Infrequent composted biosolids applications affect semi-arid grassland soils and vegetation

Journal of Environmental Management

Volumn 91, Issue 5, 2010, Pages 1123-1130

  Ippolito, J A ^a   Barbarick, K A ^b   Paschke, M W ^b   Brobst, R B ^c  

^a Northwest Irrigat Soils Res Lab   (United States)

^b Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences   (United States)

^c US Environmental Protection Agency Region 8   (United States)

Author keywords

Composted biosolids application; Long term effects; Metals; Nitrogen; Phosphorus; Plant species composition; Short term effects; Soil carbon

Indexed keywords

APPLICATION PROGRAMS; BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS; BIOSOLIDS; CARBON; COMPOSTING; COMPUTER SOFTWARE REUSABILITY; ECOSYSTEMS; PHOSPHORUS; SOILS;

BENEFICIAL REUSE; COMPOSTED BIOSOLID APPLICATION; GRASSLAND SOILS; GRASSLAND VEGETATION; LONG-TERM EFFECTS; PLANT SPECIES COMPOSITION; PROGRAM MANAGEMENT; SEMI-ARID GRASSLANDS; SHORT-TERM EFFECTS; SOIL CARBON;

NITROGEN;

AMMONIA; BARIUM; CADMIUM; COPPER; MOLYBDENUM; NITRATE; NITROGEN; PENTETIC ACID; PHOSPHORUS; SOIL ORGANIC MATTER; ZINC;

BIOSOLID; COMPOSTING; GRASSLAND SOIL; NITROGEN; PHOSPHORUS; PLANT COMMUNITY; SEMIARID REGION; SOIL CARBON; SOIL CHEMISTRY; VEGETATION;

AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT; ARTICLE; BIOSOLID; COMPOSTING; CONCENTRATION (PARAMETERS); CONTROLLED STUDY; GRASSLAND; NONHUMAN; PH; PLANT COMMUNITY; PLANT TISSUE; RECYCLING; SEMIARID CLIMATE; SOIL CHEMISTRY; SOIL DEPTH; SOIL TREATMENT; SPECIES COMPOSITION; UNITED STATES; VEGETATION;

COLORADO; UNITED STATES;

EID: 77649272090     PISSN: 03014797     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.01.004     Document Type: Article

References (34)

1. de Andres F., Walter I., and Tenorio J.L. Revegetation of abandoned agricultural land amended with biosolids. Science of the Total Environment 378 (2007) 81-83
2. Baldwin K.R., and Shelton J.E. Availability of heavy metals in compost-amended soil. Bioresource Technology 69 (1999) 1-14
3. Barbarick K.A., and Workman S.M. Ammonium bicarbonate-DTPA and DTPA extractions of sludge-amended soils. Journal of Environmental Quality 16 (1987) 125-130
4. Bremner J.M. Nitrogen - total. In: Sparks D.L. (Ed). Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 3 - Chemical Methods (1996), Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, USA 1085-1121
5. Brown S., Chaney R.L., Hallfrisch J.G., and Xue Q. Effect of biosolids processing on lead bioavailability in an urban soil. Journal of Environmental Quality 32 (2003) 100-108
6. Fernandez J.M., Plaza C., Hernandez D., and Polo A. Carbon mineralization in an arid soil amended with thermally-dried and composted sewage sludges. Geoderma 137 (2007) 497-503
7. Fresquez P.R., Francis R.E., and Dennis G.L. Sewage sludge effects on soil and plant quality in a degraded, semiarid grassland. Journal of Environmental Quality 19 (1990) 324-329
8. Fresquez P.R., Francis R.E., and Dennis G.L. Soil and vegetation responses to sewage sludge on a degraded semiarid broom snakeweed/blue grama plant community. Journal of Range Management 43 (1990) 325-331
9. Harris-Pierce, R.L., 1994. The Effect of Sewage Sludge Application on Native Rangeland Soils and Vegetation. MS thesis. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
10. Harris-Pierce R., Barbarick K.A., and Redente E.F. Annual Report to the City of Fort Collins, CO: The Effect of Sewage Sludge Application on Native Rangeland Soils and Vegetation, Fort Collins Meadow Springs Ranch (1993), Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
11. Huang C.L., and Schulte E.E. Digestion of plant tissue for analysis by ICP emission spectroscopy. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 16 (1985) 943-958
12. Ippolito J.A., and Barbarick K.A. Biosolids affect soil Ba in a dryland wheat agroecosystem. Journal of Environmental Quality 35 (2006) 2333-2341
13. Mantovi P., Baldoni G., and Toderi G. Reuse of liquid, dewatered, and composted sewage sludge on agricultural land: effects of long-term application on soil and crop. Water Research 39 (2005) 289-296
14. Moral R., Moreno-Caselles J., Perez-Murcia M., and Perez-Espinosa A. Improving the micronutrient availability in calcareous soils by sewage sludge amendment. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 33 (2002) 3015-3022
15. Mulvaney R.L. Nitrogen - inorganic forms. In: Sparks D.L. (Ed). Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 3 - Chemical Methods (1996), Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, USA 1123-1184
16. National Research Council. 2005. Mineral Tolerance of Animals second revised ed. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, USA.
17. Nelson D.W., and Sommers L.E. Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. In: Sparks D.L. (Ed). Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 3 - Chemical Methods (1996), Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, USA 975-977
18. NOAA. Annual Climatological Summary, Station 053005. Available at: (2009). http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/ancsum/ACS (verified March 2009)
19. NRCS. Soil Survey of Larimer County Area, Colorado. Available at: (1980). http://soils.usda.gov/survey/online_surveys/colorado/larimer/Text-Part%201.pdf (verified March 2009)
20. Paschke M.W., McLendon T., and Redente E.F. Nitrogen availability and old-field succession in a shortgrass steppe. Ecosystems 3 (2000) 144-158
21. Rhoades J.D. Salinity: electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids. In: Sparks D.L. (Ed). Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 3 - Chemical Methods (1996), Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, USA 417-435
22. SAS Institute. SAS/STAT User's Guide. Version 9.1 (2002), SAS Inst., Cary, NC
23. Soltanpour P.N., Johnson G.W., Workman S.M., Jones Jr. J.B., and Miller R.O. Inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. In: Sparks D.L. (Ed). Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 3 - Chemical Methods (1996), Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, USA 91-139
24. Speir T.W., Horswell J., vanSchaik A.P., McLaren R.G., and Fietje G. Composted biosolids enhance fertility of a sandy loam soil under dairy pasture. Biology and Fertility of Soils 40 (2004) 349-358
25. Steel R.G.D., and Torrie J.H. Principles and Procedures of Statistics: A Biometrical Approach. second ed. (1980), McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, USA
26. Sullivan T.S., Stromberger M.E., Paschke M.W., and Ippolito J.A. Long-term impacts of infrequent biosolids applications on chemical and microbial properties of a semi-arid rangeland soil. Biology and Fertility of Soils 42 (2006) 258-266
27. Tarrason D., Ortiz O., and Alcaniz J.M. A multi-criteria evaluation of organic amendments used to transform an unproductive shrubland into a Mediterranean dehesa. Journal of Environmental Management 82 (2007) 446-456
28. Thomas G.W. Soil pH and Soil Acidity. In: Sparks D.L. (Ed). Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 3 - Chemical Methods (1996), Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, USA 475-490
29. US EPA. 40 CFR-Part 257 and 503, Standards for the Disposal of Sewage Sludge; Final Rule (1993), US EPA, Washington, DC, USA
30. US EPA. A Guide to the Biosolids Risk Assessments for the EPA Part 503 Rule (1995), United States Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Wastewater Management, Washington, DC, USA
31. US EPA. Biosolids. Available at: (2007). http://www.epa.gov/owm/mtb/biosolids/genqa.htm (verified March 2009)
32. US EPA. Region 8 - Biosolids. Available at: (2007). http://www.epa.gov/region08/water/biosolids/index.html (verified March 2009)
33. Wei Y., and Liu Y. Effects of sewage sludge compost application on crops and cropland in a 3-year field study. Chemosphere 59 (2005) 1257-1265
34. Zubillaga M.S., and Lavado R.S. Heavy metal content in lettuce plants grown in biosolids compost. Compost Science and Utilization 10 (2002) 363-367