Summary
This 2024 laboratory study investigates potassium persulfate as a chemical amendment to accelerate humification during chicken manure-straw composting. The research employs metagenomic or 16S rRNA sequencing to characterise how the amendment reshapes both dominant and low-abundance microbial communities, as well as the ecological interactions between microbial taxa. The findings suggest that potassium persulfate may enhance compost maturation through alterations to microbial community assembly and function, though translation to field-scale composting systems remains to be demonstrated.
UK applicability
The results are potentially applicable to UK poultry systems that generate substantial manure volumes for on-farm composting, provided that potassium persulfate remains cost-effective and regulatory compliant under UK and EU fertilising products legislation. Further field validation under cooler temperate climates would be needed to confirm the amendment's efficacy.
Key measures
Humification indices, microbial community composition (rare and abundant taxa), microbial ecological network interactions, compost maturity parameters
Outcomes reported
The study examined how potassium persulfate addition affects the rate and quality of humification during chicken manure and straw composting, with particular focus on shifts in rare and abundant microbial community structure and their ecological interactions.
Topic tags
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