Distribution of heavy metal resistant bacterial community succession in cow manure biochar amended sheep manure compost

[Display omitted] •Effect of cow manure biochar on bacterial community were determined during the composting.•The most dominant were Proteobacteria (40.89%-5.65%) and Firmicutes (0.16%-93.18%).•The addition of 7.5% cow manure biochar was most beneficial for bacterial diversity.•Cow manure biochar did not significantly influence the microbial metabolic pathways. The aim of this investigation was to study the effects of cow manure biochar (CMB) on the distribution of heavy metal resistant bacterial (HMRB) community succession during sheep manure (SM) composting. The experiments were conducted with six different ratio of CMB (0%(T1), 2.5%(T2), 5%(T3),7.5%(T4),10%(T5) and 12%(T6)onadryweightbasis) and 0% is used as control. The results showed that the most dominant phylum were Proteobacteria (40.89%-5.65%) and Firmicutes (0.16%-93.18%), and 7.5% CMB mixed with sheep manure for best results. Thus, significant correlation was noticed among the analyzed physicochemical factors, gaseous emission and bacterial phylum in used 7.5–10% CMB applied for SM composting. Overall, the application of biochar increased the diversity of the bacterial community and promoted the degradation of organic matter. In addition, 7.5–10% CMB applied treatments showed greater immobilization of HMRB community succession during SM composting.