Type and quantity of organic amendments determine the amount of carbon stabilized in particle-size fractions of a semiarid degraded soil

A 9-month lab experiment was carried out with three different amendments (vine pruning wastes, PW; composted vine pruning wastes, cPW; and sewage sludge, SS) added at three different rates (90, 180, and 240 t ha−1, dry weight) in order to test whether the type or the quantity of the amendments applied to a semiarid, degraded soil determined the Corg accumulation in its particle-size fractions (coarse sand, 200–2,000 µm; fine sand, 63–200 µm; silt, 2–63 µm; and clay, 0.1–2 µm). All amendments, independently of their C/N ratios, resulted in similar Corg content and accumulation in coarse sand and silt-sized fractions after 9 months. In the clay-sized fraction, enrichment in Corg produced the incorporation of particles from this particle-size fraction into the silt-sized fraction. Likewise, increasing the application rates of the amendments led to larger Corg contents into the particle-size fractions of all amended soils except for the clay-sized fraction. The application of SS resulted in lower basal respiration-to-Corg ratios in the clay-sized fraction than the application of PW and cPW, suggesting a higher protection of the Corg in the SS treatment. These results indicate that organic amendments from woody plants with C/N ratios higher than 30, such as PW, favor Corg accumulation in the fine sand-sized fractions. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the application rate of such amendments, rather than the C/N ratios and amendment origin (from sludge or woody plants), is the key factor for promoting Corg accumulation in the silt-sized fractions of semiarid degraded soils