Effect of long-term various mineral fertilization and liming on the content of manganese, nickel and iron in soil and meadow sward

Research on grasslands is conducted to assess the yielding potential and determine changes of sward quality depending on applied fertilization. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to assess the contents of manganese, nickel and iron in soil and meadow sward shaped under the influence of diversified mineral fertilization and liming. The experiment is established in the village Czarny Potok near Krynica, about 720 m above sea level., at the foot of Mount Jaworzyna Krynicka. The experiment was set up in 1968 on a natural mountain meadow of mat-grass (Nardus stricta L.) and red fescue (Festuca rubra L.) type with a large share of dicotyledonous plants. Total content of manganese, nickel and iron was determined in the plant and soil material after sample mineralization in a muffle furnace. The studied were extracted with 0.025 mol.dm(-3) NH(4)EDTA solution and the content of Mn, Ni and Fe in the solutions was assessed with the ICP-AES method. The content of total forms of manganese was higher in the soil of the limed series. The soil reaction significantly affected amounts of this element extracted with NH4EDTA solution. Soil liming limited manganese bioavailability and improved the forage value of the analyzed biomass. Small quantities of nickel bound to the soil organic substance were found in the analyzed soil, which suggested considerable mobility of this elements and its translocation into deeper levels of the soil profile, beyond the reach of the plant root system. Liming increased the content of iron forms in combinations with the soil organic substance. Iron deficiency in the meadow sward may have a physiological basis such as difficult iron transport from the root system to aerial plant parts, but it was not caused by limited iron uptake from soil.