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The application of soil amendments benefits to the reduction of phosphorus depletion and the growth of cabbage and corn

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Abstract

The loss of phosphorus from agricultural intensive areas can cause ecological problems such as eutrophication in downstream surface waters. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to control the phosphorus loss using environmentally benign soil amendments, viz, ferrous sulfate (FES), aluminum sulfate (ALS), and polyacrylamide (PAM). The phosphorus concentration changes in soil and leaching solution, the morphological index of plant (including stem and root), and root activity and quality (represented by chlorophyll and soluble sugar) at different growth stages of cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata L.) were monitored in a pilot experiment. Phosphorus contents in soil and runoff were also investigated in field experiments cultivated with corn (Zea mays L.). The results show that the application of these amendments improved the phosphorus uptake by cabbage and corn, resulting in the enhanced morphologies of root and stem as well as the root activity at the early and middle stages of cabbage growth. The soil total phosphorus and available phosphorus in soils treated with FES, ALS, and PAM declined, resulting in lower concentrations of phosphorus in the leachate and the soil runoff. During the use of the soil amendments, the cabbage quality measures, determined as chlorophyll and soluble sugar in leaves, were not significantly different from those in the control. It is suggested that the application of these soil amendments is safe for cabbage production under single season cropping conditions, and the use of these three amendments is a promising measure to reduce phosphorus loss in intensive agricultural areas.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Open Project of State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, 159 Longpan Rd., Nanjing, 210037, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Liu, Hongli Ji & Yanming Fang

  2. School of Biomedical Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2678, Australia

    Philip Kerr

  3. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Liu & Yonghong Wu

Authors
  1. Wei Liu
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  2. Hongli Ji
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  3. Philip Kerr
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  4. Yonghong Wu
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  5. Yanming Fang
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Correspondence to Yanming Fang.

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Responsible editor: Zhihong Xu

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Liu, W., Ji, H., Kerr, P. et al. The application of soil amendments benefits to the reduction of phosphorus depletion and the growth of cabbage and corn. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 16772–16780 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4870-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4870-3

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