Effect of wood fly ash and compost on nitrification and denitrification in agricultural soil

Wood ash from biofuel combustion plants and compost from source-separated household waste are commonly spread on forest, agricultural and horticultural soils as a valuable source of plant nutrients. However, due to anthropogenic activities, wood ash may contain high concentrations of heavy metals. Heavy metals are toxic to microorganisms and therefore, soil microbial response to wood ash should be considered when soil is amended with ash. Compost is known to improve soil structure and may also act as a bioremediating agent, mitigating any toxic effects of wood ash on soil microorganisms. In the present study, the aim was to investigate whether wood ash has any toxic effect on soil microbial activity and, if this is the case, whether compost could mitigate these effects. The effect of wood fly ash on potential ammonium oxidation rate (PAO) and potential denitrification rate (PDA) in arable soil was investigated in one dose-response assay and in two pot experiments with or without plants, respectively. The treatments were amendment with wood fly ash, compost or a combination of wood fly ash and compost. PAO and PDA were assessed immediately or after 7 and 90 days in the different experiments. Wood fly ash decreased PDA to 16-56% compared to the control, while PAO varied between 82% and 205%. Sole compost addition stimulated both processes. This positive effect was also observed in the combined wood fly ash-compost treatment. In conclusion, wood ash had a toxic effect on PDA, both on an immediate, short-term and long-term basis. Amendment of compost clearly mitigated this toxic effect. The observed toxicity could be an effect of the metal content of ash.