1.9 (1-e-0.014t) Crimson clover alone Cm = 2.24 (1-e-0.0066t) Cm = 2.61 (1-e-0.013t) Cm = 5.48 (1-e-0.0037t) Cm = 163 (1-e-0.00022t) Cm = 1.89 (1-e-0.016t) Cm = 1.89 (1-e-0.016t) Cm = 3.18 (1-e-0.005t) Cm = 2.81 (1-e-0.013t) Cm = 1.99 (1-e-0.014t) Cm = 174 (1-e-0.0002t) Cm = 2.14 (1-e-0.0161t) Cm = 1.35 (1-e-0.0209t) Cm = 5.22 (1-e-0.003t) Cm = 3.95 (1-e-0.0075t) Cm = 1.37 (1-e-0.021t) Cm = 181 (1-e-0.0019t) Cm = 1.38 (1-e-0.025t) Cm = 1.49 (1-e-0.018t) Crimson clover + broiler litter 0-1 1-2 2-3 3-5 5-10 10-15 0-1 1-2 2-3 3-5 5-10 10-15 Crimson clover + NPK

Table 5. Percentage of organic C evolved as CO2-C from broiler litter-treated soil in 43 days of incubation under aerobic condition. Broiler litter sample as speficied Soil series no1 no2 -------------------%---------------Appling 6.7 22.4