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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #394857
Research Project: Innovative Manure Treatment Technologies and Enhanced Soil Health for Agricultural Systems of the Southeastern Coastal Plain

Location: Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research

Title: Earthworms increase the potential for enzymatic bio-activation of biochars made from co-pyrolyzing animal manures and plastic wastes

Author
item SANCHEZ-HERNANDEZ, JUAN - University Of Castilla-La Mancha(UCLM)
item Ro, Kyoung
item Szogi, Ariel
item Chang, Sechin
item Park, Bosoon

Submitted to: Dryad Digital Repository
Publication Type: Database / Dataset
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/10/2022
Publication Date: 6/10/2022
Citation: Sanchez-Hernandez, J.C., Ro, K.S., Szogi, A.A., Chang, S., Park, B. 2022. Earthworms increase the potential for enzymatic bio-activation of biochars made from co-pyrolyzing animal manures and plastic wastes. Dryad Digital Repository. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kprr4xh6q.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kprr4xh6q

Interpretive Summary: Database/Dataset Only

Technical Abstract: We assessed the enzymatic activation of four different biochars produced from pyrolyzing swine manure and poultry litter, and by co-pyrolyzing these livestock residues with agricultural spent mulch plastic film wastes (plastichars). Enzymatic activation consisted of incubating biochars in soil inoculated with earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris), which acted as biological vectors to facilitate retention of extracellular enzymes onto biochar surface. The activity of carboxylesterase 'a pesticide-detoxifying enzyme' was measured in non-bioturbed soils (reference), linings of the burrows created by earthworms, casts (feces) and biochar particles recovered from the soil. Our results revealed that: 1) biochar increased soil carboxylesterase activity respect to biochar-free (control) soils, which was more prominent in the presence of earthworms. 2) The maximum enzyme activity was found in soils amended with plastichars. 3) The plastichars showed higher enzyme binding capacities than that of the biochars produced from animal manure alone, corroborating the pattern of enzyme distribution found in soil. 4) The presence of earthworms in soil significantly increased the potential of the plastichars for enzymatic activation. These findings suggest that the plastichars are suitable for increasing and stabilizing soil enzyme activities with no toxicity on earthworms.