Indices of Sulfur-Supplying Capacities of Upland Soils in North China

Fifteen upland soils collected from the major arable areas in North China were used to assess the availability of soil sulfur (S) to plants in a pot experiment. Soils were extracted with various reagents and the extractable S was determined using turbidimetric method or inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), respectively. In addition, mineralizable organic S, organic S, N/S ratio, sulfur availability index (SAI) and available sulfur correction value (ASC) in soils were also determined. The S amount extracted by 1.5 g L-1 CaCl2 was nearly equivalent to that by 0.25 mol L-1 KCl (40 ℃), and both of them were slightly smaller than that by 0.01 mol L-1 Ca(H2PO4)2 solution, as measured by turbidimetric method or ICP-AES. The extractable S measured by turbidimetric method was consistently smaller than that by ICP-AES. All methods tested except that for organic S and N/S ratio produced satisfactory results in the regression analyses of the relationships between the amounts of S extracted and plant dry matter weight and S uptake in the pot experiment. In general, 0.01 mol L-1 Ca (H2PO4) 2-extracted S determined by ICP-AES or turbidimetric method and 0.25 mol L-1 KCl(40℃)-extracted S determined by ICP-AES appeared to be the best indicators for evaluation of soil available S.