ORIGINAL PAPER Microbial dynamics after adding bovine manure effluent together with a nitrification inhibitor (3,4 DMPP) in a microcosm experiment Anita Maienza & Erland Bååth & Silvia Rita Stazi & Anna Benedetti & Stefano Grego & Maria Teresa Dell’Abate Received: 30 September 2013 /Revised: 14 January 2014 /Accepted: 27 January 2014 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 Abstract The application of animal manure effluents in ag- riculture in combination with nitrification inhibitors should be beneficial for nutrient recycling, soil quality, plant productiv- ity, and greenhouse gas emission and offer economic advan- tages to make them an alternative to conventional fertilizers. The present study aims to estimate the effects of the addition of bovine manure effluent alone or together with a nitrification inhibitor (3,4-dymethylpyrazol-phosphate (3,4 DMPP)) on the microbial community dynamics in a Mediterranean soil in an incubation experiment over 28 days. The application of the bovine manure effluent increased respiration, microbial biomass carbon, fungal and bacterial growth, and enzyme activities and changed the microbial community structure evaluated by the phospholipid fatty acid pattern. Adding the bovine manure effluent together with the nitrification inhibitor, although partly negating the positive effect of the effluent on soil microbial activity, still resulted in higher or similar growth and activity as in the control. Our results indicate that the addition of the nitrification inhibitor 3,4 DMPP together with a bovine manure effluent could be a promising solution to control the animal manure effluent application effects on soil microbiological properties and mi- crobial dynamics, as well as counteracting direct inhibiting effects of 3,4 DMPP on the soil heterotrophic community. Keywords Nitrification inhibitor . 3,4 DMPP . Bovine effluent . Respiration . Biomass . Bacterial growth . Fungal growth . Mediterranean soil Introduction Organic fertilization through application of animal manure is currently one of the nutrient recycling strategies in sustainable agriculture, especially in the Mediterranean region where soils usually are poor in organic matter content (Trinchera et al. 1999; Chiti et al. 2012). The application of animal manure in agriculture could increase or maintain soil organic matter and nutrient contents and contribute to solving environmental and economic problems associated with the disposal of these nitrogen (N)-rich waste materials (Melero et al. 2006). How- ever, uncontrolled application of manure to soil could result in an excess of nitrate (NO 3 - ), as urea contained in animal manure effluent (Ef) is rapidly converted to ammonium (NH 4 + ) and then to NO 3 - through the nitrification process. Excess of NO 3 - in the soil can lead to nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions through denitrification, and leaching of NO 3 - from soil into aquifers, rivers, and lakes causes eutrophication (O’Callaghan et al. 2010). The Nitrates Directive of the Eu- ropean Union (no. 91/676/EEC) indicates some agronomic A. Maienza (*) : A. Benedetti : M. T. Dell’Abate Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura, (CRA-RPS, Research Centre for the Soil-Plant system), Via della Navicella 2/4, 00184 Roma, Italy e-mail: anitamaienza@gmail.com A. Benedetti e-mail: anna.benedetti@entecra.it M. T. Dell’Abate e-mail: mariateresa.dellabate@entecra.it A. Maienza : S. R. Stazi : S. Grego Department of Science and Technology for Agricultural (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via San Camillo de Lellis, 01100 Viterbo, Italy S. R. Stazi e-mail: srs.stazi@unitus.it S. Grego e-mail: grego@unitus.it E. Bååth Department of Biology, Microbial Ecology section, Lund University, Lund, Sweden e-mail: Erland.Baath@biol.lu.se Biol Fertil Soils DOI 10.1007/s00374-014-0907-x