RT Journal Article
T1 Influence of the quality of organic amendments on Mediterranean agricultural soils following a drought episode
A1 Morales Salmerón, Laura
A1 Fernández Boy, María Elena
A1 León Bañares, Rosa María
A1 Navarro Fernández, Carmen María
A1 Domínguez Núñez, María Teresa
AB Soil organic matter loss is a major concern in agricultural Mediterranean soils due to its influence on soil water retention and hence increased susceptibility to drought conditions. An experiment was conducted to study the influence of organic inputs' quality on the resistance of a C-poor soil to drought. Four organic materials were added to the soil in a mesocosm experiment: 1) leonardite; 2) earthworm humus; 3) biosolid compost; and 4) dry biomass of Vicia faba, simulating the incorporation of a legume cover crop. Pots were sown with a forage mixture (Lolium perenne and Medicago polymorpha), and 45 days following C-addition a drought episode (30 % reduction in water inputs) was simulated in half of the replicates. Soil resistance was evaluated by measuring soil chemical properties, biological activity (enzyme activities and respiration rate), biomass and the fungi:bacteria ratio in the microbial community, and plant productivity. With the exception of earthworm humus, organic-C addition had positive effects on soil chemical properties and water retention. V. faba biomass was the most effective material for enhancing water retention (16.5 % higher than in the non-amended soil), microbial activity and abundance (2.5 and 8.4 times greater bacterial and fungal abundances than in the non-amended soil, respectively), and soil N and P availability. Soils enriched with V. faba biomass also had the highest fungi:bacteria ratio by the end of the experiment. Drought reduced plant productivity, but all soil function indices showed a high resistance to drought, regardless of the organic matter quality or the fungi:bacteria ratio.
PB Elsevier
SN 0301-4797
YR 2025
FD 2025
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/28004
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/28004
LA eng
NO Morales-Salmerón, L., Fernández-Boy, E., León, R., Navarro-Fernández, C. M., & Domínguez, M. T. (2025). Influence of the quality of organic amendments on Mediterranean agricultural soils following a drought episode. Journal of Environmental Management, 380, 125093. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125093
NO This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (projects CGL2017-85891-R DEGRAMED and PID2021-122628OB-I00 WASTE4DROUGHT) and European funds. Laura Morales-Salmerón thanks the Ministry of Science and Innovation for the FPI fellowship (PRE2018-084467).
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 31 may 2026