Phosphorus content in soil, uptake by plants and balance in three European long-term field experiments

The fate of phosphorus (P) derived from mineral fertilisers and organic manures, and the effective P balance, have been assessed in three long-term field experiments at Rothamsted (UK), Bad Lauchstaedt (Germany) and Skierniewice (Poland). This paper discusses the plant availability, uptake and overall utilisation of P over the last 30 years, based on soil test P 'availability indices' and crop analyses determined by the standard methods used in each of the three countries. The data suggest that differences in soil type significantly influence the dynamics of P at the three locations, but most significantly between a loess Chernozem at Bad Lauchstaedt with a high organic matter content and the soils at the other two locations which have a low organic matter content. The application of P either as inorganic fertiliser or organic manure had a considerable influence on the availablity, uptake, leaching or fixing of P, but the crop recovery rate of P from mineral fertiliser did not exceed 35% with the smallest recovery (average 18%) occurring in the soil with the highest clay content at Rothamsted. At Bad Lauchstaedt and Rothamsted the most efficient utilisation of P (averages of 47% and 37%, respectively) was from soils treated with farmyard manure (FYM), with the greater quantity of P either leached or fixed (8 and 25 kg ha(-1) y(-1), respectively) occurring in soils treated with superphosphate. At Skierniewice, however, the reverse was true. Overall, the most efficient crop utilisation from mineral P (30% average) was from the loamy sand at Skierniewice. P balances for the three locations show that quantitatively, for the same P input, the amount of P either leached from or fixed in the plough layer of Broadbalk field, Rothamsted, was 2-3 times greater than at Skierniewice and 3-6 times greater than at Bad Lauchstaedt. The results suggest that differences in the soil physico-chemical properties, climate, the availability of other major nutrients, and the form in which P is applied, all influence the effectiveness of P fertilisation and P balance. The investigation highlights the importance of maintaining long-term field experiments and archived soil and crop samples on a world-wide basis for understanding nutrient cycling and fertility dynamics.