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Sea Minerals Reduce Dysbiosis, Improve Pasture Productivity and Plant Morphometrics in Pasture Dieback Affected Soils

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Pasture dieback (PD) is a grassland deteriorating syndrome resulting in grass loss and weed expansion in Australian pastures, with current estimates indicating that over four million hectares are affected. PD creates financial losses to the industry by reducing animal carrying capacity and producing poor-quality feed, resulting in diminished productivity. After more than a decade since PD first appeared in Australia, the causes and effective treatments are still unknown. Suggested causes include soil microbiota dysbiosis, pathogens, insects, climate change and overuse of chemical fertilisers. Sea minerals have been suggested as capable of improving plants’ yield, quality, taste, and nutritional value, but were never brought into conventional practice as an alternative to chemical fertilisers. Here, we investigated the capacity of sea minerals to improve grass health and yield of PD-affected soil. The replicate plots were treated with water or with 4 mL/m2 of commercially available sea mineral product to investigate the soil chemistry profile, plant morphometrics, pasture productivity, soil microbiota profile, and microbiota-nutrient interactions. Sea mineral application significantly increased total dry matter 20 weeks after a single application, translating to an additional 967 kg/ha; this benefit was still present at 498 kg/ha eleven months post a single application. Sea mineral application improved soil microbiota by boosting beneficial taxa while reducing genera associated with arid and toxic soils. Additionally, sea mineral application increased the number of grassroots up to eleven months post a single application. Our data suggest the benefits of sea mineral application to damaged, unproductive or exhausted soils could be further explored as a natural, affordable, and non-toxic alternative to chemical fertilisers.

Funding

Category 3 - Industry and Other Research Income

History

Volume

14

Issue

22

Start Page

1

End Page

18

Number of Pages

18

eISSN

2071-1050

ISSN

2071-1050

Publisher

MDPI

Additional Rights

CC BY

Language

en

Peer Reviewed

  • Yes

Open Access

  • Yes

Acceptance Date

2022-11-07

Author Research Institute

  • Institute for Future Farming Systems

Era Eligible

  • Yes

Journal

Sustainability

Article Number

ARTN 14873

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