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Phosphorus and aluminium solubility relationships in acidic lowbush blueberry barren soils in M aine
Author(s) -
Ohno T.,
Severy N. J.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
soil use and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.709
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1475-2743
pISSN - 0266-0032
DOI - 10.1111/sum.12072
Subject(s) - chemistry , soil water , leaching (pedology) , fertilizer , agronomy , organic matter , environmental chemistry , solubility , phosphorus , environmental science , soil science , organic chemistry , biology
Lowbush blueberry ( V accinium angustifolium ) is a native plant that is not cultivated, but managed in areas of sufficient plant density to provide commercial yields. A cropping systems study was initiated to compare how organic and three levels of conventional (low, medium and high input) management practices affected soil properties at 12 grower fields in the lowbush blueberry barrens of M aine. The fields under organic and low‐conventional treatments did not receive any fertilizer inputs. The high and medium conventional treatment fields received optimal and reduced diammonium phosphate inputs, respectively. Three measurements of soil P (modified‐ M organ soil test, oxalate extractable and total P ) showed no significant effect of management treatment on the phosphorus status of the soils. This suggests that soil P may be leaching below the 0–10 cm rooting zone which was investigated in this study. Equilibrium chemical speciation of soil/water extracts showed that gibbsite was controlling the solubility of A l in these barren soils and that P was undersaturated with respect to amorphous A l( OH ) 2 PO 4 . A laboratory one‐point P sorption study showed that dissolved organic matter derived from the organic pad sampled from the study sites did not inhibit the adsorption of the added P . This suggests that addition of carbon‐rich soil amendments such as compost may not increase P bioavailability of these acidic soils with high A l (oxy)hydroxide (gibbsite) mineral content.