Tuesday, November 14, 2006
217-7

Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics in Soils Amended with Poultry Litter and Fly Ash.

Takela Wilson1, Paramasivam Sivapatham1, Kenneth Sajwan2, Timothy Butterbaugh1, and Kuppuswamy Jayaraman1. (1) Savannah State Univ, 3219 College Street, Savannah, GA 31404, (2) Dept of Natural Science & Mathematics, Savannah State Univ, PO Box 20600, Savannah, GA 31404

Carbon and nitrogen dynamics in soils amended with organic wastes could play an important role in predicting the physical, chemical and biological properties as well as nutrient supply potential of soils. Carbon and nitrogen dynamics and their release patterns were monitored for a period of 8 months in a fine sand (pH=6.8) and in a loamy sand (pH=5.2)  soil amended with poultry litter alone and 1:1 ratio of poultry litter and fly ash at application rates of 0, 2, 5, 10, and 20 Mg ha<SUP>-1</SUP>.  The amended soils were incubated at field capacity moisture content. Representative sub-samples were extracted with water at predetermined time intervals for the quantification of ionic strength, soil reaction, and ionic composition by Ion chromatograph (IC). The dissolved carbon and total nitrogen was analyzed using a total carbon analyzer coupled with total nitrogen module.  In this presentation, the effect of soil types, poultry litter and fly ash amendments on the dynamics of C and N will be discussed.