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Environmental Index for Estimating the Risk of Phosphorus Loss in Calcareous Soils of Manitoba
Author(s) -
Ige D. V.,
Akinremi O. O.,
Flaten D. N.
Publication year - 2005
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/jeq2004.0468
Subject(s) - soil water , chemistry , surface runoff , ammonium oxalate , phosphorus , calcareous , sorption , saturation (graph theory) , oxalate , ammonium , calcareous soils , environmental chemistry , adsorption , mathematics , soil science , environmental science , mineralogy , inorganic chemistry , ecology , botany , biology , organic chemistry , combinatorics
The degree of phosphorus saturation (DPS) has been used in evaluating the risk of P loss from soil to runoff. While techniques are available for calculating DPS for acid soils, no widely used technique exists for neutral to calcareous soils that are typical of the Northern Great Plains, including Manitoba (Canada) soils. This study aimed to develop techniques of calculating the DPS of neutral to alkaline soils. Four measures of soil labile P and ten indices of P sorption capacity were used to calculate the DPS of 115 Manitoba soils. The various DPS calculated were evaluated using water‐extractable ( H2O ) P as an index of P susceptibility to runoff loss. The DPS obtained using Olsen‐extractable ( Ols ) P and the Langmuir adsorption maximum (ES max ) ranged from 0.5 to 31.9% while those obtained from P Ols and the single‐point adsorption index (P 150 ) ranged from 0.9 to 73.9%. Of all the DPS evaluated, those that included P Ols and Mehlich 3–extractable ( M3 ) P as the numerator with either P 150 or ES max as the denominator were fairly well correlated with P H2O ( r values ranged between 0.45 and 0.63). Along with ES max and P 150 , a new method of calculating DPS was formulated as the ratio of P Ols or P M3 to Ca M3 or (Ca + Mg) M3 We found that the ratio of ammonium oxalate–extractable ( ox ) P to (Al + Fe) ox , which has been widely used to calculate DPS in acid soils, was not suitable for neutral to alkaline soils of Manitoba. In these neutral to alkaline soils, Ca M3 or (Ca + Mg) M3 were better indices of P sorption capacity while P Ols and P M3 provided better estimates of labile soil P. The DPS calculated using Ca M3 or (Ca + Mg) M3 were well correlated with P H2O ; however, they were numerically smaller than those obtained from the Langmuir adsorption maximum. As such, a saturation coefficient (α) with a value of 0.2 was generated to improve the numerical values of the newly estimated DPS. This new approach can be used to estimate the DPS in neutral and calcareous soils without the need to generate a P adsorption maximum.