Enhanced phosphorus mobility in a calcareous soil with organic amendments additions: Insights from a long term study with equal phosphorus input

The agricultural practice of replacing chemical fertilizers with organic amendments (manure and/or straw) may have consequences for phosphorus (P) loss to the environment. Such a knowledge gap was examined using a ten-year field trial in calcareous soil containing four treatments with the equal annual P input but varied organic amendment combinations as follows: mineral fertilizer only as control (MF), mineral fertilizer coupled with manure (MM), mineral fertilizer coupled with manure and straw (MMS) and mineral fertilizer coupled with straw (MS). The soil P distribution, P fractions and speciation, Fe(III) reduction and P sorption kinetics were investigated using the chemical extraction, K edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure and Langmuir equations. The electronic shuttle capacity of soils and speciation of soil dissolved organic matter (DOM) were also evaluated using electrochemical methods, three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectra methods. Results showed that soil Olsen-P and total P increased at depths of 20-40 cm in MM, MMS and MS treatments, suggesting that manure and/or straw addition significantly mobilized P in the soil profile. Manure and/or straw addition also decreased soil maximum P sorption capacity (S-max) and increased the desorption rate at depths of 0-20 cm in soil across treatments. At a depth of 0-20 cm in soil of the MS treatment, the enhanced Fe(III) reduction coupled with a decrease of Fe-bound P supports that Fe reduction dominates the mobilization of P. The transformation of Ca bound-P to Al/Fe bound-P in a depth of 0-20 cm in soil of the MM treatment may be due to the high proportion of humic-like substances in the DOM at a depth of 0-20 cm in soil of the MM treatment, which may have caused a slight/microsite acidification. These results can help to develop optimized fertilization practices to effectively mitigate P loss from calcareous soils with manure and/or straw addition.

Automated summary

The agricultural practice of replacing chemical fertilizers with organic amendments may have consequences for phosphorus loss to the environment. A ten-year field trial in calcareous soil showed that the addition of manure and/or straw significantly mobilized phosphorus in the soil profile and decreased the soil's maximum phosphorus sorption capacity.