Composting for management and resource recovery of invasive Acacia species

Abstract

The feasibility of commercial-scale composting of waste biomass from the control of invasive Acacia species was investigated. Pile temperatures exceeded 65ºC for several months, indicating that the composting process was effective at pathogen inactivation and seed destruction. Mineralisation of Acacia biomass was described by a two-component, first-order exponential model; the pool sizes for labile and recalcitrant organic matter (OM) were similar and in the approximate ranges: 360–410 g kg-1 and 350–390 g kg-1 of initial OM, respectively. Concentrations of conservative nutrients increased proportionally to OM mineralisation, enriching the compost as an agricultural nutrient source. Nitrogen concentrations also increased, but were more dynamic as nitrogen losses were difficult to control, although we suggest that they may be potentially minimised by restricting the turning frequency. The physicochemical characteristics of the stabilised end-product, and the high OM content and low electrical conductivity (<1.2 dS m-1), in particular, were suitable for soil improvement or as substrate components.