Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2025
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E123
Höfundar / Authors: Parnika Gupta
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: University of Iceland
Kynnir / Presenter: Parnika Gupta
Soil is a limited global resource, and it is threatened by anthropogenic activities like erosion, infertility from excessive use of chemical fertilizers and desertification that is amplified by climate change. This research aimed to measure the effects of various soil amendments on litter stabilisation and decomposition rates in soil using a teabag index study at a site located in south-Iceland. Four organic soil amendments including municipal waste, bokashi, chicken manure, and bonemeal were compared to two application rates of chemical fertilizers and a control. Decomposition rates did not vary among the treatments. However, the litter stabilisation factor was significantly higher for soils treated with chicken manure than the control and bokashi plots making chicken manure a very promising soil amendment for long term carbon sequestration in soils. Organic soil amendments like chicken manure can be an alternative to chemical fertilizers for restoring soil carbon stocks but long term research is warranted. This study is an important step towards reducing waste and achieving circular economy by restoring soils using locally sourced organic soil amendments.