Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Orono, Maine » New England Plant, Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #195573
Title: IMPACTS OF LONG-TERM LAND APPLICATION OF POULTRY LITTER ON METAL STATUS IN SOIL

Author
item TAZISONG, I. - ALABAMA A&M UNIV
item He, Zhongqi
item SENWO, Z - ALABAMA A&M UNIV
item ZHANG, D - UNIV OF MAINE

Submitted to: World Congress of Soil Science
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/15/2006
Publication Date: 7/9/2006
Citation: Tazisong, I.A., He, Z., Senwo, Z.N., Zhang, D. 2006. Impacts of long-term land application of poultry litter on metal status in soil. World Congress of Soil Science. July 9-15, 2006 Abstracts page 433.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Poultry litter (PL) contains fairly high concentrations of heavy metals due to their use as growth promoters and biocides in poultry feeds. Whereas some of these elements are micronutrients for plant growth, high concentrations accumulated in soils due to long-term PL application could lead to crop toxicities. We determined the concentrations of 10 metals (Al, Fe, Cu, Mn, Ni, Zn, Cr, Pb, Cd, and Mo) in pasture soils with various histories of PL application to evaluate their long-term impacts on soil metal status. Samples were collected from three soil depths (0-20, 20-40, and 40-60 cm) of the Hartsells series (fine-loamy, siliceous, subactive, thermic, Typic Hapludults) on a 3-8% slope in the Sand Mountain region of north Alabama. Soils had received annual PL applications for 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 years. Total and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA)-extractable metal concentrations in these soils were determined and analyzed. Our data indicate that the build-up of some metals in soils was significant with long-term PL application, but not for others. However, metal extractability, or mobility, was not correlated with total metal concentrations. Additional research is needed to understand the impacts of poultry litter application on metal content and metal transformations in soils.