Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Fungi are abundant in soil, but bacteria are more abundant. Fungi are important in the soil as food sources for other, larger organisms, pathogens, beneficial symbiotic relationships with plants or other organisms and soil health. Fungi can be split into species based primarily on the size, shape and color of their reproductive spores, which ...
Nitrogen is an essential element needed for the creation of biomass and is usually seen as a limiting nutrient in agricultural systems. Though abundant in the atmosphere, the atmospheric form of nitrogen cannot be utilized by plants and must be transformed into a form that can be taken up directly by the plants; this problem is solved by biological nitrogen fixers.
Vermicomposting uses worms to decompose waste and make nutrient-rich "worm manure". Vermicompost (vermi-compost) is the product of the decomposition process using various species of worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and other earthworms, to create a mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and vermicast.
The two broad categories of organic solid waste are green and brown. Green waste is generally considered a source of nitrogen and includes pre- and post-consumer food waste, grass clippings, garden trimmings, and fresh leaves. [1] Animal carcasses, roadkill, and butcher residue can also be composted, and these are considered nitrogen sources. [30]
Reusing agricultural waste is in line with the desired circular economy. In today's economy, primary raw materials are mostly used. [30] Agricultural waste, on the other hand, is a secondary raw material. They are residual (waste) streams from an existing industry that can serve as raw materials for new applications.
Biodegradable waste includes any organic matter in waste which can be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, methane, compost, humus, and simple organic molecules by micro-organisms and other living things by composting, aerobic digestion, anaerobic digestion or similar processes.
Soil microbial communities are characterized in many different ways. The activity of microbes can be measured by their respiration and carbon dioxide release. The cellular components of microbes can be extracted from soil and genetically profiled, or microbial biomass can be calculated by weighing the soil before and after fumigation.
Due to anaerobic digestion's ability to reduce the volume and mass of waste materials and produce a natural gas, anaerobic digestion technology is widely used for waste management systems and as a source of local, renewable energy. [9] In the assimilation stage, the resulting products from biofragmentation are then integrated into microbial ...