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ARS Home » Northeast Area » University Park, Pennsylvania » Pasture Systems & Watershed Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #172044
Title: ION-SINK P EXTRACTION METHODS APPLIED ON 24 SOILS FROM THE CONTINENTAL USA

Author
item MYERS, R - KANSAS STATE UNIV
item Sharpley, Andrew
item THEIN, S - KANSAS STATE UNIV
item PIERZYNSKI, G - KANSAS STATE UNIV

Submitted to: Soil Science Society of America Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/13/2005
Publication Date: 3/20/2005
Citation: Myers, R.B., Sharpley, A.N., Thein, S.J., Pierzynski, G.M. 2005. Ion-sink p extraction methods applied on 24 soils from the continental usa. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 69:511-521.

Interpretive Summary: Many agricultural soils that have received long-term applications of phosphorus often contain levels of soil phosphorus exceeding those needed for optimal crop production, but many forms of soil phosphorus are not readily available for plant uptake. Soil scientists are therefore left with the challenge to design soil phosphorus tests which have the sensitivity to differentiate between readily available phosphorus for plant uptake and that which is not available. There are several methods for estimating plant-available phosphorus in soils called ion-sink tests which employ a phosphorus adsorbing surface which is considered to be an ion sink. This ion sink adsorbs and collects phosphorus from soil solution. One of these methods uses membranes impregnated with anion-exchange resin as the ion-sink to adsorb soil P. This research standardized an anion exchange membrange extracting procedure for soil P, which is easier and less time consuming to conduct than previous methods. Use of this procedure will provide a comparison among studies in any part of the world that calibrate fertilizer phosphorus recommendations based on levels in the soil.

Technical Abstract: Ion-sink methods, such as resin membranes or FeO coated strips, have been used as soil tests for plant available phosphorus (P). We have standardized a resin procedure and compared extractable soil P with the FeO method for 24 soils from the continental USA. We used anion resin membrane strips (RS) and traditional loose resin (LR) to extract soil P. Total surface area of one RS was 17.3 cm2. We used one, two, or three RS along with LR saturated with either bicarbonate (Bic) or chloride (Cl). Using LRBic, the mean P was 64.3 mg/kg compared to 52.5 with one RSBic, 55.2 with two RSBic, and 63.9 with three RSBic. Using LRCl, the mean P was 63.2 mg/kg compared to 48.7 with one RSCl, 54.8 with two RSCl, and 57.3 with three RSCl. The mean FeO-P was 36.4 mg/kg. Resin(Cl) hardly influenced pH of the shaking solution, LRBic and RSBic influenced pH most, and FeO-strips had an intermediate effect on solution pH. This study shows that RS with a total surface area of 51.8 cm2 can be used to extract soil P in place of more time consuming LR methods.