Kaiwen Liang

Agri-Products Application Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resouces, Sanya, 572025,Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
Molecular Soil Biology, 2024, Vol. 15, No. 1   doi: 10.5376/msb.2024.15.0005
Received: 05 Jan., 2024    Accepted: 09 Feb., 2024    Published: 23 Feb., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Liang K.W., 2024, Dung decomposers: impact on soil fertility and plant growth, Molecular Soil Biology, 15(1): 37-45 (doi: 10.5376/msb.2024.15.0005)

The findings revealed that dung decomposers significantly enhance soil nutrient content, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, while reducing soil density, pH, and electrical conductivity. The presence of dung decomposers also led to increased plant growth parameters such as total leaf sugar, vitamin C, polyphenols, total protein, and amino acids. Additionally, dung decomposers improved the net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll content in plants. The study also highlighted the species-specific effects of dung decomposers on nutrient cycling and soil fertility, emphasizing the importance of maintaining beetle diversity to maximize soil health benefits. The application of dung decomposers as a soil amendment significantly enhances soil fertility and promotes plant growth. This sustainable strategy can improve crop yields and nutrient status, making it a viable option for organic agricultural practices. The study underscores the critical role of dung decomposers in nutrient cycling and soil health, particularly in dryland environments where nutrient losses due to grazing are prevalent.

Dung decomposers; Soil fertility; Plant growth; Nutrient cycling; Sustainable agriculture; Soil amendments, Organic farming