Abstract
Background and aims
Soil phosphorus (P) indices that have been originally developed and applied to agricultural soils for predicting P uptake by plants were examined in a pot experiment to determine the most suitable index for P availability in bauxite-processing residue sand (BRS).
Methods
Pot trials with ryegrass were established using BRS that had been amended with various organic (greenwaste compost, biochar and biosolids) and inorganic (zeolite) materials and different levels of di-ammonium phosphate fertiliser. Soil P availability indices tested included anion-exchange membrane (AEM-P), 0.01 M calcium chloride (CaCl2-P), Colwell-P, and Mehlich 3-P.
Results
AEM-P was found to most closely reflect the available P status in BRS across all treatments, and had the strongest associations with plant P uptake compared to Colwell-P, Mehlich 3-P and CaCl2-P. AEM-P was more closely correlated with P uptake by ryegrass than other P indices, while Colwell-P was closely related to leaf dry matter. Interestingly, a strong inverse relationship between plant indices and pH in BRS growth media was observed, and an adequate level of plant P uptake was found only in 15 year-old rehabilitated BRS with pH < 8.0.
Conclusions
AEM-P was found to be the most suitable index for evaluating P availability in highly alkaline BRS and pH was an important parameter affecting uptake of P by ryegrass. Importantly, time is required (> 5 years) before improved uptake of P by plants can be observed in rehabilitated residue sand embankments.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbott T (1985) Soil Testing Service—Methods and Interpretation. Department of Agriculture, New South Wales, Australia
Anderson J (2009) Impacts of amending bauxite residue sands with residue fines for the establishment of vegetation on residue disposal areas. Murdoch University (Ph. D. Thesis), Australia
Anderson JD, Bell RW, Phillips IR (2011) Bauxite residue fines as an amendment to residue sands to enhance plant growth potential-a glasshouse study. J Soils Sediments 11:889–902
Baldock J, Skjemstad J (1999) Soil organic carbon/soil organic matter. In: Peverill KI, Sparrow LA, Reuter DJ (eds) Soil analysis: an interpretation manual. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, pp 159–170
Banning NC, Phillips IR, Jones D, Murphy DV (2011) Development of microbial diversity and functional potential in bauxite residue sand under rehabilitation. Restor Ecol 19:78–87
Barrow N, Shaw T (1976) Sodium bicarbonate as an extractant for soil phosphate. II. Effect of varying the conditions of extraction on the amount of phosphate initially displaced and on the secondary adsorption. Geoderma 16:109–123
Bendfeldt ES, Burger JA, Daniels WL (2001) Quality of amended mine soils after sixteen years. Soil Sci Soc Am J 65:1736–1744
Bertrand I, Holloway RE, Armstrong RD, McLaughlin MJ (2003) Chemical characteristics of phosphorus in alkaline soils from southern Australia. Soil Res 41:61–76
Bibiso M, Tadesse A, Assefa M (2012) Evaluation of three universal extractants for the determination of P, NO3-and K in some soils of Ethiopia. Adv Life Sci Technol 6:16–24
Bolland M, Allen D, Walton K (2003) Soil testing for phosphorus: comparing the Mehlich 3 and Colwell procedures for soils of south-western Australia. Soil Res 4:1185–1200
Chen C, Condron L, Davis M, Sherlock R (2000) Effects of afforestation on phosphorus dynamics and biological properties in a New Zealand grassland soil. Plant Soil 220:151–163
Colwell J (1963) The estimation of the phosphorus fertilizer requirements of wheat in southern New South Wales by soil analysis. Anim Prod Sci 3:190–197
Courtney R, Harrington T (2010) Assessment of plant-available phosphorus in a fine textured sodic substrate. Ecol Eng 36:542–547
Courtney R, Kirwan L (2012) Gypsum amendment of alkaline bauxite residue - Plant available aluminium and implications for grassland restoration. Ecol Eng 42:279–282
Courtney RG, Timpson JP (2005) Reclamation of fine fraction bauxite processing residue (red mud) amended with coarse fraction residue and gypsum. Water Air Soil Pollut 164:91–102
Courtney R, Mullen G, Harrington T (2009) An evaluation of revegetation success on bauxite residue. Restor Ecol 17:350–358
Eastham J, Morald T (2006) Effective nutrient sources for plant growth on bauxite residue: II. Evaluating the response to inorganic fertilizers. Water Air Soil Pollut 171:315–331
Eastham J, Morald T, Aylmore P (2006) Effective nutrient sources for plant growth on bauxite residue I. Comparing organic and inorganic fertilizers. Water Air Soil Pollut 176:5–19
Gherardi MJ, Rengel Z (2003) Genotypes of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) show differential tolerance to manganese deficiency and toxicity when grown in bauxite residue sand. Plant Soil 249:287–296
Guggenberger G, Christensen BT, Rubaek G, Zech W (1996) Land–use and fertilization effects on P forms in two European soils: resin extraction and 31P–NMR analysis. Eur J Soil Sci 47:605–614
Gwenzi W, Hinz C, Holmes K, Phillips IR, Mullins IJ (2011) Field-scale spatial variability of saturated hydraulic conductivity on a recently constructed artificial ecosystem. Geoderma 166:43–56
Hartikainen H, Yli-Halla M (1982) Chloride and sulphate solutions as extractants for soil P, 1: effect of ionic species and ionic strength on P desorption [Cl, SO4, phosphorus, Finland]. J Sci Agri Soc Finland 54:287–296
Hazelton PA, Murphy B (2007) Interpreting soil test results: what do all the numbers mean? CSIRO publishing Australia
Houba VJG, Novozamsky I, Lexmond TM, Vanderlee JJ (1990) Applicability of 0.01 M CaCl2 as a single extraction solution for the assessment of the nutrient status of soils and other diagnostic purposes. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 21:2281–2290
Hylander LD, Svensson HI, Simán G (1995) Extraction of soil phosphorus with calcium chloride solution for prediction of plant availability. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 26:1151–1168
Jones JB (1998) Soil test methods: past, present, and future use of soil extractants. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 29:1543–1552
Jones BEH, Haynes RJ (2011) Bauxite processing residue: a critical review of its formation, properties, storage, and revegetation. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol 41:271–315
Jones BEH, Haynes RJ, Phillips IR (2010) Effect of amendment of bauxite processing sand with organic materials on its chemical, physical and microbial properties. J Environ Manage 91:2281–2288
Jones BEH, Haynes RJ, Phillips IR (2011) Influence of organic waste and residue mud additions on chemical, physical and microbial properties of bauxite residue sand. Environ Sci Pollut Res 18:199–211
Jones BEH, Haynes RJ, Phillips IR (2012) Cation and anion leaching and growth of Acacia saligna in bauxite residue sand amended with residue mud, poultry manure and phosphogypsum. Environ Sci Pollut Res 19:835–846
Kirchhof G, Ramakrishna A, Bailey J (2008) An evaluation of Colwell–P as a measure of plant–available phosphorus in soils of volcanic and non–volcanic origins in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Soil Use Manage 24:331–336
Kouno K, Tuchiya Y, Ando T (1995) Measurement of soil microbial biomass phosphorus by an anion exchange membrane method. Soil Biol Biochem 27:1353–1357
Kulhánek M, Balík J, Černý J, Vaněk V (2009) Evaluation of phosphorus mobility in soil using different extraction methods. Plant Soil Environ 55:267–272
Meecham JR, Bell L (1977) Revegetation of alumina refinery wastes. 1. Properties and amelioration of the materials. Anim Prod Sci 17:679–688
Mehlich A (1984) Mehlich 3 soil test extractant: a modification of Mehlich 2 extractant. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 15:1409–1416
Murphy J, Riley JP (1962) A modified single solution method for determining phosphate in natural waters. Anal Chim Acta 27:31–36
Myers R, Thien S, Pierzynski G (1999) Using an ion sink to extract microbial phosphorus from soil. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63:1229–1237
Nizam I (2011) Effects of salinity stress on water uptake, germination and early seedling growth of perennial ryegrass. Afr J Biotechnol 10:10418–10424
Nuernberg N, Leal J, Sumner M (1998) Evaluation of an anion–exchange membrane for extracting plant available phosphorus in soils. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 29:467–479
Peverill KI, Sparrow L, Reuter DJ (1999) Soil analysis: an interpretation manual. CSIRO Publishing Australia
Phillips IR, Chen C (2010) Surface charge characteristics and sorption properties of bauxite-processing residue sand. Aust J Soil Res 48:77–87
Raij BV, Cantarella H, Quaggio J, Prochnow L (2009) Ion exchange resin for assessing phosphorus availability in soils. Better Crops Plant Food 93:23–25
Reuter D, Robinson JB (1997) Plant analysis: an interpretation manual. CSIRO Publishing Australia
Rubaek GH, Sibbesen E (1993) Resin extraction of labile, soil organic phosphorus. J Soil Sci 44:467–478
Saunders W (1964) Extraction of soil phosphate by anion-exchange membrane. N Z J Agri Res 7:427–431
Schoenau J, Huang W (1991) Anion–exchange membrane, water, and sodium bicarbonate extractions as soil tests for phosphorus. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 22:465–492
Thiyagarajan C, Phillips IR, Dell B, Bell RW (2009) Micronutrient fractionation and plant availability in bauxite-processing residue sand. Aust J Soil Res 47:518–528
Wong J, Ho G (1995) Cation exchange behavior of bauxite refining residues from Western Australia. J Environ Qual 24:461–466
Woods MS (2006) Nonacid cation bioavailability in sand rootzones. Cornell University (Ph.D. Thesis), New York
Acknowledgments
Ms Marijke Heenan for her assistance during field work, and in chemical analysis. Gregory Stephen of Zeolite Australia Pty Ltd. for supplying the zeolite and Barry Batchelor of Black Earth Products Pty Ltd. for supplying the biochar. This research was supported under the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Projects funding scheme (project number LP0989670) and by Alcoa World Alumina, Australia. Associate Professor CR Chen is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (project number FT0990547).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Tim Simon George.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Goloran, J.B., Chen, C.R., Phillips, I.R. et al. Plant phosphorus availability index in rehabilitated bauxite-processing residue sand. Plant Soil 374, 565–578 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1900-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1900-0