Structure and activity of the denitrifying community in a maize-cropped field fertilized with composed pig manure or ammonium nitrate

One alternative to mineral fertilization is to use organic fertilizers. Our aim was to compare the impacts of 7-year applications of composted pig manure and ammonium nitrate on the structure and activity of the denitrifying community. Mineralization and organization of N, denitrification rates and N2O/N2 ratio were also investigated. Fourteen months after the last application, the potential denitrifying activity (+319%), N mineralization (+110%) and organization (+112%) were higher under pig compost than under ammonium nitrate fertilization. On the other hand, the N2O/(N2O+N2) ratio was lower (P