Sorption and Environmental Risks of Phosphorus in Subtropical Forest Soils

Phosphorus (P) is one of the key limiting factors for the growth of forests and their net primary productivity in subtropical forest ecosystems. Phosphorus leaching of the forest soil to the catchment and groundwater in karst region is the main source of water eutrophication. Strong P sorption capacity of minerals is generally assumed to be a key driver of P leaching in subtropical ecosystems which varies among different soil types. Here, we estimated P adsorption capacity of the O/A and AB horizon in both limestone soil and red soil of subtropical forests by fitting the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm to investigate the potential environmental risks of P. The maximum P sorption capacity ( Q m ), P sorption constant ( K L ), P sorption index (PSI), degree of P saturation (DPS), and maximum buffer capacity (MBC) were calculated. The results indicate that Q m of the O/A horizon in both soils were similar. Comparing these two soils, the red soil had a higher K L and MBC in the AB horizon; Q m of limestone soil was larger but K L was lower, indicating that the adsorption capacity of limestone soil was weaker and MBC was lower. There was no significant difference in PSI between the two soils. The DPS values of both soils were below 1.1%, indicating that P saturation is low in both subtropical forest soils due to the lack of marked anthropogenic disturbance. In the O/A horizon, P saturation associated with available P (DPSM3 and DPSOlsen) and that associated with P in the Fe-Al bound state (DPScitrate) were higher in the red soil than in the limestone soil. DPS did not differ significantly in the AB horizon, except for higher DPSM3 and DPScitrate in the red soil. The findings highlight the influence of the soil types on P adsorption. The P adsorption and buffering of red soils were higher than those of limestone soils, indicating a lower risk of P leaching in red subtropical forest soils.