An assessment of various pools of organic phosphorus distributed in soil aggregates as affected by long-term P fertilization regimes

The phosphorus (P) forms in long-term fertilization determine the fate and transport of P in soil. However, the fate of various pools of organic P of added P in the long-term measured with sequential chemical fractionation is not well-understood. Four soil physical aggregates (>250, 125-250, 63-125 and <63 mu m) from 0- to 20-cm depth after 35 years of long-term fertilization treatments including control (CK), nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer (NP) and NP combined with farmyard manure (NPM) under continuous winter wheat were separated using settling tube apparatus. Results showed that the application of long-term P fertilization had no apparent effects on promoting the mass proportion of soil aggregates except for >250 mu m, where the NP and NPM treatments significantly increased the mass proportion by 60% and 70% over CK, respectively. Compared with CK, P fertilizer (NP and NPM) treatments significantly increased organic P (Po) contents in each size aggregate. In particular, mean labile Po increased by 35% and 246%, moderately labile Po by 125% and 161%, nonlabile Po by 105% and 170% and total Po (TPo) by 101% and 178%, respectively, under NP and NPM treatments, respectively. There was a significant correlation between soil organic carbon (SOC) and Po fractions. SOC was exponentially positively correlated with labile Po but linearly positively correlated with moderately labile Po, nonlabile Po and TPo fractions among soil aggregates. A reduced C:Po ratio (<100) in soil aggregates among treatment indicates a large amount of available P accumulated in soils, and soil P loss risk in the study site is still high. Our results show that the Po pool measured by sequential chemical fractionation may represent an important, yet often overlooked, source of P in agriculture ecosystems. According to the result, long-term mineral P fertilizer combined with organic amendments better sustains soil structural stability in large aggregates, contributing more Po availability in the moderately labile P followed by labile P in soil aggregates.