ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Effects of Ash and Bone Phosphorus Biofertilizers on Bacillus megaterium Counts and Select Biological and Physical Soil Properties
Magdalena Jastrzębska, Marta K. Kostrzewska, Przemysław Makowski,
Kinga Treder, Marek Marks
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Department of Agroecosystems, University of Warmia and Mazury,
Plac Łódzki 3, 10-718 Olsztyn, Poland
Submission date: 2015-01-26
Acceptance date: 2015-02-18
Publication date: 2015-07-27
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2015;24(4):1603-1609
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ABSTRACT
The effects of phosphorus biofertilizers made from animal bones and sewage sludge ash and containing
phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, Bacillus megaterium, were analyzed in a field experiment involving spring
wheat. It was assumed that biofertilizers would be as effective as conventional phosphorus fertilizers such as
superphosphate and phosphorite. The influence of biofertilizers on the growth rate of Bacillus megaterium
bacteria in soil, the total counts of heterotrophic bacteria and fungi, the abundance of earthworms, and soil
moisture and temperature were analyzed. Phosphorus biofertilizers containing ash and bones did not increase
the abundance of Bacillus megaterium in soil, but unlike superphosphate they stabilized the strain’s population
in the soil environment. The tested phosphate fertilizers and biofertilizers did not influence the total counts
of heterotrophic bacteria and fungi in soil, the abundance of earthworms, soil moisture, or temperature.