scholarly journals The Occurrence of Legacy P Soils and Potential Mitigation Practices Using Activated Biochar

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1289
Author(s):  
Vasile Cerven ◽  
Jeff M. Novak ◽  
Ariel A. Szögi ◽  
Kenneth Pantuck ◽  
Don W. Watts ◽  
...  

The long-term application of manures in watersheds with dense animal production has increased soil phosphorus (P) concentration, exceeding plant and soil assimilative capacities. The P accumulated in soils that are heavily manured and contain excess extractable soil P concentrations is known as legacy P. Runoff and leaching can transport legacy P to ground water and surface water bodies, contributing to water quality impairment and environmental pollution, such as eutrophication. This review article analyzes and discusses current and innovative management practices for soil legacy P. Specifically, we address the use of biochar as an emerging novel technology that reduces P movement and bioavailability in legacy P soils. We illustrate that properties of biochar can be affected by pyrolysis temperature and by various activating chemical compounds and by-products. Our approach consists of engineering biochars, using an activation process on poultry litter feedstock before pyrolysis to enhance the binding or precipitation of legacy P. Finally, this review article describes previous examples of biochar activation and offers new approaches to the production of biochars with enhanced P sorption capabilities.

2019 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-304
Author(s):  
Tandra D. Fraser ◽  
Derek H. Lynch ◽  
Ivan P. O’Halloran ◽  
R. Paul Voroney ◽  
Martin H. Entz ◽  
...  

Soil phosphorus (P) availability may be impacted by management practices, thereby affecting plant P uptake and plant response to P amendments. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of long-term management on soil P pools and to assess the response of P bioavailability, plant growth, and P uptake to mineral versus manure P treatments. Soils were collected from plots under organic (ORG), organic with composted manure (ORG + M), conventional (CONV), and restored prairie (PRA) management. Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.) seedlings were grown in the greenhouse for 106 d in soils amended with various rates of manure or mineral P. The ORG soil had lower concentrations of labile P (resin-P and NaHCO3-P) compared with the CONV and PRA soils, as determined by sequential P fractionation prior to planting. Ryegrass biomass (root + shoot) and shoot P uptake from soils receiving no P were significantly lower for the ORG than all other management systems. Although apparent P use efficiency of the whole plant was increased by low P rate in the ORG management system, the source of applied P, manure > mineral, only influenced Olsen test P.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo S. Pavinato ◽  
Maurício R. Cherubin ◽  
Amin Soltangheisi ◽  
Gustavo C. Rocha ◽  
Dave R. Chadwick ◽  
...  

Abstract Exploiting native soil phosphorus (P) and the large reservoirs of residual P accumulated over decades of cultivation, namely “legacy P”, has great potential to overcome the high demand of P fertilisers in Brazilian cropping systems. Long-term field experiments have shown that a large proportion (> 70%) of the surplus P added via fertilisers remains in the soil, mainly in forms not readily available to crops. An important issue is if the amount of legacy P mobilized from soil is sufficient for the crop nutritional demand and over how long this stored soil P can be effectively ‘mined’ by crops in a profitable way. Here we mapped the spatial–temporal distribution of legacy P over the past 50 years, and discussed possible agricultural practices that could increase soil legacy P usage by plants in Brazil. Mineral fertiliser and manure applications have resulted in ~ 33.4 Tg of legacy P accumulated in the agricultural soils from 1967 to 2016, with a current annual surplus rate of 1.6 Tg. Following this same rate, soil legacy P may reach up to 106.5 Tg by 2050. Agricultural management practices to enhance soil legacy P usage by crops includes increasing soil pH by liming, crop rotation, double-cropping, inter-season cover crops, no-tillage system and use of modern fertilisers, in addition to more efficient crop varieties and inoculation with P solubilising microorganisms. The adoption of these practices could increase the use efficiency of P, substantially reducing the new input of fertilisers and thus save up to 31.8 Tg of P fertiliser use (US$ 20.8 billion) in the coming decades. Therefore, exploring soil legacy P is imperative to reduce the demand for mineral fertilisers while promoting long-term P sustainability in Brazil.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 1487-1495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ciro Antonio Rosolem ◽  
Alexandre Merlin

Phosphorus fixation in tropical soils may decrease under no-till. In this case, P fertilizer could be surface-spread, which would improve farm operations by decreasing the time spend in reloading the planter with fertilizers. In the long term, less soluble P sources could be viable. In this experiment, the effect of surface-broadcast P fertilization with both soluble and reactive phosphates on soil P forms and availability to soybean was studied with or without fertilization with soluble P in the planting furrow in a long-term experiment in which soybean was grown in rotation with Ruzigrass (Brachiaria ruziziensis). No P or 80 kg ha-1 of P2O5 in the form of triple superphosphate or Arad reactive rock phosphate was applied on the surface of a soil with variable P fertilization history. Soil samples were taken to a depth of 60 cm and soil P was fractionated. Soybean was grown with 0, 30, and 60 kg ha-1 of P2O5 in the form of triple phosphate applied in the seed furrow. Both fertilizers applied increased available P in the uppermost soil layers and the moderately labile organic and inorganic forms of P in the soil profile, probably as result of root decay. Soybean responded to phosphates applied on the soil surface or in the seed furrow; however, application of soluble P in the seed furrow should not be discarded. In tropical soils with a history of P fertilization, soluble P sources may be substituted for natural reactive phosphates broadcast on the surface. The planting operation may be facilitated through reduction in the rate of P applied in the planting furrow in relation to the rates currently applied.


2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. van Bochove ◽  
G. Thériault ◽  
F. Dechmi ◽  
A.N. Rousseau ◽  
R. Quilbé ◽  
...  

The indicator of risk of water contamination by phosphorus (IROWC_P) is designed to estimate where the risk of water P contamination by agriculture is high, and how this risk is changing over time based on the five-year period of data Census frequency. Firstly developed for the province of Quebec (2000), this paper presents an improved version of IROWC_P (intended to be released in 2008), which will be extended to all watersheds and Soil Landscape of Canada (SLC) polygons (scale 1:1, 000, 000) with more than 5% of agriculture. There are three objectives: (i) create a soil phosphorus saturation database for dominant and subdominant soil series of SLC polygons – the soil P saturation values are estimated by the ratio of soil test P to soil P sorption capacity; (ii) calculate an annual P balance considering crop residue P, manure P, and inorganic fertilizer P – agricultural and manure management practices will also be considered; and (iii) develop a transport-hydrology component including P transport estimation by runoff mechanisms (water balance factor, topographic index) and soil erosion, and the area connectivity to water (artificial drainage, soil macropores, and surface water bodies).


Author(s):  
L.M. Condron ◽  
K.M. Goh

Changes in soil phosphorus (P) associated with the establishment and maintenance of improved ryegrass-clover pasture under different superphosphate fertiliser treatments were examined over a 20-year period (1957-77). Results showed that soil organic P increased with increasing applications of P fertiliser. This represents a dynamic balance between rates of organic P addition and breakdown in the soil. This balance is reached slowly and may be significantly altered only by drastic changes in land use. In annually fertilised soils, amounts of inorganic P increased with time. However, the potential utilisation of this residual inorganic P is limited by its apparent stability in the soil. Keywords grazed pasture, irrigation, fertiliser P, soil inorganic P, soil organic P, soil P fractionation


Soil Research ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Condron ◽  
S. Sinaj ◽  
R. W. McDowell ◽  
J. Dudler-Guela ◽  
J. T. Scott ◽  
...  

This study examined the influence of irrigation on soil phosphorus (P) distribution and availability under permanent pasture in New Zealand. Soil samples (0–0.075, 0.075–0.15, 0.15–0.25 m) were taken from a long-term field experiment, which included a dryland and 2 irrigation treatments (irrigated at 10% and 20% soil moisture) that had received 25 kg P/ha annually as superphosphate for 52 years. Corresponding data for soil from an adjacent ‘wilderness’ site that had not been used for agriculture for 54 years were included for comparison. Analyses included total P, organic P, and inorganic P; isotopic exchange kinetics (IEK) was used to determine soil inorganic P pools of differing plant availability. Concentrations of total and inorganic P were greater in soil taken from the dryland treatment than the irrigated treatments at all depths. This was attributed to a combination of decreased pasture growth and P transfer in drainage and off-farm produce. Concentrations of organic P were greater in the irrigated treatments (e.g. 0–0.075 m: 672–709 mg P/kg) than in the dryland treatment (e.g. 0–0.075 m: 574 mg P/kg) as a consequence of increased pasture production and soil biological activity. Inorganic P availability (Cp and E1min) was also greater in the dryland treatment than the irrigated treatments. Furthermore, concentrations of inorganic P in the recalcitrant IEK pool (E>3m = E3m–1y + E>1y) in the 0–0.075 m soil from the dryland treatment (479 mg P/kg) were significantly greater than the 10% irrigated (346 mg P/kg) and 20% irrigated (159 mg P/kg) treatments, which was mainly attributed to physico-chemical reactions that decreased the exchangeability of accumulated inorganic P with time. Despite increased P retention capacity at depth (R/r1, 0.15–0.25 m: dryland 6.6, 10% irrigated 10.2, 20% irrigated 12.8), concentrations of total inorganic P in the 0.15–0.25 m soil layer were lower under irrigation (195–266 mg P/kg) than dryland (354 mg P/kg), which indicated that long-term flood irrigation increased P transfer by leaching. The findings of this study revealed that while irrigation improved the utilisation of applied fertiliser P it also resulted in increased P movement to depth in the soil profile.


Soil Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Musibau O. Azeez ◽  
Gitte Holton Rubæk ◽  
Ingeborg Frøsig Pedersen ◽  
Bent T. Christensen

Soil phosphorus (P) reserves, built up over decades of intensive agriculture, may account for most of the crop P uptake, provided adequate supply of other plant nutrients. Whether crops grown on soils with reduced supply of other nutrients obtain similar use-efficiency of soil P reserves remains unclear. In treatments of the Askov Long-Term Experiment (initiated in 1894 on light sandy loam), we quantified changes in soil total P and in plant-available P (Olsen P, water extractable P and P offtake in wheat grains) when P-depleted soil started receiving P in rock phosphate and when P application to soil with moderate P levels ceased during 1997–2017. Additionally we studied treatments with soil kept unfertilised for >100 years and with soil first being P depleted and then exposed to surplus dressings of P, nitrogen (N) and potassium in cattle manure. For soil kept unfertilised for >100 years, average grain P offtake was 6 kg ha–1 and Olsen P averaged 4.6 mg kg–1, representing the lower asymptotic level of plant-available P. Adding igneous rock phosphate to severely P-depleted soil with no N fertilisation had little effect on Olsen P, water extractable P (Pw), grain yields and P offtake. For soils with moderate levels of available P, withholding P application for 20 years reduced contents of Olsen P by 56% (from 16 to 7 mg P kg–1) and of Pw by 63% (from 4.5 to 1.7 mg P kg–1). However, the level of plant-available P was still above that of unfertilised soil. Application of animal manure to P-depleted soil gradually raised soil P availability, grain yield and P offtake, but it took 20 years to restore levels of plant-available P. Our study suggests symmetry between rates of depletion and accumulation of plant-available P in soil.


2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (No. 9) ◽  
pp. 441-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarosch Klaus A ◽  
Santner Jakob ◽  
Parvage Mohammed Masud ◽  
Gerzabek Martin Hubert ◽  
Zehetner Franz ◽  
...  

Soil phosphorus (P) availability was assessed with four different soil P tests on seven soils of the Ultuna long-term field experiment (Sweden). These four soil P tests were (1) P-H<sub>2</sub>O (water extractable P); (2) P-H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>C10</sub> (water extractable P upon 10 consecutive extractions); (3) P-AL (ammonium lactate extractable P) and (4) P-C<sub>DGT</sub> (P desorbable using diffusive gradients in thin films). The suitability of these soil P tests to predict P availability was assessed by correlation with plant P uptake (mean of preceding 11 years) and soil P balancing (input vs. output on plot level for a period of 54 years). The ability to predict these parameters was in the order P-H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>C10</sub> &gt; P-C<sub>DGT</sub> &gt; P-H<sub>2</sub>O &gt; P-AL. Thus, methods considering the P-resupply from the soil solid phase to soil solution performed clearly better than equilibrium-based extractions. Our findings suggest that the P-AL test, commonly used for P-fertilizer recommendations in Sweden, could not predict plant P uptake and the soil P balance in a satisfying way in the analysed soils.


1992 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 581-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. McKenzie ◽  
J. W. B. Stewart ◽  
J. F. Dormaar ◽  
G. B. Schaalje

The effects of different cropping systems, fertilizer, and lime on soil phosphorus (P) dynamics in soils developed under forest vegetation have received little attention. The objective of this study was to develop an understanding of P fractions and transformations in long-term rotation plots on a Luvisolic soil at Breton, Alberta. Results have shown that crop rotation and fertilizer application have affected more inorganic soil phosphorus (Pi) and organic phosphorus (Po) fractions, as determined by a sequential extraction procedure. Continuously cropped treatments, which had not received fertilizer, resulted in P drawdown of resin-extractable Pi (resin-Pi), sodium bicarbonate-extractable Pi (bicarb-Pi), sodium hydroxide-extractable Pi (NaOH-Pi), sodium bicarbonate-extractable Po (bicarb-Po), sodium hydroxide-extractable Po (NaOH-Po) and hydrochloric acid-extractable Pi (HCl-Pi) fractions. Only the residual-P fraction (insoluble Pi and stable Po forms) was unaffected. Addition of fertilizer had an effect on all P fractions except the NaOH-Po fraction. Phosphorus fertilizer treatments positively affected the Pi fractions and N fertilizer positively affected the bicarb-Po fraction. Lime application affected soil pH, which lowered NaOH-Pi levels and increased HCl-Pi levels through formation of more stable calcium phosphate compounds. Addition of lime also resulted in lower bicarb-Po levels. Cropping without using phosphate fertilizer has resulted in a 30–40% decline in total-P in the Breton plots in the Ap horizon. Continuous cropping, with a forage crop in the rotation, coupled with modest N and P fertilizer application, had the most positive effects on P cycling and transformations. Summerfallow had no apparent beneficial effects on P transformations. Key words: Soil P transformations, Luvisolic soil, P bioavailability, sequential extraction


Soil Research ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 427 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Dodd ◽  
R. W. McDowell ◽  
L. M. Condron

Long-term application of phosphorus (P) fertilisers to agricultural soils can lead to in the accumulation of P in soil. Determining the rate of decline in soil P following the cessation of P fertiliser inputs is critical to evaluating the potential for reducing P loss to surface waters. The aim of this study was to use isotope exchange kinetics to investigate the rate of decline in soil P pools and the distribution of P within these pools in grazed grassland soils following a halt to P fertiliser application. Soils were sourced from three long-term grassland trials in New Zealand, two of which were managed as sheep-grazed pasture and one where the grass was regularly cut and removed. There was no significant change in total soil P over the duration of each trial between any of the treatments, although there was a significant decrease in total inorganic P on two of the sites accompanied by an increase in the organic P pool, suggesting that over time P was becoming occluded within organic matter, reducing the plant availability. An equation was generated using the soil-P concentration exchangeable within 1 min (E1 min) and P retention of the soil to predict the time it would take for the water-extractable P (WEP) concentration to decline to a target value protective of water quality. This was compared with a similar equation generated in the previous study, which used the initial Olsen-P concentration and P retention as a predictor. The use of E1 min in place of Olsen-P did not greatly improve the fit of the model, and we suggest that the use of Olsen-P is sufficient to predict the rate of decline in WEP. Conversely, pasture production data, available for one of the trial sites, suggest that E1 min may be a better predictor of dry matter yield than Olsen-P.


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