Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Development and evaluation of an improved soil test for phosphorus: 1. The influence of phosphorus fertilizer solubility and soil properties on the extractability of soil P

  • Published:
Fertilizer research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The objective of this work was to develop and evaluate a soil test suitable for estimating the phosphorus status of soils whether they were fertilized with soluble or sparingly soluble P fertilizers or both. Four New Zealand soils of contrasting P sorption capacity and exchangeable Ca content were incubated alone or with monocalcium phosphate (MCP), reactive North Carolina (NC) phosphate rock or unreactive Florida (FRD) rock, at 240 mg P kg−1 soil, to allow the P sources of different solubilities to react with each soil and provide soil samples containing different amounts of extractable P, Ca and residual phosphate rock. The phosphorus in the incubated soils was fractionated into alkali soluble and acid soluble P fractions using a sequential extraction procedure to assess the extent of phosphate rock dissolution. Eight soil P tests [three moderately alkaline — Olsen (0.5M NaHCO3) modified Olsen (pretreatment with 1M NaCl) and Colwell; three acid tests — Bray 1, modified Bray 1 and Truog; and two resin tests — bicarbonate anion exchange resin (AER) and combined AER plus sodium cation exchange resin (CER)] were assessed in their ability to extract P from the incubated soils.

The 0.5M NaHCO3 based alkaline tests could not differentiate between the Control and FRD treatments in any soil nor between the Control, NC and FRD treatments in the high P sorption soils. The acid extractants appeared to be affected by the P sorption capacity of the soil probably because of reabsorption of dissolved P in the acid medium. The AER test gave results similar to Olsen. Only the combined AER + CER test extracted P in amounts related to the solubility of the P sources incubated with each soil. Furthermore, when soil samples were “spiked” with FRD and NC and extracted immediately, the P extracted by the AER + CER test, over and above the control soils, increased with the amount and chemical reactivity of the rocks. There was no extraction of rock P by any of the alkaline extractions.

Increases in the amounts of P extracted (ΔP) by each soil test from the fertilized soils, over and above the control soils were compared with the amounts ofP dissolved from the fertilizers during incubation (measured by P fractionation). Soil P sorption capacity had least influence on the amounts of P extracted by the AER + CER and Colwell tests. However, the Colwell test was unable to differentiate between all P sources in all four soils and suffered from the disadvantage of producing coloured extracts. The AER + CER test appeared to have the potential to assess the available P status of soils better than the other tests used because of its ability to extract a representative portion of residual PR (in accordance with the amount and reactivity) and dissolved P, and thus to differentiate between fertilizer treatments in all four soils.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Amer F, Bouldin DR, Black CA and Duke FR (1955) Characterization of soil phosphorus by anion exchange resin adsorption and P32 equilibration. Plant and Soil 6: 391–408

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bache BW and Ireland C (1980) Desorption of phosphate from soils using anion exchange resins. Soil Sci 31: 297–306

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bolan NS and Hedley MJ (1989) Dissolution of phosphate rocks in soils I. Evaluation of extraction methods for the measurement of phosphate rock dissolution. Fert Res 19: 65–75

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bolan NS, White RE and Hedley MJ (1990) A review of the use of phosphate rocks as fertilizers for direct application in Australia and New Zealand. Aust J Exp Agric 30: 297–313

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bolland MDA, Bowden JW, D'Antuono MF and Gilkes RJ (1984) The current and residual value of superphosphate, Christmas Island C-grade ore and calciphos as fertilizers for a subterranean clover pasture. Fert Res 5: 335–354

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bowman RA, Olsen SR and Watanabe FS (1978) Greenhouse evaluation of residual phosphate by four phosphorus methods in neutral and calcareous soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 42: 451–454

    Google Scholar 

  7. Bray RH and Kurtz LT (1945) Determination of total, organic and available forms of phosphorus in soils. Soil Sci 59: 39–45

    Google Scholar 

  8. Colwell JD (1963) The optimization of the phosphorus fertilizer requirements of wheat in southern New South Wales by soil analysis. Aust J Exp Agric Anim Husb 3: 190–197.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Cooke IJ and Hislop J (1963) Use of anion exchange resin for the assessment of available soil phosphate. Soil Sci 96: 308–312

    Google Scholar 

  10. Cornforth IS, Smith GS and Fox RL (1983) Phosphate extractability and availability to plants in phosphate rock treated soils. NZ J Expt Agric 11: 243–246

    Google Scholar 

  11. Curtin D, Syers JK and Smillie GW (1987) The importance of exchangeable cations and resin sink characteristics in the release of soil phosphorus. Soil Sci 38: 711–716.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Grigg JL and Crouchley G (1980) Relative efficiency of phosphate fertilizers in pasture topdressing II on a Kokotau silt loam. NZ J Agric Res 23: 49–65

    Google Scholar 

  13. Hedley MJ, Stewart JWB and Chauhan BS (1982) Changes in inorganic and organic soil phosphorus fractions induced by cultivation practices and by laboratory incubations. Soil Sci Soc Am J 46: 70–976

    Google Scholar 

  14. Hughes JC and Gilkes RJ (1984) The effect of chemical extractant on the estimation of rock phosphate fertilizer dissolution. Aust J Soil Res. 22: 475–481

    Google Scholar 

  15. Jackson ML (1965) Soil Chemical Analysis. Prentice Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., U.S.A. 134–182 pp

    Google Scholar 

  16. John MK (1970) Colorimetric determination of phosphorus in soil and plant material with ascorbic acid. Soil Sci. 109: 214–220

    Google Scholar 

  17. Kamprath EJ and Watson ME (1980) Conventional soil and tissue tests for assessing the phosphorus status of soil. In: Khasawneh, EC Sample and EJ Kamprath (eds). The role of phosphorus in agriculture, pp 433–468. Am Soc Agron: Madison, Wis, USA

    Google Scholar 

  18. Kirk GJD and Nye PH (1986) A simple model for predicting the rates of dissolution of sparingly soluble calcium phosphate in soil. I. The basic model. J Soil Sci 37: 529–540

    Google Scholar 

  19. Lynch PB and Davies EB (1963) Topdressing of grassland with phosphate and lime. III Residual effects. NZ J Agric Res 7: 299–338

    Google Scholar 

  20. Mackay AD, Syers JK, Gregg PEH and Tillman RW (1984) A comparison of 3 soil-testing procedures for estimating the plant availability of phosphorus in soils receiving either superphosphate or phosphate rock. NZ J Agric Res 27: 231–245

    Google Scholar 

  21. Menon RG, Hammond LL and Sissingh HA (1989) Determination of plant-available phosphorus by the iron oxide-impregnated paper (Pi) soil test. Soil Sci Soc Am J 53: 110–115

    Google Scholar 

  22. Murphy J and Riley JR (1962) A modified single solution method for the determination of phosphate in natural waters. Anal Chim Acta 27: 31–36

    Google Scholar 

  23. Olsen SR, Cole CV, Watanabe FS and Dean LA (1954) Estimation of available phosphorus in soils by extraction with sodium bicarbonate. US Dept Agric Circ No 939: 19 pp

  24. Quin BF, Dyson CB and Chiao YS (1987) Agronomic and economic aspects of the use of phosphate rocks for pasture-development of a predictive model. In: RE White and LD Currie (eds). The use of reactive phosphate rocks and their derivatives as fertilizers. Occasional Report No. 1 pp 147–163. Fertilizer and Lime Research Centre, Massey University: Palmerston North

    Google Scholar 

  25. Quin BF, Dyson CB, Shannon PD, O'Connor MB, Percival N, Roberts A, Smith G, Nguyen L, Williams P and Risk W (1985) The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries ‘National Series’ forms of phosphate trials. In: Proceedings of the 20th Technical Conference New Zealand Fertilizer Manufacturer's Research Association, Auckland pp 604–628

  26. Rajan SSS (1987) Phosphate rock and phosphate/sulphur granules as phosphate fertilizers and their dissolution in soil. Fert Res 11: 43–60

    Google Scholar 

  27. Ryden JC and Syers JK (1977) Origin of labile phosphate pool in soils. Soil Sci 123: 353–361

    Google Scholar 

  28. Robinson JS and Syers JK (1990) A critical evaluation of factors influencing the dissolution of Gafsa phosphate rock. J Soil Sc. 41: 597–605

    Google Scholar 

  29. Saggar S, Hedley MJ and White RE (1990) A simplified resin membrane technique for extracting phosphorus from soils. Fert Res 24: 173–180

    Google Scholar 

  30. Saggar S, Hedley MJ, White RE, Gregg PEH, Perrott KW and Cornforth IS (1992) Development and evaluation of an improved soil test for phosphorus 2: Comparison of the Olsen and a mixed cation-anion exchange resin tests for predicting the yield of ryegrass grown in pots. Fert Res (in press)

  31. Saunders WMH, Sherrell CG and Gravell IM (1987) A new approach to the interpretation of soil tests for phosphate response by grazed pasture. NZ J Agric Res 30: 67–77

    Google Scholar 

  32. Sherrell CG (1970) Comparison of chemical extraction methods for the determination of ‘available’ phosphate in soils. 1. Correlation between methods and yield and phosphorus uptake by white clover grown on 16 North Island soils in the glasshouse. NZ J Agric Res 13: 481–493

    Google Scholar 

  33. Sibbesen E (1977) A simple ion exchange resin procedure for extracting plant-available elements from soil. Plant and Soil 46: 665–669

    Google Scholar 

  34. Sibbesen E (1978) An investigation of the anion exchange resin method for soil phosphate extraction. Plant and Soil 50: 305–321

    Google Scholar 

  35. Sibbesen E (1983) Phosphate soil tests and their suitability to assess the phosphate status of soil. J Sci Food Agric 34: 1368–1374

    Google Scholar 

  36. Smyth TJ and Sanchez PA (1982) Phosphate rock dissolution and availability in Cerrado soils as affected by phosphorus sorption capacity. Soil Sci Soc Am J 46: 339–345

    Google Scholar 

  37. Sorn-srivichai P, Tillman RW, Syers JK and Cornforth IS (1984) The effect of soil pH on Olsen bicarbonate phosphate values. J Sci Food Agric 35: 257–264

    Google Scholar 

  38. Tambunan D, Hedley, MJ, Bolan NS and Turner MA (1992) A comparison of sequential extraction procedures for measuring phosphate rock residues in soils. Fert Res (submitted)

  39. Truog E (1930) The determination of readily available phosphorus in soils. J Am Soc Agron 22: 874–882

    Google Scholar 

  40. White RE, Hedley MJ, Bolan NS and Gregg PEH (1989) Recent developments in the use of phosphate fertilizers on New Zealand pastures. J Aust Inst Agric Sci 2: 26–32

    Google Scholar 

  41. White RE (1988) Soil-plant-fertilizer interactions: new developments involving phosphate. NZ Agric Sci 22: 58–62

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. S. Saggar

    Present address: Landcare Research NZ Ltd., Private Bag 31902, Lower Hutt, New Zealand

  2. R. E. White

    Present address: Plant and Soil Sciences Section, School of Agriculture and Forestry, The University of Melbourne, 3052, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fertilizer and Lime Research Centre, Massey University, Private Bag, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    S. Saggar, M. J. Hedley & R. E. White

Authors
  1. S. Saggar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. J. Hedley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. E. White
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Saggar, S., Hedley, M.J. & White, R.E. Development and evaluation of an improved soil test for phosphorus: 1. The influence of phosphorus fertilizer solubility and soil properties on the extractability of soil P. Fertilizer Research 33, 81–91 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01058012

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01058012

Key words

Search

Navigation