Influence of long-term irrigation on the distribution and availability of soil phosphorus under permanent pasture
L. M. Condron A F , S. Sinaj B , R. W. McDowell C , J. Dudler-Guela B , J. T. Scott D and A. K. Metherell EA Agriculture and Life Sciences, PO Box 84, Lincoln University, Canterbury 8150, New Zealand.
B Institute of Plant Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETHZ), Postfach 185, CH-8315 Eschikon-Lindau, Switzerland.
C AgResearch Limited, Invermay Agricultural Centre, Private Bag 50034, Mosgiel, New Zealand.
D AgResearch Limited, c/o Agriculture and Life Sciences, PO Box 84, Lincoln University, Canterbury 8150, New Zealand.
E Ravensdown Fertiliser Co-operative Limited, PO Box 1049, Christchurch, New Zealand.
F Corresponding author. Email: condronl@lincoln.ac.nz
Australian Journal of Soil Research 44(2) 127-133 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR05065
Submitted: 16 May 2005 Accepted: 9 December 2005 Published: 27 March 2006
Abstract
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.
Additional keywords: grassland, availability, isotopic exchange kinetics, irrigation, phosphorus transfer.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Dr Parmjit Randhawa and Neil Smith for assisting with soil sampling, and Dr David Saville of AgResearch for advice on statistical analysis.
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