The effects of climate on decomposition of cattle, sheep and goat manure in Kenyan tropical pastures

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creativework.keywords - en
Livestock--Manure
Décomposition (Chimie)
Lignin
Cellulose
Biomineralization
creativework.keywords - fr
Bétail--Fumier
Decomposition (Chemistry)
Lignine
Cellulose
Minéralisation (Biologie)
dc.contributor.author
Zhu, Yuhao
Merbold, Lutz
Leitner, Sonja
Pelster, David E.
Okoma, Sheila Abwanda
Ngetich, Felix
Onyango, Alice Anyango
Pellikka, Petri
Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus
dc.date.accepted
2020-04-06
dc.date.accessioned
2025-01-13T13:47:26Z
dc.date.available
2025-01-13T13:47:26Z
dc.date.issued
2020-04-25
dc.date.submitted
2020-01-20
dc.description.abstract - en
Aims: Decomposition of manure deposited onto pasture from grazing animals represents an important process for carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles in grassland systems. However, studies investigating manure decomposition are scarce; especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Methods: In this study, we measured decomposition of three types of animal manure (cattle, sheep, goat) over >1 year using litter bags at four climatically different sites across Kenya. Results Manure dry matter, total C, total N and ammonium concentrations decreased exponentially, with the most rapid decrease occurring during the first few weeks following application, followed by slower changes during the following 2–3 months. Rates of N mineralization were lower than those for C mineralization, resulting in decreasing C/N ratios over time. Generally, cattle manure decomposed faster than sheep or goat manure despite having a higher initial C/N ratio and lower N concentration, with decomposition rates for dry matter ranging from 0.200 to 0.989 k year−1. Cellulose decomposed first, while lignin concentrations increased among all manure types and at all sites. Conclusions: We found that total manure decomposition rates were positively correlated with cumulative precipitation and aridity index, but negatively correlated with mean temperature. Our results show much slower decomposition rates of manures in semi-arid tropical environments of East Africa as compared to the few previous studies in temperate climates.
dc.identifier.citation
Zhu, Y., Merbold, L., Leitner, S., Pelster, D. E., Okoma, S. A., Ngetich, F., Onyango, A. A., Pellikka, P., & Butterbach-Bahl, K. (2020). The effects of climate on decomposition of cattle, sheep and goat manure in Kenyan tropical pastures. Plant and Soil, 451, 325–343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04528-x
dc.identifier.doi
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04528-x
dc.identifier.issn
0032-079X
dc.identifier.uri
https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/3303
dc.language.iso
en
dc.publisher - en
Springer
dc.rights - en
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
dc.rights - fr
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
dc.rights.openaccesslevel - en
Gold
dc.rights.openaccesslevel - fr
Or
dc.rights.uri - en
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.uri - fr
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.fr
dc.subject - en
Manure
Climate
dc.subject - fr
Fumier
Climat
dc.subject.en - en
Manure
Climate
dc.subject.fr - fr
Fumier
Climat
dc.title - en
The effects of climate on decomposition of cattle, sheep and goat manure in Kenyan tropical pastures
dc.type - en
Article
dc.type - fr
Article
local.article.journaltitle - en
Plant and Soil
local.article.journalvolume
451
local.pagination
325-343
local.peerreview - en
Yes
local.peerreview - fr
Oui
local.requestdoi
No
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