Nutrient cycling in grazed pastures.IV.The fate of sulphur-35 following its application to a small area in a grazed pasture

Abstract

Simultaneous measurements of sulphur content and specific radioactivity were made on soil fractions, two pasture species, and the fleece of grazing animals following the application of high specific radioactivity gypsum labelled with sulphur-35 (35S) to small randomly located sites in grazed pastures. The results show that the extractable soil sulphate was a precursor of plant sulphur and that the organic sulphur fractions in the soil were the source of replenishment of the extractable sulphate pool. Applied sulphur was shown to remain predominantly in the top 7.5 cm of the soil over a period of c. 600 days, and it was from this region that the plants drew their sulphur. The uptake of applied sulphur was initially different between plants of different species. These differences gradually decreased and finally disappeared as the applied sulphur became mixed into all soil sulphur fractions. A wide range of rates of mixing indicated that some fractions of the organic sulphur were recycling very slowly. Positive evidence of recycling of sulphur voided by the animals on the unlabelled areas of the pasture was found, and the rate of translocation of sulphur from the sites of its application to the remainder of the paddock was measured at two rates of stocking.