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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Orono, Maine » New England Plant, Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #225154
Title: Patterns of accumulation of residual P from land-applied poultry litter in a pasture soil

Author
item He, Zhongqi
item Honeycutt, Charles
item TAZISONG, IRENUS - ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY
item SENWO, ZACHARY - ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/28/2008
Publication Date: 7/13/2008
Citation: He, Z., Honeycutt, C.W., Tazisong, I.A., Senwo, Z.N. 2008. Patterns of accumulation of residual P from land-applied poultry litter in a pasture soil. Plants and Soils, Montreal '08. page 45.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Repeated application of poultry litter (PL) to soil is a potential environmental concern. We evaluated the impacts of PL application history on soil P. Soils were collected at 0–20, 20-40, and 40-60 cm depths from pasture fields on a 3-8% slope in the Sand Mountain region of north Alabama. Our data indicated that repeated application of PL to soil increased the pools of both labile and stable P in surface soils. Labile inorganic P extracted by H2O and NaHCO3 was related to the number of years of PL application, whereas stable inorganic P was related to the cumulative amount of PL applied. Significant increase in P levels with repeated PL application was also observed at 20-40 and 40-60 cm depths. Both inorganic and organic P increased more at 20-40 cm than at 40-60 cm, indicating only a slow downward movement of residual PL P in these soils. These results indicate that P from PL was neither fully taken up by plants, nor runoff, but rather accumulated in the soil.