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Assessing the bioaccessibility of aluminum in an acidic soil with the diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) and DIFS

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Abstract

Aim

To assess the bioaccessibility of aluminum (Al) by DGT, and to clarify the main factors affecting Al plant accessibility.

Methods

An acidic soil amelioration with Ca(OH)2 and peanut straw biochar was established by determining the acid-neutralizing capacity of amendments with constant pH automatic titration, to determine the amount of amendments required to achieve the target soil pH. A pot trial was conducted, Al available to DGT (CDGT) was compared to plant Al content. Plant accessibility of different Al species in the soil solid phase and solution was analyzed. The DIFS model was used to predict the diffusion potential of labile Al from soil solid.

Results

The dynamic of CDGT showed an opposite trend to that of soil pH, with a significant decrease in CDGT as pH was increased. There was a highly significant positive linear correlation between CDGT and Al contents in shoots and roots. CDGT showed highly significant positive correlation with Al-Ex and Al-Solid, and highly significant negative correlation with Al-Hy. In soil solution, Al species of Al3+, Al-OH, Al-F, and Al-SO4 were significantly positively correlated with CDGT. Sorption rate k1 values of labile Al in soil solid phase were predicted as 108.15 ~ 495.32 × 10–5 s−1, and desorption rate k-1 values as 30.09 ~ 204.6 × 10–7 s−1 by DGT-DIFS.

Conclusions

DGT was an effective tool to assess plant-accessible Al. The co-application of peanut straw biochar with lime better promoted the conversion of soluble Al to low-toxicity Al-OM and Al-Or and reduced the bioaccessibility of Al.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U19A2046).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 821, Nanjing, China

    Linyu Guo, Ke-wei Li, Yangxiaoxiao Shi, Jing Yan & Ren-kou Xu

  2. College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Linyu Guo, Ke-wei Li, Yangxiaoxiao Shi & Ren-kou Xu

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  1. Linyu Guo
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  2. Ke-wei Li
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  3. Yangxiaoxiao Shi
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  4. Jing Yan
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  5. Ren-kou Xu
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Contributions

Linyu Guo and Ren-kou Xu designed the experiments. Linyu Guo conducted the experiments and analyzed the data. Ke-wei Li, Yangxiaoxiao Shi and Jing Yan assisted in experiments and discussed the results. Linyu Guo drafted the manuscript. Ren-kou Xu revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ren-kou Xu.

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Guo, L., Li, Kw., Shi, Y. et al. Assessing the bioaccessibility of aluminum in an acidic soil with the diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) and DIFS. Plant Soil (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-024-06645-3

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