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Title: CHANGES IN BASE SATURATION, EXCHANGEABLE ACIDITY, AND CATION EXCHANGE CAPACITY DUE TO LONG-TERM (N-P-K) FERTILIZATION

Author
item JOBE, B - UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
item BARAK, PHILLIP - UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
item Laird, David

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/3/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In general, natural processes of soil acidification are slow and may be unnoticeable in anything short of geological time. In contrast, with modern agricultural management practices, acidification by nitrification of ammonical fertilizers is potentially a hundredfold or thousandfold faster in affecting soil quality than natural processes. The effects of long-term (N-P-K) fertilization on the chemical properties of a Wisconsin Plano silt loam soil were investigated. Analytical results of soil samples indicated changes in the base saturation, cation exchange capacity, pH, and exchangeable acidity status of this soil over a 30-year period. The results tend to suggest relationships between nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency and accumulated soil acidity and the co-leaching of bases (Ca and Mg) and nitrate and reduction in CEC. It is however not certain whether the observed decline in cation exchange capacity is an irreversible feature.