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TECHNICAL REPORTS

Waste Management

Simulating Urban Waste Compost Effects on Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics Using a Biochemical Index

Environment and Arable Crops Research Unit, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 78850 Thiverval-Grignon, France

^* Corresponding author (Benoit.Gabrielle{at}grignon.inra.fr)

Received for publication March 1, 2004. Composting has emerged as a valuable route for the disposal of urban waste, with the prospect of applying composts on arable fields as organic amendments. Proper management of urban waste composts (UWCs) requires a capacity to predict their effects on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the field, an issue in which simulation models are expected to play a prominent role. However, the parameterization of soil organic amendments within such models generally requires laboratory incubation data. Here, we evaluated the benefit of using a biochemical index based on Van Soest organic matter fractions to parameterize a deterministic model of soil C and N dynamics, NCSOIL, as compared with a standard alternative based on laboratory incubation data. The data included C mineralization and inorganic N dynamics in samples of a silt loam soil (Typic Hapludalf) mixed with various types of UWC and farmyard manure. NCSOIL successfully predicted the various nitrogen mineralization–immobilization patterns observed, but underestimated CO₂ release by 10 to 30% with the less stable amendments. The parameterization based on the biochemical index achieved a prediction error significantly larger than the standard parameterization in only 10% of the tested cases, and provided an acceptable fit to experimental data. The decomposition rates and C to N ratios of compost organic matter varied chiefly according to the type of waste processed. However, 62 to 66% of their variance could be explained by the biochemical index. We thus suggest using the latter to parameterize organic amendments in C and N models as a substitute for time-consuming laboratory incubations.

Abbreviations: BIO, biowaste compost • BSI, biological stability index • CEW, Wende cellulose extract • FYM, cattle farmyard manure • GWS, green waste and sewage sludge compost • HEMI, hemicellulose fraction • LIC, lignin fraction • MD, mean deviation • MSW, municipal solid waste compost • OM, organic matter • OPT, optimum parameterization scenario • RMSE, root mean squared error • SOL, soluble organic molecules • SSE, mean experimental error • UWC, urban waste compost

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This Issue in Journal of Environmental Quality

JEQ 2004 33: 1947-1953. [Full Text]  

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				T. C. Flavel and D. V. Murphy Carbon and Nitrogen Mineralization Rates after Application of Organic Amendments to Soil J. Environ. Qual., January 3, 2006; 35(1): 183 - 193. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]