Abstract
The present contribution discusses the soil P status of central Amazonian upland soils, the effects of tree crops on soil P availability and the factors controlling soil P cycling in land use systems with tree crops. Soil fertility management has to target the prevalent P deficiency by adequate P fertilization, especially in southern and northern municipalities of central Amazônia where the largest areas with severe P deficiency are found. P fixation to clay minerals is not a major obstacle for P management in the highly weathered upland soils of the central Amazon due to their low Al- and Fe-oxide contents. Low total soil P amounts are mainly responsible for low P availability. Tree crops are found to be especially suitable for land use under low-P-input conditions. Their large P return to soil by litterfall and pruning improves soil P availability. Additionally, litter quality affects P release and soil P availability. Both aspects, quantity and quality effects, are strongly dependent on tree species. Phosphorus sorption does not seem to be reduced by different litter types confirming earlier results that P fixation is not a major problem in central Amazonian upland soils. In conclusion, biological approaches are more important than physical approaches to improve soil P availability in central Amazonian Oxisols. With large P cycling through soil microbial biomass and between plant and soil, a higher availability of added P can be maintained and P applications only need to replenish P exports by harvest. Low P additions will improve productivity also for long-term uptake by trees. This is of high importance in regions with poor infrastructure and the lack of financial resources.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beck M A and Sanchez P A 1996 Soil phosphorus movement and budget after 13 years of fertilized cultivation in the Amazon basin. Plant Soil 184, 23–31.
Buresh R J and Tian G 1998 Soil improvement by trees in sub-Saharan Africa. Agrofor. Syst. 38, 51–76.
Campos C E B, Lehmann J, Macedo J L V and Da Silva Jr J P 2000 Dinamica de fosforo no solo sob cupuacu (Theobroma grandiflorum) e urucum (Bixa orellana) em um sistema agroflorestal na Amazonia Central. In Proceedings of the 3rd National Brazilian Congress on Agroforestry, 21-25 Nov 2000. pp 140-141. Manaus, Brazil.
Cravo M S and Smyth T J 1997 Manejo sustentado da fertilidade de um latossolo da amazônia central sob cultivos successivos. R. Bras. Ci. Solo 21, 607–616.
Cravo M S and De Souza A G C 1996 Exportação de nutrientes por fruto de cupuaçuzeiro. In XXII Reunião Brasileira de Fertilidade do Solo e Nutrição de Plantas. pp 632–633. University of Amazonas, Manaus.
Cravo M S and Macêdo J L V 1999 Caracteristicas quimicas de solos em projetos de assentamento da reforma agrária no Estado do Amazonas. Embrapa Amazonia Ocidental No 23, 1–3.
Cravo M S, Atroch A L, Macêdo J L V, Nascimento Filho F J, Lima L P and Ribeiro J R C 1999 Exportação de nutrientes pela colheita de guaraná. Embrapa Amazonia Ocidental No 43, 1–4.
Cravo MS, Moraes C R and Cruz L A L 1996 Extração de nutrientes por palmito de pupunha. In XXII Reunião Brasileira de Fertilidade do Solo e Nutrição de Plantas. pp 624–625. University of Amazonas, Manaus.
Cunha R J P 1979 Marcha de absorção de nutrientes em condições de campo e sintomatologia de deficiência de macronutrientes e do Boro no mamoeiro (Carica papaya). PhD Thesis, University of Sao Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil. 131 p.
Dematê J L I and Dematê J A M 1997 Fertilidade e sustentabilidade de solos Amazônicos. In: Sociedade Brasileira de Ciência do Solo. Amazônia - agricultura sustentável. Manaus, Brazil. p 145–214.
Dünisch O and Schwarz T 2001 Biomass, nutrient stocks and nutrient fluxes in monoculture plots of 5 plantation-grown tree species for wood production. Oecologia, in review.
Fernandes L A, Neto A E F, Curi N, Lima J M and Guedes G A 1998 Fósforo e atividade de fosfatase em dois solos sob diferentes condições de uso. Pesq. Agropec. Bras. 33, 1159–1170.
Fox R L and Kamprath E J 1970 Phosphate sorption isotherms for evaluating the phosphorus requirements of soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 34 902–907.
Friesen D K, Rao I M, Thomas R J, Oberson A and Sanz J I 1997 Phosphorus acquisition and cycling in crop and pasture systems in low fertility soils. Plant Soil 196, 289–294.
Hue N V 1991 Effects of organic acids/anions on P-sorption and phytoavailability in soils with different mineralogies. Soil Sci. 152, 463–471.
Kato A K 1995 Dinamica da entrada de nutrientes via liteira em plantios de castanheira-do-Brasil (Bertholletia excelsa H.B.K.) em sistemas de pastagens degradadas e de floresta primaria. PhD Thesis, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisa da Amazonia, Manaus, Brazil. 180 p.
Lehmann J 2001 Nutrient flux control by trees for soil improvement in tropical agroforestry. In Management of Tropical Plantation Forests and their Soil-Litter Systems. Ed. M V Reddy. pp 345–371. Oxford & IBH Publ., New Delhi. (in press)
Lehmann J, Cravo M S and Zech W 2001a Organic matter stabilization in a Xanthic Ferralsol of the central Amazon as affected by single trees: chemical characterization of density, aggregate and particle size fractions. Geoderma 99, 147–168.
Lehmann J, Günther D, Mota M S, Almeida M, Zech W and Kaiser K 2001b Inorganic and organic soil phosphorus and sulfur pools in an Amazonian multistrata agroforestry system. Agrofor. Syst., in press
Lehmann J, Muraoka T and Zech W 2001c Root activity patterns in an Amazonian agroforest with fruit trees determined by 32P, 33P and 15N applications. Agrofor. Syst. 52, 185–197.
LeMare P H 1982 Sorption of isotopically exchangeable and nonexchangeable phosphate by some soils of Colombia and Brazil, and in comparison with soils of southern Nigeria. J. Soil Sci. 33, 691–707.
LeMare P H, Pereira J and Goedert W J 1987 Effects of green manure on isotopically exchangeable phosphate in a dark-red latosol in Brazil. J. Soil Sci. 38, 199–209.
Lopez-Hernandez D, Siegert G and Rodriquez J V 1986 Competitive adsorption of phosphate with malate and oxalate by tropical soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am J. 50, 1460–1462.
McGrath D A, Comerford N B and Durya M L 2000 Litter dynamics and monthly fluctuations in soil phosphorus availability in an Amazonian agroforest. For. Ecol. Manage. 131, 167–181.
Moreira A, Rocha E S, Alencar E S and Rodrigues M R L 2000 Levantamento da fertilidade do solo no Estado do Amazonas. In XXIV Reunião Brasileira de Fertilidade do Solo e Nutrição de Plantas. p 149. Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria.
Nurwakera J 1991 Soil phosphorus dynamics during continuous cultivation in a Brazilian Amazon Oxisol. MSc thesis, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA. 119 p.
Nziguheba G, Palm C A, Buresh R J and Smithson P C 1998 Soil phosphorus fractions and adsorption as affected by organic and inorganic sources. Plant Soil 198, 159–168.
Rodrigues M R L, Araujo J S and Coelho L S 2000 Nutrientes e produção de biomassa de dendezeiro em Latossolo Amarelo na Amazônia Ocidental. In XXV Reunião Brasileira de Fertilidade do Solo e Nutrição de Plantas - Biodinamica do Solo - FERTBIO. CD-ROM 3 p. Santa Maria, Brazil.
Sanchez P A, Villachica J H and Bandy D E 1983 Soil fertility dynamics after clearing a tropical rainforest in Peru. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 47, 1171–1178.
Sanchez P A, Palm C A, Davey C B, Szott L T and Russel C E 1985 Tree crops as soil improvers in the humid tropics? In Attributes of Trees as Crop Plants. Eds. M G R Cannell and J E Jackson. pp 327–358. Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, NERC, UK.
Sanchez P A, Palm C A and Szott L T 1991 Phosphorus dynamics in shifting cultivation systems in the Amazon. In Phosphorus Cycles in Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems. Eds. H Tiessen, D López-Hernandes and I H Salcedo. pp 142–160. SCOPEUNEP Regional Workshop 3: South and Central America. Saskatshewan, Institute of Pedology, Saskatoon, Canada.
Sanchez P A and Logan T J 1992 Myths and science about the chemistry and fertility of soils in the tropics. In Myths and Science of Soil in the Tropics. Eds. R Lal and P A Sanchez. pp 35–46. SSSA Sp. Publ. No. 29. Madison, Wisconsin.
Schinner F, Öhlinger R, Kandeler E and Margesin R 1996 Methods in Soil Biology. Springer Verlag, Berlin. 426 p.
Schroth G, Seixas R, Da Silva L F, Teixeira W G and Zech W 2000 Nutrient concentrations and acidity in ferralitic soil under perennial cropping, fallow and primary forest in central Amazonia. Europ. J. Soil Sci. 51, 219–231.
Schroth G, Elias M E A, Uguen K, Seixas R and Zech W 2001a Nutrient fluxes in rainfall, throughfall and stemflow in tree-based land use systems and spontaneous tree vegetation of central Amazonia. Agric. Ecosys. Environm. 87, 37–49.
Schroth G, Lehmann J, Barros E, Rodrigues M R L and Macedo J L V 2001b Plant-soil interactions in multi-strata agroforestry in the humid tropics. Agrofor. Syst., in press
Schroth G, Salazar E and Da Silva Jr. J P 2001c Soil N mineralization under tree crops and a legume cover crop in multi-strata agroforestry in central Amazonia: spatial and temporal patterns. Exp. Agric. 37, 253–267.
Singh R, Möller M R F and Ferreira W A 1983a Cinética da sorção de fósforo em solos dos trópicos Úmidos da Amazônia. Rev. Bras. Ci. Solo 7, 227–231.
Singh R, Möller M R F and Ferreira WA 1983b Caracteristicas da sorção do fósforo relacionadas com propriedades selecionadas de solos dos tropicos Úmidos da Amazônia. Rev. Bras. Ci. Solo 7, 233–241.
Smyth T J and Cassel D K 1995 Synthesis of long-term soil management research on ultisols and oxisols in the Amazon. In Soil Management: Experimental Basis for Sustainability and Environmental Quality. Eds. R Lal and B A Stewart. pp 13–60. Adv. Soil Sci., Boca Raton, Florida.
Smyth T J and Cravo M S 1990 Phosphorus management for continuous corn-cowpea production in a Brazilian Amazon Oxisol. Agron. J. 82, 305–309.
Sombroek W 2000 Amazon landforms and soils in relation to biological diversity. Acta Amazonica 30, 81–100.
Stevenson F J and Cole M A 1999 Cycles of soil: carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, micronutrients. Wiley, New York. 427 p.
Teixeira L B 1987 Dinâmica do ecosistema de pastagem cultivada em área de floresta da Amazônia Central. PhD Thesis, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisa da Amazônia (INPA)/ University of Amazonas (FUA), Manaus, Brazil. 100 p.
Tiessen H, Salcedo I H and Sampaio E V S B 1992 Nutrient and soil organic matter dynamics under shifting cultivation in semi-arid northeastern Brazil. Agric. Ecosys. Environm. 38, 139–151.
Tiessen H and Moir J O 1993 Characterization of available P by sequential extraction. In Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysis. Ed. M R Carter. pp 75–86. Canadian Society of Soil Science, Lewis Publishers, Canada.
Tucci CAF 1991 Disponibilidade de fósforo em solos da Amazonia. PhD Thesis, University of Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. 142 p.
Viégas I J M 1991 Crescimento do dendezeiro (Elaeis guineensis Jacqu), concentração, conteÚdo e exportação de nutrientes nas diferentes partes de plantas com 2 a 8 anos de idade cultivadas em Latossolo amarelo distrófico, Tailândia, Pará. PhD Thesis. University of Sao Paulo. Piracicaba. Brazil. 180 p.
Wolf M A 1997 Accumulation of biomass and nutrients in the aboveground organs of four local tree species in mono-culture and polyculture systems in central Amazonia. MSc Thesis. University of Braunschweig. Germany. 310 p.
World Bank 1994 Role of phosphorus in agriculture. In Feasibility of Phosphate Rock as a Capital Investment in sub-Saharan Africa: Issues and Opportunities. pp 9–37. World Bank/IFA/MIGA.
Yost R S, Kamprath E J, Naderman G C and Lobato E 1981 Residual effects of phosphorus applications on a high phosphorus adsorbing Oxisol of Central Brazil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 45, 540–543.
Zinke P J 1962 The pattern of influence of individual forest trees on soil properties. Ecology 43, 130–133.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lehmann, J., Cravo, M.d.S., Vasconselos de Macêdo, J.L. et al. Phosphorus management for perennial crops in central Amazonian upland soils. Plant and Soil 237, 309–319 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013320721048
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013320721048