Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Vertical distribution of biological and geochemical phosphorus subcycles in two southern Appalachian forest soils

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We measured Al, Fe, and P fractions by horizon in two southern Appalachian forest soil profiles, and compared solution PO4 −1 removal in chloroform-sterilized and non-sterilized soils, to determine whether biological and geochemical P subcycles were vertically stratified in these soils. Because organic matter can inhibit Al and Fe oxide crystallization, we hypothesized that concentrations of non-crystalline (oxalate-extractable) Al (Al0) and Fe (Fe0), and concomitantly P sorption, would be greatest in near-surface mineral (A) horizons of these soils.

Al0 and Fe0 reached maximum concentrations in forest floor and near-surface mineral horizons, declined significantly with depth in the mineral soil, and were highly correlated with P sorption capacity. Small pools of readily acid-soluble (AF-extractable) and readily-desorbable P suggested that PO4 3− was tightly bound to Al and Fe hydroxide surfaces. P sorption in CHCl3-sterilized mineral soils did not differ significantly from P sorption in non-sterilized soils, but CHCl3 sterilization reduced P sorption 40–80% in the forest floor. CHCl3 labile (microbial) P also reached maximum concentrations in forest floor and near-surface mineral horizons, comprising 31–35% of forest floor organic P. Combined with previous estimates of plant root distributions, data suggest that biological and geochemical P subcycles are not distinctly vertically stratified in these soils. Plant roots, soil microorganisms, and P sorbing minerals all reach maximum relative concentrations in near-surface mineral horizons, where they are likely to compete strongly for PO4 3− available in solution.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aleksandrova LN (1960) The use of sodium pyrophosphate for isolating free humic substances and their organic-mineral compounds from soil. Sov. Soil Sci. 2: 190–197

    Google Scholar 

  • Attiwill PM & Leeper GW (1987) Forest Soils and Nutrient Cycles. Melbourne Univ. Press, Carlton

    Google Scholar 

  • Bache BW & Williams EG (1971) A phosphate sorption index for soils. J. Soil Sci. 22: 289–301

    Google Scholar 

  • Baril R & Bitton G (1969) Teneurs elevees de fer fibre et l'identification taxonomique de certains sols du Quebec contenant de la magnetite. Can. J. Soil Sci. 59: 1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Bascomb CL (1968) Distribution of pyrophosphate-extractable iron and organic carbon in soils of various groups. J. Soil Sci. 19: 251–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Binkley D (1986) Forest Nutrition Management. John Wiley & Sons, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Blume HP & Schwertmann U (1969) Genetic evaluation of profile distribution of aluminum, iron and manganese oxides. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 33: 438–444

    Google Scholar 

  • Borggaard OK (1982) Selective extraction of amorphous iron oxides by EDTA from selected silicates and mixtures of amorphous and crystalline iron oxides. Clay Miner. 17: 365–368

    Google Scholar 

  • Borggaard OK (1988) Phase identification by selective dissolution techniques. Chap 5 In: Stucki JW, Goodman BA, & Schwertmann U (Eds) Iron in Soils and Clay Minerals. NATO ASI Series C, 217:83–98

  • Brookes PC, Powlson DS, & Jenkinson DS (1982) Measurement of microbial biomass phosphorus in soil. Soil Biol. Biochem. 14: 319–329

    Google Scholar 

  • Chauhan BS, Stewart JWB, & Paul EA (1981) Effect of labile inorganic phosphate status and organic carbon additions on the microbial uptake of phosphorus in soils. Can. J. Soil Sci. 61: 373–385

    Google Scholar 

  • Day PR (1965) Particle fractionation and particle size analysis. In: Black CA (Ed) Methods of Soil Analysis (pp 545–566). Am. Soc. Agron., Madison, WI

  • Ericsson T, Linares J, & Lotse E (1984) A Moessbauer study of the effect of dithionite/ citrate/bicarbonate treatment on a vermiculite, a smectite and a soil. Clay Miner. 19: 85–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Fordham AW, Merry RH, & Norrish K (1984) Occurrence of microcrystalline goethite in an unusual fibrous form. Geoderma 34: 135–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Guar AC (1969) Studies on the availability of phosphate in soil as influenced by humic acid. Agrochimica 14: 62–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatcher RD (1988) Bedrock geology and regional geologic setting of Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in the Eastern Blue Ridge. Chap 5 In: Swank WT & Crossley DA (Eds) Forest Hydrology and Ecology at Coweeta. Ecol. Studies 66: 81–92

  • Hedley MJ & Stewart JWB (1982) Method to measure microbial phosphate in soils. Soil Biol. Biochem. 14: 377–385

    Google Scholar 

  • Hingston FJ, Atkinson RJ, Posner AM, & Quirk JP (1968) Specific adsorption of anions on goethite. Int. Congr. Soil Sci., Trans. 9th 1: 669–678

    Google Scholar 

  • Hsu PA (1977) Aluminum hydroxides and oxyhydroxides. Chap 4 In: Dixon JB & Weed SB (Eds) Minerals in Soil Environments (pp 99–143). Soil Sci. Soc. Am., Madison, WI

  • Johnson DW, Cole DW, Van Miegroet H, & Horng FW (1986) Factors affecting anion movement and retention in four forest soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 50: 776–783

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson DW & Todd DE (1983) Relationships among iron, aluminum, carbon, and sulfate in a variety of forest soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 47: 792–800

    Google Scholar 

  • Kassim JK, Gafoor SN, & Adams WA (1984) Ferrihydrite in pyrophosphate extracts of podzol B horizons. Clay Miner. 19: 99–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Kodama H & Schnitzer M (1977) Effect of fulvic acid on the crystallization of Fe (III) oxides. Geoderma 19: 279–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Kodama H & Schnitzer M (1980) Effect of fulvic acid on the crystallization of aluminum hydroxides. Geoderma 24: 195–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsen JE, Warren GF, & Langston R (1959) Effect of iron, aluminum and humic acid on phosphorus fixation by organic soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 23: 438–440

    Google Scholar 

  • Loveland PJ & Digby P (1984) The extraction of Fe and Al by 0.1 M pyrophosphate solutions: a comparison of some techniques. J. Soil Sci. 35: 243–250

    Google Scholar 

  • McGinty DT (1976) Comparative root and soil dynamics on a white pine watershed and in the hardwood forest in the Coweeta Basin. Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. of Georgia. 110 pp

  • McKeague JA (1967) An evaluation of 0.1 M pyrophosphate and pyrophosphate-dithionite in comparison with oxalate as extractants of the accumulation products of podzols and some other soils. Can. J. Soil Sci. 47: 95–99

    Google Scholar 

  • McKeague JA, Brydon JE, & Miles NM (1971) Differentiation of forms of extractable iron and aluminum in soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 35: 33–38

    Google Scholar 

  • McKeague JA & Day JH (1966) Dithionite- and oxalate-extractable Fe and Al as aids in differentiating various classes of soils. Can. J. Soil Sci. 46: 13–22

    Google Scholar 

  • McKeague JA & Schuppli PA (1985) An assessment of EDTA as an extractant of organic-complexed and amorphous forms of Fe and Al in soils. Geoderma 35: 109–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Monk CD & Day FP (1988) Biomass, primary production and selected nutrient budgets for an undisturbed hardwood watershed. Chap 11 In: Swank WT & Crossley DA (Eds) Forest Hydrology and Ecology at Coweeta. Ecol. Studies 66:151–159

  • Nair PS, Logan TJ, Sharpley AN, Sommers LE, Tabatabai MA, & Yuan TL (1984) Interlaboratory comparison of a standardized phosphorus adsorption procedure. J. Environ. Qual. 13: 591–595

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagarajah S, Posner AM, & Quirk JP (1970) Competitive adsorption of phosphate with polygalacturonate and other organic anions on kaolinite and oxide surfaces. Nature (London) 228: 83–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Nesterenkova VG, Rastvorova OG, Afonina NL, Zuyev VS, & Us'yarov OG (1986) Effect of organic matter on the sorption of phosphate ion by soils. Sov. Soil Sci. 18: 28–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Olsen SR & Sommers LE (1982) Phosphorus. Chap 24 In: Page AL, Miller RH, & Keeney DR (Eds) Methods of Soil Analysis Part 2 — Chemical and Microbiological Properties (pp 403–430). Am. Soc. of Agron. & Soil Sci. Soc. of Am., Madison, WI

  • Orion Scientific Instruments Corp. (1984) Operation and Service Manual for M/CFA Modular Continuous Flow Analyzer. Orion Scientific Instruments Corp., Pleasantville, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Parfitt RL & Childs CW (1988) Estimation of forms of Fe and Al: A review, and analysis of contrasting soils by dissolution and Moessbauer methods. Aust. J. Soil Res. 26: 121–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Parfitt RL & Smart R StC (1978) The mechanism of sulfate adsorption on iron oxides. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 42: 48–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Perkin-Elmer (1982) Analytical Methods for Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. Perkin-Elmer, Norwalk, CT

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson CJ (1985) Mechanisms controlling phosphorus retention capacity in freshwater wetlands. Science 228: 1424–1427

    Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute Inc. (1985) SAS User's Guide: Statistics, 5th edition. SAS Institute, Cary, NC

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoenau JJ & Bettany JR (1987) Organic matter leaching as a component of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur cycles in a forest, grassland, and gleyed soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 51: 646–651

    Google Scholar 

  • Schimel D, Stilwell MA, & Woodmansee RG (1985) Biogeochemistry of C, N, and P in a soil catena of the shortgrass steppe. Ecology 66: 276–282

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuppli PA, Ross GJ, & McKeague JA (1983) The effective removal of suspended materials from pyrophosphate extracts of soils from tropical and temperate regions. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 47: 1026–1032

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwertmann U (1966) Inhibitory effect of soil organic matter on the crystallization of amorphous ferric hydroxide. Nature 212: 645–646

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwertmann U (1973) Use of oxalate for Fe extraction from soils. Can. J. Soil Sci: 53: 244–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwertmann U & Taylor RM (1977) Iron oxides. Chap 5 In: Dixon JB & Weed SB (Eds) Minerals in Soil Environments (pp 145–180). Soil Sci. Soc. AM:; Madison, WI

  • Schwertmann U, Schulze DG, & Murad E (1982) Identification of ferrihydrite in soils by dissolution kinetics, differential X-ray diffraction and Moessbauer spectroscopy. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 46: 869–875

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh BR (1984) Sulfate sorption by acid forest soils: 2. Sulfate adsorption isotherms with and without organic matter and oxides of aluminum and iron. Soil Sci. 138: 294–297

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson FJ (1986) Cycles of Soil: C, N, P, S, Micronutrients. John Wiley & Sons, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Strickland TC, Fitzgerald JW, & Swank WT (1984) Mobilization of recently formed forest soil organic sulfur. Can. J. For. Res. 14: 63–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Struthers PH & Sieling DH (1950) Effect of organic anions on phosphate precipitation by iron and aluminum as influenced by pH. Soil Sci. 169: 205–213

    Google Scholar 

  • Swank WT & Crossley DA (1988) Introduction. and site description. Chap 1 In: Swank W T & Crossley DA (Eds) Forest Hydrology and Ecology at Coweeta. Ecol. Studies 66: 3–16

  • Swank WT & Douglass JE (1977) Nutrient budgets for undisturbed and manipulated hardwood forest ecosystems in the mountains of North Carolina. In: Correll DL (Ed) Watershed Research in Eastern North America 1: 343–364

  • Swank WT, Fitzgerald JW, & Ash JT (1984) Microbial transformation of sulfate in forest soils. Science 223: 182–184

    Google Scholar 

  • Swift LW, Cunningham GB, & Douglass JE (1988) Climatology and hydrology. Chap 3 In: Swank WT & Crossley DA (Eds) Forest Hydrology and Ecology at Coweeta. Ecol. Studies 66: 35–55

  • USDA (1972) Soil survey laboratory methods and procedures for collecting soil samples. Soil survey investigations Rep. No. 1. U.S. Govt. Printing Office, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Velbel MA (1984) Natural weathering mechanisms of almandine garnet. Geology 12: 631–634

    Google Scholar 

  • Velbel MA (1988) Weathering and soil-forming processes. Chap 6 In: Swank WT & Crossley DA (Eds) Forest Hydrology and Ecology at Coweeta. Ecol. Studies 66: 93–102

  • Walbridge MR (1991) Phosphorus availability in acid organic soils of the lower North Carolina coastal plain. Ecology 72 (in press)

  • Walbridge MR & Vitousek PM (1987) Phosphorus mineralization potentials in acid organic soils: processes affecting32PO4 3− isotope dilution measurements. Soil Biol. Biochem. 19: 709–717

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang C, Schuppli PA, & Ross GJ (1987) A comparison of hydroxylamine and ammonium oxalate solutions as extractants for Al, Fe, and Si from Spodosols and Spodosol-like soils in Canada Geoderma 40: 345–355

    Google Scholar 

  • Wieder RK & Lang GE (1986) Fe, Al, Mn, and S chemistry of Sphagnum peat in four peatlands with different metal and sulfur input. Water Air Soil Poll. 29: 309–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams JDH, Syers JK, Walker TW, & Rex RW (1970) A comparison of methods for the determination of soil organic phosphorus. Soil Sci. 110: 13–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood TE (1980) Biological and chemical control of phosphorus cycling in a northern hardwood forest. Ph.D. Thesis, Yale Univ. 205 pp

  • Wood TE, Bormann FH, & Voigt GK (1984) Phosphorus cycling in a northern hardwood forest: biological and chemical control. Science 223: 391–393

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030-4444, USA

    M. R. Walbridge

  2. School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27706, USA

    C. J. Richardson

  3. USDA Forest Service, Southeastern Experiment Station, Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, Otto, NC, 28763, USA

    W. T. Swank

Authors
  1. M. R. Walbridge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. J. Richardson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. W. T. Swank
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Walbridge, M.R., Richardson, C.J. & Swank, W.T. Vertical distribution of biological and geochemical phosphorus subcycles in two southern Appalachian forest soils. Biogeochemistry 13, 61–85 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002876

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002876

Key words

Search

Navigation