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Critical Evaluation of Methods for Determining Total Organic Phosphorus in Tropical Soils
Author(s) -
Condron L. M.,
Moir J. O.,
Tiessen H.,
Stewart J. W. B.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1990.03615995005400050010x
Subject(s) - soil water , extraction (chemistry) , environmental science , tropics , phosphorus , loss on ignition , organic matter , environmental chemistry , soil science , chemistry , ecology , chromatography , biology , organic chemistry
The determination of total organic phosphorus (TOP) in soils presents several methodological problems, particularly on strongly weathered and tropical soils. We reviewed the application of several methods for TOP determination to soils from different zones of the globe and evaluated the applicability of one ignition and two extraction methods to tropical soils from Brazil and Ghana. Reproducibility (coefficients of variation) was within 6% for the ignition method, and 13% for the extraction methods, due to the simplicity of the former. The two extraction methods produced results similar to each other, while the ignition method generally gave higher TOP contents. Unusually low C to organic P ratios indicate that the ignition method overestimated TOP in several soils. The Bowman extraction method, developed on weakly weathered soils, appeared also suitable for a variety of tropical soils.