Long-term effect of super phosphate fertilizer on accumulation of soil phosphorus

Abstract

The purpose of the present work was to clarify some aspects of the complexity of phosphorus (P) dynamics under specific soil and climate conditions and a particular type of agro ecosystem: the Mediterranean pasture. The deviation between measured and estimated soil P content was evaluated over 12 years, in a 6 ha permanent biodiverse pasture field in Southern Portugal. A simple dynamic model found good agreement for estimating the soil P content where P fertilizer had been regularly applied, but was not nearly as effective for the period during which the field did not receive P fertilizer. The dynamic of transformation between diverse P pools in Mediterranean shallow soils make the estimation of P balance very complex and justify more experiments.