Researchers used algorithms and bioinformatic approaches to analyse the effects of sustainable practices such as the use of compost on the soil microbial community, whose major roles include the degradation of contaminants and ensuring soil fertility.

The Diverfarming website explains that researchers analysed and compared the interactions of the different soil microbe communities in three different growing systems: conventional, an organic system with an annual addition of compost and an organic system with an annual edition of sheep manure.

It says: “To study the changes that occurred in those bacterial communities, DNA fragments (known as amplicons) of gen16S rRNA were sequenced and then bioinformatic analyses such as the networks of co-occurrence were used.”

These made it possible to identify and study the interactions between microorganisms present in the soil and to assess the relationships that exist between them (mutualism, competition or predation). Moreover, Diverfarming adds, algorithms were used to predict the functionality making it possible to study, through phylogeny, the potential function that these microorganisms may have in the soil.

“All these approaches revealed that the long-term application of compost modified the bacterial community, increasing the complexity of the network and improving bacterial communication,” says Diverfarming. “In the case of organic farming practices with the addition of compost, a higher potential was detected for nitrogen fixing, lower emissions of N2O, and a higher potential for carbon sequestration than the other growing systems. This shows the importance of using a stable organic amendment such as compost and the use of appropriate tools to study the long-term response of the bacterial community to growing systems.”

Diverfarming concludes: “The application of compost amendments therefore has significant benefits for the grower and for the environment in the long term, since their prolonged application can reduce fertiliser and pesticide use and could create a more stable soil, which would be able to resist the effects of climate change.”

For more information:

• Read the full story on the Diverfarming website here