Micro-scale heterogeneity of soil phosphorus depends on soil substrate and depth

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

  • Florian Werner
  • Müller, Carsten W.
  • Jürgen Thieme
  • Alessandra Gianoncelli
  • Camille Rivard
  • Carmen Höschen
  • Jörg Prietzel

Soils comprise various heterogeneously distributed pools of lithogenic, free organic, occluded, adsorbed, and precipitated phosphorus (P) forms, which differ depending on soil forming factors. Small-scale heterogeneity of element distributions recently has received increased attention in soil science due to its influence on soil functions and soil fertility. We investigated the micro-scale distribution of total P and different specific P binding forms in aggregates taken from a high-P clay-rich soil and a low-P sandy soil by combining advanced spectrometric and spectroscopic techniques to introduce new insights on P accessibility and availability in soils. Here we show that soil substrate and soil depth determine micro-scale P heterogeneity in soil aggregates. In P-rich areas of all investigated soil aggregates, P was predominantly co-located with aluminium and iron oxides and hydroxides, which are known to strongly adsorb P. Clay minerals were co-located with P only to a lesser extent. In the low-P topsoil aggregate, the majority of the P was bound organically. Aluminium and iron phosphate predominated in the quartz-rich low-P subsoil aggregate. Sorbed and mineral P phases determined P speciation in the high-P top- and subsoil, and apatite was only detected in the high-P subsoil aggregate. Our results indicate that micro-scale spatial and chemical heterogeneity of P influences P accessibility and bioavailability.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3203
JournalScientific Reports
Volume7
Issue number1
ISSN2045-2322
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2017
Externally publishedYes

Number of downloads are based on statistics from Google Scholar and www.ku.dk


No data available

ID: 239160430