Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agronomy / Ganga M. Hettiarachchi / Although phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for the growth of plants, it is one of the most limiting nutrients in terms of availability as a high proportion of applied P rapidly transforms into insoluble forms with low solubility in soils. To further understand the fate of P applied to soils, two separate but related studies using three high P-fixing soil types each were used for which the objectives were to investigate the mobility, availability, and reaction products from two granular and one liquid P fertilizer alone or plus a fertilizer enhancement product. Energy dispersive spectroscopy showed a substantial amount of P remained in the granule following a 5-week incubation. At the end of the 35-day incubation period there was evidence that the fluid fertilizer was superior over the granular sources in terms of enhanced diffusion and extractability of P for three calcareous soils with varying levels of CaCO₃. Phosphorus x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy results in conjunction with resin-extractable P indicated a strong negative correlation between Ca-P solids formed and P extractability, suggesting that degree of Ca-P formation limits P solubility. For the three acidic P-fixing soils the results were complex. In two out of three acid soils, liquid P treatments diffused farther from the application point than the granular treatments. Phosphorus XANES results suggested that Fe-P or Al-P interactions control the overall P solubility. Integration of pH, resin extractable-P and XANES results suggested the P retention mechanism was either dominated by adsorption or precipitation depending on soil pH. More acidic soil conditions favored precipitation. The objectives of the third study were to observe how long-term (14 years) addition of P with or without N influences the inorganic and organic P pools in a native grassland soil using sequential fractionation, XANES, and ³¹P-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The overall results suggested that P and N fertilization and associated changes in plant productivity induced significant changes in soil P pools such as Ca-P, phytic acid, monoesters, and residual forms of P. The addition of P alone induced formation of inorganic P forms while the addition of P and N induced transformation of residual P forms into more labile and/or organic P forms.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-26T18:56:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao.pdf: 190502 bytes, checksum: 5752f80c9f704bcfdb2fab5cb3f0b55c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-08-27 / This work evaluated the behavior of phosphorus sources: Arad phosphate, Alvorada phosphorite and Triple Superphosphate in two soils a sandy and a clay 70% basis saturation in the natural acidity condition. The experimental outlining was totally randomized in a factorial scheme (2x2x3x4), being: two soils; three phosphate fertilizer sources; and four doses (0, 100, 200 and 400 Kg ha-1), with four repetitions. The results were submitted to the analysis variation, being taken the retrogression one, adjusting the equations and using as a criterion to the statistical pattern choice the significative F tests from 1 to 5%, and magnitude of determination coefficients. The phosphate fertilizers raised the calcium and the phosphorus proportions in the sand and in the sand-clay soils, both in presence and in absence of liming. The arad, applied in high doses in the acid soils, changed the pH of the sandy and the clay soils were noticed in the treatments that received an Alvorada Phosphorite application, and the highest proportions of the Triple Superphosphate and the Arad showed intermmediate proportions of available phosphorus. / Este trabalho avaliou o comportamento das fontes de fósforo: Arad, Fosforita Alvorada e Superfosfato Triplo em dois solos. - um arenoso e outro argiloso. -, na condição de acidez natural e, após a correção, atingir saturação por bases a 70%. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi inteiramente casualizado, com esquema fatorial (2x2x3x4), sendo: dois solos; três fontes de fertilizantes fosfatados e quatro doses (0, 100, 200 e 400 Kg há -1), com quatro repetições. Os resultados foram submetidos à análise de variância, sendo adotada a análise de regressão, ajustando-se as equações, e tendo-se como critério para escolha do modelo estatístico os testes F significativo a 1 a 5%, e (magnitude dos coeficientes de determinação). Os fertilizantes fosfatados elevaram os teores de cálcio e fósforo nos solos arenoso e argiloso na presença e ausência de calagem. O Arad, aplicado em doses elevadas nos solos ácidos, alterou o pH dos solos arenoso e argiloso. Os menores teores de fósforo disponível no solo foram observados nos tratamentos que receberam a aplicação de Fosforita Alvorada, e os maiores teores para o Superfosfato Triplo e o Arad apresentaram teores intermediários de fósforo disponível.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-18T17:51:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao.pdf: 190502 bytes, checksum: 5752f80c9f704bcfdb2fab5cb3f0b55c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-08-27 / This work evaluated the behavior of phosphorus sources: Arad phosphate, Alvorada phosphorite and Triple Superphosphate in two soils a sandy and a clay 70% basis saturation in the natural acidity condition. The experimental outlining was totally randomized in a factorial scheme (2x2x3x4), being: two soils; three phosphate fertilizer sources; and four doses (0, 100, 200 and 400 Kg ha-1), with four repetitions. The results were submitted to the analysis variation, being taken the retrogression one, adjusting the equations and using as a criterion to the statistical pattern choice the significative F tests from 1 to 5%, and magnitude of determination coefficients. The phosphate fertilizers raised the calcium and the phosphorus proportions in the sand and in the sand-clay soils, both in presence and in absence of liming. The arad, applied in high doses in the acid soils, changed the pH of the sandy and the clay soils were noticed in the treatments that received an Alvorada Phosphorite application, and the highest proportions of the Triple Superphosphate and the Arad showed intermmediate proportions of available phosphorus. / Este trabalho avaliou o comportamento das fontes de fósforo: Arad, Fosforita Alvorada e Superfosfato Triplo em dois solos. - um arenoso e outro argiloso. -, na condição de acidez natural e, após a correção, atingir saturação por bases a 70%. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi inteiramente casualizado, com esquema fatorial (2x2x3x4), sendo: dois solos; três fontes de fertilizantes fosfatados e quatro doses (0, 100, 200 e 400 Kg há -1), com quatro repetições. Os resultados foram submetidos à análise de variância, sendo adotada a análise de regressão, ajustando-se as equações, e tendo-se como critério para escolha do modelo estatístico os testes F significativo a 1 a 5%, e (magnitude dos coeficientes de determinação). Os fertilizantes fosfatados elevaram os teores de cálcio e fósforo nos solos arenoso e argiloso na presença e ausência de calagem. O Arad, aplicado em doses elevadas nos solos ácidos, alterou o pH dos solos arenoso e argiloso. Os menores teores de fósforo disponível no solo foram observados nos tratamentos que receberam a aplicação de Fosforita Alvorada, e os maiores teores para o Superfosfato Triplo e o Arad apresentaram teores intermediários de fósforo disponível.