Effects of biochar on the microbial activity and community structure during sewage sludge composting

Abstract To explore the contributions of functional bacterial community in composting, we performed medium-scale composting of sewage sludge and sawdust mixtures amended with rice straw biochar at different dosages (5, 10, and 20% of fresh mixture weight) in 400 L bioreactor systems. The dynamics of enzyme activity and bacterial community composition were monitored during the composting. The addition of biochar above 10% inhibited the activity of protease but promoted the activities of cellulase and peroxidase, which also increased the fluctuation of bacterial diversity during the composting. The relationship between the activity of most enzymes and bacterial community was strengthened by the addition of biochar (10% and 20%), which further enhanced the contributions of the functional bacterial communities to composting. Therefore, the study provides evidence for the promoting effects of biochar on the functions of bacterial community.