Biodynamic compost effects on soil parameters in a 27-year long-term field experiment

Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture

Table 2 Soil organic carbon (SOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), ergosterol, basal respiration, ratio of MBC/SOC and ergosterol/MBC, and the metabolic quotient qCO₂, as affected by different farmyard cattle manure applications over 27 years. Long-term field experiment Wiesengut

Treatment	SOC	MBC	Ergosterol	CO₂	MBC/SOC	Ergosterol/MBC	qCO₂
Treatment	(mg g⁻¹ soil)	(μg g⁻¹ soil)		(µg C g⁻¹ soil d⁻¹)	(%)		(mg CO₂-C g⁻¹ MBC d⁻¹)
Control	9.1 b	210 b	0.29	6.65	2.30	0.15	30 a
FYM	10.1 a	265 a	0.26	5.97	2.63	0.10	22 ab
FYM + Achillea	9.9 a	270 a	0.32	5.53	2.73	0.12	18 b
FYM + all preparations	9.4 ab	229 ab	0.32	5.92	2.44	0.15	27 ab
CV (± %)	6.0	2.8	14	5.5	12	27	26

CV = mean coefficient of variation (n = 6); different letters within a column represent a significant difference (p < 0.05, Tukey test)