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Crop residue phosphorus: speciation and potential bio-availability

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Abstract

Background and Aims

Phosphorus (P) mineralisation from crop residues is usually predicted from total P or carbon: phosphorus (C: P) ratios. However, these measures have limited accuracy as they do not take into account the presence of different P species that may be mineralised at different rates. In this study P speciation was determined using solution 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to understand the potential fate of residue P in soils.

Methods

Mature above-ground biomass of eight different crops sampled from the field was portioned into stem, chaff and seed.

Results

The main forms of P detected in stem and chaff were orthophosphate (25–75 %), phospholipids (10–40 %) and RNA (5–30 %). Phytate was the dominant P species in seeds, and constituted up to 45 % of total P in chaff but was only detected in minor amounts (<1 %) in stem residue. The majority (65–95 %) of P in stems was water-extractable, and most of this was detected as orthophosphate. However, this includes organic P that may have been hydrolysed during the water extraction.

Conclusions

This study indicates that the majority of residue P in aboveground plant residues has the potential to be delivered to soil in a form readily available to plants and soil microorganisms.

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Abbreviations

C:

Carbon

N:

Nitrogen

NaOH-EDTA:

Sodium hydroxide ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

NMR:

Nuclear magnetic resonance

P:

Phosphorus

RNA:

Ribonucleic acid

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Grains Research and Development Centre (GRDC) for providing funding to support this research (DAV00095) and the University of Adelaide for the James Frederick Sandoz Scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, PMB 1, Waite Campus, Glen Osmond, SA, 5064, Australia

    Sarah R. Noack, Mike J. McLaughlin & Ronald J. Smernik

  2. CSIRO Sustainable Agriculture Flagship, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, PMB 2, Glen Osmond, SA, 5064, Australia

    Therese M. McBeath

  3. Department of Primary Industries, Grains Innovation Park, PMB 260, Horsham, VIC, 3400, Australia

    Roger D. Armstrong

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  1. Sarah R. Noack
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  2. Mike J. McLaughlin
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  3. Ronald J. Smernik
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  4. Therese M. McBeath
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  5. Roger D. Armstrong
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Correspondence to Sarah R. Noack.

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Responsible Editor: N. Jim Barrow.

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Noack, S.R., McLaughlin, M.J., Smernik, R.J. et al. Crop residue phosphorus: speciation and potential bio-availability. Plant Soil 359, 375–385 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1216-5

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