Development of Carbon Pools and Enzyme Activities in Constructed Urban Soils
Pasquale Napoletano, Maha Deeb, Sara Perl Egendorf, Brooke Singer, Zhongqi Cheng, Erika Di Iorio, Anna De Marco, Claudio Colombo, Peter Groffman
European Journal of Soil Science
Urban Farm DB summary
This study tracked the development and dynamics of organic matter pools over 21 months in constructed soils (1/3 compost, 2/3 fine glacio-fluvial sediments) with eight different vegetation treatments. Time and vegetation were the main drivers influencing soil parameters. A high diversity "All" treatment significantly enriched mineral/sand-associated organic carbon (MSOC) and nitrogen (MSON) by 15% and 12% respectively, compared to a non-vegetated "Bare" treatment. The presence of sunflower was associated with low values of nitrate-N, particulate organic N, hot-water extractable carbon, and β-glucosidase.