Soil and Compost Type Affect Phosphorus Leaching from Inceptisol, Ultisol, and Andisol in a Column Experiment

A column leaching experiment using three soils (Inceptisol, Ultisol, and Andisol) and seven livestock manure composts that had different characteristics was conducted for 19 weeks to investigate the interactive effects of composts and soils on the phosphorus (P) leaching potential of compost-amended soils and to identify the principal variables that affect P leaching. Cumulative total P leaching (TPcum) tended to increase with increasing total and available P concentration in the soils. Among various compost properties, total P concentration was positively correlated with TPcum from the compost-amended soils, except for the Andisol, which has a high P-sorption capacity. There was no significant relationship between TPcum and water-extractable P concentration of the composts, suggesting that total P rather than inorganic P concentration of composts may be successfully used in predicting P leaching potential from compost-amended soils except for soils that have a high P-sorption capacity, as in Andisol.