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Phosphorus Movement and Adsorption in a Soil Receiving Long‐Term Manure and Fertilizer Application
Author(s) -
Eghball Bahman,
Binford G. D.,
Baltensperger David D.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1996.00472425002500060024x
Subject(s) - manure , fertilizer , phosphorus , agronomy , environmental science , soil water , adsorption , chemistry , soil science , organic chemistry , biology
Long‐term experiments offer unique possibilities to study time‐dependent effects of management practices on crops and soils. Phosphorus movement in soil resulting from long‐term manure and fertilizer application are an environmental concern when P reaches ground or surface waters. A long‐term cropping‐systems study was started in 1912 in western Nebraska. In 1953, each plot was divided into manure (27 Mg ha −1 annually) and no manure sections to which fertilizer treatments of 0, 45, 90, 135, 180 kg N ha −1 , and 135 kg N ha −1 + 80 kg P ha −1 were applied annually and continuous corn ( Zea mays L.) was grown under irrigation. Soil samples were collected to a depth of 1.8 m in 1993 from seven depth increments and analyzed for plant‐available P, adsorption characteristics using the Langmuir isotherm, and adsorption index. Available P concentrations to a soil depth of 1.8 m were greater with manure application than without manure. In the no‐manure plots, little fertilizer P moved beneath the 1.1‐m soil depth, the maximal depth of the calcium carbonate layer in this soil. Phosphorus adsorption maximum and index were unrelated to P movement. At about similar P loading rates, P from manure application moved deeper in the soil than P from fertilizer. Possible explanations are that P from manure moved in organic forms, or chemical reactions of P occurred with compounds in manure, which may have enhanced P solubility. Phosphorus from long‐term manure or fertilizer application and from heavy loading of manure can leach into groundwater in areas with shallow water tables or coarse‐textured soils.