Soil microbial activity after restoration of a semiarid soil by organic amendments

Unsuitable agricultural practices together with adverse environmental conditions have led to degradation of soil in many Mediterranean areas. One method for recovering degraded soils in semiarid regions, is to add organic matter in order to improve soil characteristics, thereby enhancing biogeochemical nutrient cycles. In this study, the effect of adding the organic fraction of urban wastes (both fresh and composted) on different carbon fractions and on microbiological and biochemical parameters (microbial biomass C, basal respiration and different enzymatic activities) of a degraded soil of SE Spain has been assessed in a 2 year experiment. Three months after the addition of the organic material, spontaneous plant growth occurred and the plant cover lasted until the end of the experiment. Organic soil amendment initially increased the levels of soil organic matter, microbial biomass, basal respiration and some enzyme activities related to the C and N cycles These values decreased but always remained higher than those of the unamended soil. The results indicate that the addition of urban organic waste is beneficial for recovering degraded soils, the microbial activity of which clearly increases with amendment. The incorporation of compost seemed to have a greater positive effect on the soil characteristics studied than the incorporation of fresh organic matter.