EFFECT of digestates derived from the fermentation of maize-legume intercropped culture and maize monoculture application on soil properties and plant biomass production

Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture

Table 4 Determination of plant and soil properties in the pot experiment

Parameter	Method–reference	References	Abbreviation
Aboveground plant and root biomass dry	gravimetrical (weight of lettuce shoot and roots dried at 60 °C), analytic scale	[47]	AGB, root dry
Basal soil respiration	MicroResp^® device, official instructions (Technical Manual v2.1, The James Hutton Institute)	[48]	BR
Substrate induced soil respiration	MicroResp^® + inducers: D-glucose (Glc), N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamine (NAG), D-trehalose (Tre), L-alanine (Ala), L-lysine (Lys), L-arginine (Arg)	[48]	SIR (Glc-, NAG-, Tre-, Ala-, Lys-, Arg-)
Total soil carbon	Dry combustion (ISO_10694 1995) using LECO TruSpec analyser (MI USA)	[36]	TC
Total soil nitrogen	Dry combustion (ISO_13878 1998) using LECO TruSpec analyser (MI USA)	[49]	TN
Total soil C/N ratio	Calculation from the TC and TN values		C/N