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Spatial distribution of soil nutrient at depth in black soil of Northeast China: a case study of soil available phosphorus and total phosphorus

  • SOILS, SEC 1 • SOIL ORGANIC MATTER DYNAMICS AND NUTRIENT CYCLING • RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Abstract

Purpose

The spatial variability of soil available phosphorus (AP) and total phosphorus (TP) influences crop yield and the environment. The paper aims to identify the spatial heterogeneity of P (AP and TP) and clarify the main driving mechanisms in a Mollisol watershed of Northeast China.

Materials and methods

Both geostatistical and traditional analysis were used to describe the spatial distribution of P at different depths. P in cultivated fields on the upper slopes was compared with secondary forest areas on the lower slopes within the same watershed.

Results and discussion

The horizontal distribution of P was found to be primarily influenced by structural factors (58–95 %). TP was high at both the summit and the bottom of slopes at all depths, being especially high at the watershed outlet due to erosion on the back slope and deposition at the base. AP was higher on south-facing slopes than on north-facing slopes and typically decreased from the summit to the base of south-facing slopes at the 0–40-cm depths, mainly due to solar radiation, soil loss, and water loss. The vertical distribution of TP typically decreased with increasing depths in farmland but did not show systematic variation in the forest profiles. AP was lower in the middle of the 0–60-cm soil profiles in the farmland, reflecting the influence of fertilization, infiltration, and crop absorption. AP in the 30–60-cm and TP in the 20–60-cm layers were lower in farmland than in the secondary forest, and only 2 % of the area showed a risk of P loss through ground flow and infiltration in the 0–20-cm layer.

Conclusions

The horizontal distribution of P in the 0–60-cm layers was mainly influenced by soil and water loss, deposition, and hydrothermal dynamics, while the vertical distribution of P, especially AP, was more affected by fertilization, infiltration, organic matter, and crop absorption. Secondary forestland that had been converted from farmland was found to effectively hold P, especially in deep soil layers, as the loss of P dissolved in water is not a primary process.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Valerie Kirkwood from Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Center, Agriculture Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa for carefully editing the grammar of this manuscript. We thank Dr. Zhihong Xu (Editor-in-Chief) and the two anonymous reviewers for their comments. Part of the paper is sponsored by the project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41101262), Heilongjiang Province Education Department (12521010).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resource and Environment, Northeast Agricultural University, 59 MuCai Street, Harbin, 150030, People’s Republic China

    Shaoliang Zhang, Wei Liu & Zhihua Liu

  2. Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Center, Agriculture Agri-Food Canada, 960 Carling Avenue, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0C6, Canada

    Ted Huffman

  3. Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, CAS, 138 Haping Rd, Harbin, 150081, People’s Republic China

    Xingyi Zhang

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  1. Shaoliang Zhang
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  2. Ted Huffman
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  3. Xingyi Zhang
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  4. Wei Liu
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  5. Zhihua Liu
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Correspondence to Shaoliang Zhang or Ted Huffman.

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Responsible editor: Woo-Jung Choi

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Zhang, S., Huffman, T., Zhang, X. et al. Spatial distribution of soil nutrient at depth in black soil of Northeast China: a case study of soil available phosphorus and total phosphorus. J Soils Sediments 14, 1775–1789 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-014-0935-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-014-0935-z

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