Chemical Fractions of Phosphorus: The Effect of Soil Orders, Soil Properties, and Land Use

Low availability of phosphorus (P) in Turkish soils is a significant problem of agricultural production depending on carbonates in slightly weathered and iron/aluminum oxides in highly weathered soils. Thus, crop-based P fertilization along with inherited nature of P partition can lead to changes in the amounts and geochemical fractions of phosphorus. For this reason, horizon-based surface samples were taken from 16 soil series that belong to four orders with different pedotransfer functions. The geochemical phosphorus fractions were sequentially extracted by sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), citrate-dithionite-bicarbonate buffer system (CBD), hydrochloric acid (HCl), and aqua-regia. Results indicated that weathering sequence was inversely related to plant available P fractions. The fertilizer P was possibly converted to HCl-extractable (Ca-Pi) fraction in calcareous soils through NaOH-Po and NaHCO3-Po fractions whereas it accumulated in the CBD-P fraction in relatively weathered soils. The carbonates and Al/Fe oxides were most significant constituents in P partitioning as consequences of parent material and weathering chronosequence.