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The Biological Effect of Available Phosphorus in Hawaiian Soils 1
Author(s) -
Heck A. Floyd
Publication year - 1935
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1935.00021962002700100010x
Subject(s) - citation , soil water , library science , phosphorus , world wide web , computer science , biology , chemistry , ecology , organic chemistry
p , HOSPHORUS is not only a very important plant food, but it is also one of the outstanding factors affecting the rate of biological activity in the soil. Phosphorus has usually been considered an aid to nitrification, but the effect of phosphorus on this process may be reversed by increasing the amount of available carbonaceous energy material in the soil. In this case the phosphorus also stimulates biological action, but with an entirely different set of organisms and with an entirely different effect. This increased biological action results in a more rapid utilization of mineral nitrogen by the soil microorganisms, and a more complete change of this nitrogen into organic form in the micro-organic tissue. From a practical point of view, this action of the phosphorus i distinctly beneficial in at least three ways, viz., (a) the leaching of inorganic nitrogen by irrigation water is greatly reduced because of the reduction of inorganic nitrogen, (b) the availability of the nitrogen is better distributed throughout the growing season, and (c) the amount of phosphorus in the organic or biological balance is greatly increased.