Effect of continuous cropping on potassium forms and potassium adsorption characteristics in calcareous soils of Iran
A. Samadi A B , B. Dovlati A and M. Barin AA Soil Science Department, Urmia University, PO Box 165, Urmia 57134, I.R. Iran.
B Corresponding author. Email: asamadi@myway.com
Australian Journal of Soil Research 46(3) 265-272 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR07156
Submitted: 9 October 2007 Accepted: 3 March 2008 Published: 1 May 2008
Abstract
The potassium (K) status of 5 major soil types, under sugar beet cultivation for 35–40 years, and adjoining virgin lands were compared. Fifty-nine paired surface soil samples belonging to 24 soil series from the major sugar beet growing areas in Western Azarbaijan province located in the north-west of Iran were studied to ascertain whether relative K form sizes and K adsorption behaviour of the soils are being changed by long-term cropping. The samples were analysed for soil physical and chemical properties, mineralogy of clay fraction, different forms of K, and K adsorption characteristics. The soils are alkaline and calcareous. The K-bearing mineral illite is the dominant clay mineral in Typic calcixerepts, Typic haploxerepts, and Typic endoaquepts, whereas in Vertic calcixerepts and Vertic endoquepts, the clay mineralogy is dominated by smectite.
A highly significant relationship (r2 = 77, P ≤ 0.001) was observed between CEC and smectite content. No changes in K-bearing minerals were detected due to cropping and K depletion. Soil solution K (So-K) constituted 1.7% of exchangeable K (Ex-K) and 1.4% of non-exchangeable K (NEx-K) for the cultivated soils and 1.8% of Ex-K and 2% of NEx-K for the adjacent virgin land. A pronounced significant decline (P ≤ 0.001) in the Ex-K content from 507 to 270 mg/kg (a drop of 45%) and a less significant degree (P ≤ 0.05) in the So-K content from 28 to 12 mg/L (a drop of 55%) were detected in the soil series of Typic calcixerepts as a result of long-term cropping. Continuous sugar beet cropping did not result in changes in the NEx-K contents in any soils except in Vertic endoaquepts containing low illite. A highly significant positive relationship (r2 = 0.79, P ≤ 0.001) was observed between values of NEx-K and illite contents, indicating that this form of K is mainly released from the frayed edges of illite. Paired t-test revealed that continuous sugar beet cultivation increased significantly (P ≤ 0.01) K adsorption in Typic calcixerepts, Typic haploxerepts, and Vertic endoaquepts, where exchangeable K was decreased as a result of intensive cultivation.
Additional keywords: sugar beet, K forms, K adsorption, clay mineralogy, continuous cropping.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank the Iran National Science Foundation for the financial support of this research project.
Banks PA,
Santelmann PW, Tucker BB
(1976) Influence of long-term soil fertility treatments on weed species in winter wheat. Agronomy Journal 68, 825–827.
Bedrossian ST, Singh B
(2004) Potassium adsorption characteristics and potassium forms in soils of New South Wales soils in relation to early senescence in cotton. Australian Journal of Soil Research 42, 747–753.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Biscaye PE
(1965) Mineralogy and sedimentation of recent deep sea clay in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas and oceans. Geological Society of America Bulletin 76, 803–832.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Buyanovsky GA, Wagner GH
(1998) Carbon cycling in cultivated land and its global significance. Global Change Biology 4, 131–141.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cimrin KM,
Akca E,
Senol M,
Buyuk G, Kapur S
(2004) Potassium potential of the soils of the Gevas region in Eastern Anatolia. Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry 28, 259–266.
Cope JT
(1981) Effects of 50 years of fertilization with phosphorus and potassium on soil test levels and yields at six locations. Soil Science Society of America Journal 45, 342–347.
Gawander JS,
Gangaiya P, Morrison RJ
(2002) Potassium studies on some sugarcane growing soils in Fiji. South Pacific Journal of Natural Science 20, 15–21.
Khan FA, Fenton TE
(1996) Factors affecting potassium status of alluvial-derived soils of Western Iowa. Soil Science Society of America Journal 60, 836–842.
Liu YJ,
Laird DA, Barak P
(1997) Release and fixation of ammonium and potassium under long-term fertility management. Soil Science Society of America Journal 61, 310–314.
Mallarino AP,
Wittry DJ, Barbagelata PA
(2003) New soil test interpretation classes for potassium. Better Crops 87, 12–14.
Martin HW, Sparks DL
(1985) On the behaviour of nonexchangeable potassium in soils. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 16, 133–162.
Oelsligle DD,
Doll EC, Valverde C
(1975) Potassium release characteristics of selected Peruvian soils. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 39, 891–896.
Pal Y,
Wong MTF, Gilkes KJ
(1999) The forms of potassium and potassium adsorption in some virgin soils from South-Western Australia. Australian Journal of Soil Research 37, 695–709.
Ross GJ, Cline RA
(1984) Potassium exchange characteristics in relation to mineralogical properties and potassium uptake by grapes of selected soils in the Niagara Pennisula of southern Ontario. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 64, 87–98.
Schlesinger WH, Andrews JA
(2000) Soil respiration and the global carbon cycle. Biogeochemistry 48, 7–20.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Scholes RJ, van Breemen N
(1997) The effect of global change on tropical ecosystems. Geoderma 79, 9–24.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sharma BD,
Mukhopadhyay SS, Sawhney JS
(2006) Distribution of potassium fractions in relation to landforms in a Himalayan catena. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science 52, 469–476.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sharma KN,
Singh B,
Rana DS,
Kapur ML, Sodhi JS
(1984) Changes in soil fertility status as influenced by continuous cropping and fertilizer applications. The Journal of Agricultural Science 102, 215–218.
Sharpley AN
(1989) Relationship between soil potassium forms and mineralogy. Soil Science Society of America Journal 52, 1023–1028.
Sharpley AN, Buol SW
(1987) Relationship between minimum exchangeable potassium and soil taxonomy. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 18, 601–614.
Singh B, Goulding KWT
(1997) Changes with time in the potassium content and phyllosilicates in the soil of the Broadbalk continuous wheat experiment at Rothamsted. European Journal of Soil Science 48, 651–659.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Skogley EO, Haby VA
(1981) Predicting crop responses on high-potassium soils of frigid temperature and ustic moisture regimes. Soil Science Society of America Journal 45, 533–536.
Sparks DL,
Martens DL, Zelazny LW
(1980) Plant uptake and leaching of applied and indigenous potassium in Dothan soils. Agronomy Journal 72, 551–555.
Tributh H,
van Boguslawski H,
van Lieres A,
Steffens D, Mengel K
(1987) Effect of K removal by crops on transformation of illitic clay minerals. Soil Science 143, 404–409.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
van Veen JA, Paul EA
(1979) Conversion of biovolume measurements of soil organisms grown under various moisture tensions, to biomass and their nutrient content. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 37, 686–692.
| PubMed |
