Surface runoff phosphorus (P) loss in relation to phosphatase activity and soil P fractions in Florida sandy soils under citrus production

Phosphorus losses by surface runoff from agricultural lands have been of public concern due to increasing P contamination to surface waters. Five representative commercial citrus groves (C1-C5) located in South Florida were studied to evaluate the relationships between P fractions in soils, surface runoff P, and soil phosphatase activity. A modified Hedley P sequential fractionation procedure was employed to fractionate soil P. Soil P consisted of mainly organically- and Ca/Mg-bound P fractions. The organically-bound P (biological P, sum of organic P in the water, NaHCO3 and NaOH extracts) was dominant in the acidic sandy soils from the C2 and C3 sites (18% and 24% of total soil P), whereas the Ca/Mg-bound P (HO-extractable P) accounted for 45-60% of soil total P in the neutral and alkaline soils (C1, C4 and C5 soils). Plant-available P (sum of water and NaHCO3 extractable P fractions) ranged from 27 to 61 mg P kg(-1) and decreased in the order of C3 > C4 > C1 > C2 > C5. The mean total P concentrations (TP) in surface runoff water samples ranged from 0.51 to 2.64 mg L-1. Total P, total dissolved P (TDP), and PO43--P in surface runoff were significantly correlated with soil biological P and plant-available P forms (p < 0.01), suggesting that surface runoff P was directly derived from soil available P pools, including H2O- and NaHCO3- extractable inorganic P, water-soluble organic P, and NaHCO3- and NaOH-extractable organic P fractions, which are readily mineralized by soil microorganisms and/or enzyme mediated processes. Soil neutral (55-190 mg phenol kg(-1) 3 h(-1)) and natural (measured at soil pH) phosphatase activities (77-295 mg phenol kg 3 h were related to TP, TDP, and PO43--P in surface runoff, and plant-available P and biological P forms in soils. These results indicate that there is a potential relationship between soil P availability and phosphatase activities, relating to P loss by surface runoff. Therefore, the neutral and natural phosphatase activities, especially the natural phosphatase activity, may serve as an index of surface runoff P loss potential and soil P availability. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.