Assessment of phosphorus (P) leaching losses from a long-term manured sandy soil

Abstract

Long-term repeated applications of animal manure at high rates contribute to build-up of soil phosphorus (P) status, which poses a risk of P losses by leaching. However, soil characteristics such as P sorption capacity and degree of P saturation can greatly affect P leaching in certain circumstances. Phosphorus leaching was studied in a long-term experimental field with a sandy soil in southwest Sweden. Field measurements, model simulations, and laboratory lysimeters, were used to assess the risk of P leaching associated with pig slurry applications. The field plots received different P applications resulting in average annual P surpluses of 11-24 kg ha-1 during 1983-2009. Mean annual total-P leaching and total-P concentration measured at a drain depth of 90 cm were in general low, ranging respectively from 0.14 kg ha-1 and 0.06 mg L-1 at the high rate of slurry application to 0.20 kg ha-1 and 0.08 mg L-1 in the mineral P treatment. The simulations with the ICECREAM model confirmed that the abundant P sorption capacity due to considerable Fe, Al, and Ca present in the soil overshadowed the effects of soil P status and fertilization. Laboratory lysimeter studies showed high potential of P leaching from the top-soil due to long-term pig slurry applications even long before the field experiment started. The conclusion is that P sorption capacity of the sub-soil should also be considered, besides soil P status and fertilization, when identifying hotspots and designing P mitigation strategies.

Conference

EUROSOIL 2012: Soil Science for the Benefit of Mankind and Environment. 4th International Congress of the European Confederation of Soil Science Societies (ECSSS)

SLU Authors

• Liu, Jian

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Aronsson, Helena

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Blombäck, Karin

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Persson, Kristian

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Bergström, Lars

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Soil Science

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/39644