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Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Mar 1997, 1011-1018, Vol 63, No. 3
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology

Emission of Climate-Relevant Trace Gases and Succession of Microbial Communities during Open-Windrow Composting

B Hellmann, L Zelles, A Palojarvi and Q Bai
GSF-National Research Center for Environment and Health, Institute of Soil Ecology, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany

Determination of different indicators of microbial biomass, community structure, and bioactivity by the fumigation extraction method, as well as determination of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and their subfractions and the measurement of trace gases, respectively, provides valuable information about microbial succession in composting processes. The emission rates of carbon dioxide (CO(inf2)), methane (CH(inf4)), and nitrous oxide (N(inf2)O) increased successively during compost maturation: initially in the presence of easily degradable nutrients, during high temperature, and after the temperature had cooled down, respectively. The emission rate patterns of these trace gases corresponded to the concentrations of PLFAs and their particular subfractions. (i) Similar to the CO(inf2) emission rates, microbial biomass estimations by fumigation extraction and by determination of the amount of total PLFAs showed a discontinuous decrease during the composting process, with a slight increase at the end of the observation period. (ii) An increase in ether lipids, indicating the enhanced presence of archaean methanogens, and an elevated CH(inf4) emission were observed at the same time. (iii) The period of enhanced N(inf2)O emission corresponded to the increase in beta and omega hydroxy fatty acids derived from the outer membrane. Additionally, the continuous increase in branched-chain fatty acids suggested an increase in gram-positive bacteria and actinomycetes, and the decrease in polyunsaturated fatty acids indicated a decrease in eukaryotic cells during the composting.

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