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Communications in Soil
Science and Plant Analysis
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The role of fertilization on

phosphorus stratification in
no‐till soils
a a
J. D. Scheiner & R. S. Lavado
a
Departamento de Suelos, Facultad de
Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires,
Av. San Martín 4453, Buenos Aires, 1417,
Argentina

Available online: 11 Nov 2008

To cite this article: J. D. Scheiner & R. S. Lavado (1998): The role of

fertilization on phosphorus stratification in no‐till soils, Communications in Soil
Science and Plant Analysis, 29:17-18, 2705-2711

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 COMMUN. SOIL SCI. PLANT ANAL., 29(17&18), 2705-2711 (1998)

The Role of Fertilization on Phosphorus

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Stratification in No-Till Soils

J. D. Scheiner and R. S. Lavado

Departamento de Suelos, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos
Aires, Av. San Martín 4453, Buenos Aires 1417, Argentina

ABSTRACT

No-tillage induces the stratification of soil nutrients because of the return of

crop residues to soil surface, fertilization and the lack of soil mixing. In this
research we have attempted to develop a phosphorus (P) balance on soybean,
to study the relative importance of the causes of P stratification. An experiment
was performed on a Typic Hapludoll located in mid Buenos Aires province,
Argentina. The treatments were fertilized and unfertilized. Soybean biomass
and P concentration in grains, stubble and roots were determined. In both
treatments the P stratification was produced by the enrichment of the surface
layer and the impoverishment of the deeper layers. In the non-fertilized plots
the soil lost P (7.5 kg P ha 1 ) meanwhile in the fertilized plots (20 kg P ha-1
added) the soil gained P (6.6 kg P ha-1). The accumulation of plant residues
alone is enough to redistribute P in soils, but fertilization was the main factor
in P stratification.

2705

Copyright © 1998 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. www.dekker.com

 2706 SCHEINER AND LAVADO

INTRODUCTION

Conservation tillage systems, particularly no-tillage, induce changes in soil

properties. The stratification of organic matter and nutrients and the accumulation
at the soil surface is one of these changes (Blevins et. al., 1983; Robbins and
Voss, 1991). The return of crop residues to the soil surface and surface fertilization
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with a lack of soil mixing, are the two main causes of such stratification (Blevins
et al., 1983). As compared with the relatively homogeneous plow depth of plowed
soils, in most cases the no-tilled soils show more P in the surface and less with
depth (Hargrove, 1985). In the case of P, stratification occurs, because of its
relative immobility in soils.
In Argentina no-tillage is increasingly being adopted by farmers. Local studies
also have shown organic matter and nutrient stratification under this cropping
system (e.g., Alvarez et al., 1994). Soybean is one of the crops cultivated under
no-tillage but the crop is scarcely ever fertilized. Most commonly, the wheat in
the sequence wheat-soybean is fertilized (Scheiner et al., 1997). This low
fertilization regime should affect the magnitude of the stratification process and
its rate of change. The nutrient stratification is not only just an idle curiosity: the
nutrient stratification contributes to root pattern modification. Several experiments
showed increases in total nutrient uptake and yields, in relation to the surface
accumulation of soil nutrients and the shallower distribution of roots (Hargrove,
1985; Singh et al., 1966).
Our purpose was to develop a P balance, comparing plots with and without P
fertilization, with the aim of determining the relative importance of the two main
causes of P stratification, translocation through plant returns and fertilization.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The field experiment was performed near the city of Bragado, Buenos Aires
province, Argentina (35°4'S, 61 °31 ' W). The soil is a sandy loam Typic Hapludoll
with a no fertilization history. The soil main characteristics are shown in Table 1.
The cultivar was Asgrow 5308 and the treatments were unfertilized and fertilized
with diammonium phosphate in bands at seeding (20 kg P ha'1)- The no-tillage
plots were four years old, starting from conventional tillage. The experiment had
a randomized complete block design with four replicate. The plots size was 4.2
m x 12 m; the distance between rows 0.70 m and the crop density equivalent to
50,000 plants ha 1 .
When the crop was at physiological maturity, 1 linear meter of plants in each
plot was sampled. The root biomass was obtained with soil auger of 1.5 L volume.
The samples were taken in the crop rows and in the interrows (Caldwell and
Virginia, 1989) and washed free of soil material, over a 0.5-mm sieve. The plant
material was divided into four compartments: grains, stubble (shoots, leaves and
 ROLE OF FERTILIZATION ON P STRATIFICATION 2707

TABLE 1. Soil main characteristics (0-30 cm depth)."

Particle size
clay: 14.2 %
silt: 15.6%
sand: 70.2 %
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Organic Carbon: Walkley and Black Method 0.9 %

Total nitrogen: Kjeldahl method 0.09 %
Available P: Bray and Kurtz #1 method 5.7 ppm
Cation Exchange Capacity: ammonium acetate method 7.1 meq 100g"1
Soil pH: in 1:2.5 soihwater ratio 5.8
Total phosphorus 420

•Analytical methods described by Page et al. (1982).

pods), roots from 0 to S cm and roots from 5 to 30 cm. All plant material was
dried at 60°C and weighed. Each sample was analyzed in duplicate. Total P was
determined by digestion in a mix of HNO3 and HC1O4 in 5:1 ratio and determined
by vanado-molybdate yellow colorimetry (Jackson, 1982). In all plots, two
replicate soil samples were taken on the fertilized band and in the interrow at the
depth of 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-30 cm. The samples were taken at
sowing, one month after sowing and at the harvest time. After drying and sieving
available P by the Bray and Kurtz method (Page et al., 1982) were determined.
Construction of P budget was based upon data gathered in nearby areas and
from literature, when local data were lacking: 1) from data of Miyaki et al. (l 976),
we assumed most root biomass is located in the upper 30 cm of soil; 2) based on
the direct relationship between the soybean root length and P absorption (Borkert

TABLE 2. Biomass and phosphorus (P) concentration in different soybean

components.

Plant component Biomass (kg ha'1) P concentration (%)

Non-fertilized Fertilized Non-fertilized Fertilized
Grains 1445.5 b 2228.4 a 0.52 b 0.60 a
Stubble 4880.2 a 5793.9 a 0.10 a 0.11a
Roots 0-5 cm. 1688.1 b 2348.5 a 0.10 a 0.10 a
Roots 5-30 cm. 1074.1 a 1152.4 a 0.11a 0.11 a
Different letters mean significant differences (P<0.05) between treatments.
 2708 SCHEINER AND LAVADO

and Barber, 1985) and that 20% of the total root length is found at 0 to 5 cm
(Glinski and Lipiec, 1990), we estimated that roots below a 5-cm depth absorbed
80% of P; 3) local information using "P (Scheiner et al., 1996) indicated that the
proportion of P from fertilizer taken by soybean was 20%; and 4) in the soils of
the area, the movement of total P by leaching, run-off or root translocation was
negligible (Lavado, 1994). The data were statistically analyzed by ANOVA,
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using f-test significance.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The P balance in the soil-plant system was calculated mainly from plant data.
The total biomass produced at maturity did not show significant differences among
treatments. However, the grain biomass and root biomäss at 0 to 5 cm depth were
significantly different due to P fertilization. There were no effects of treatments
on P concentration in roots and stubble. Instead, a significantly higher P
concentration in grains was found in the fertilized treatment (Table 2).
Consequently, the quantity of P absorbed and located in grains was significantly
higher (pO.01) in the fertilized treatment.
The stratification of P under no-tillage developed with some differences,
depending on the treatments. In the non fertilized treatment, roots absorbed P in
all soil depths and translocate it toward the aerial biomass. The magnitude of the
fluxes from soil to roots were estimated by weighting the P absorbed by plants, by
the root length. In each soil layer, a fraction of the absorbed P remains in the
roots. The fluxes from roots to the soil and from aerial biomass toward the soil,
were calculated from the measured data. The crop residues that eventually
decompose at the soil surface, return its P to the topsoil layer. In balance, the 0 to
5 cm soil layer gain 3.3 kg P ha'1. From 5 to 30 cm depth 10.8 kg P ha'1 (absorption
minus remaining roots) was extracted. This means that the P exported through
the grains was taken mainly from deeper layers. In this situation the whole soil
would become progressively more stratificated as it loses P while the surface
layer would be come enriched with P taken from deeper layers (Figure 1).
In the fertilized plots, a soluble P application is added to the soil surface. In this
case, the quantity of P exported with the harvested grains and all fluxes were
higher than in the previous treatment. At the end of the season, the soil surface
layer was enriched by 23.0 kg P ha 1 . This is the difference between net P extracted
by the roots and the P returned by plant residues and by the addition of the fertilizer.
In the deeper soil layers, there was a net extraction of P (17.6 kg P ha 1 ). In this
treatment the P stratification is due to both the enrichment of the surface layer and
the impoverishment of the deeper layers (Figure 2). However, the soil as a whole
had a positive balance of the order 6.6 kg P ha 1 .
Phosphorus stratification would take some years, as the differences between
the quantity of total P of the soil (Table 1) and the annual P fluxes (Figures 1 and
 ROLE OF FERTILIZATION ON P STRATIFICATION 2709
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1.07*0.13

FIGURE 1. Fluxes of P in soil and plant and standard errors in non-fertilized treatment
(kg ha-').

Harvested
Plant 13.44±1.46 Grain

2,7W
7^ Fertilizer

/
0-5 cm depth
Roots
V /17.65±1 49

4.72±0.16
N, I 2 0
0-5 cm depth
2.55±0.09
t
Î /
18 9±0.65 1
5-30 cm depth 5-30 cm depth
Roots Soil
1.25±0.04

FIGURE 2. Fluxes of P in soil and plant and standard errors in fertilized treatment (kg
ha-1).
 2710 SCHEINER AND LAVADO

TABLE 3. Available phosphorus in soils (ppm) in the fertilized and non-fertilized

treatments.

Soil depth At One month One month At harvest At harvest

(cm) sowing fertilized non-fertilized fertilized non-fertilized
0-05 7.2 b 37.2 a _ 35.7 a 8.6 b
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5-10 6.5 c 12.5 c — 12.1c 5.9 c

10-20 4.0 c 14.1c — 10.0 c 7.7 c
20-30 4.4 c - - 6.9 c 6.9 c
Different letters mean significant differences (PO.05) between sampling dates.

2) shows. This is in agreement with all results shown in the literature. However,
the determination of soil available P showed some differences among treatments.
In the non fertilized treatment not significant differences between dates and depths
were found. In the fertilized treatment, available P accumulated around the
fertilized band (Table 3), remaining partially in available form for the next crop.
As known from the soil chemistry, this available P will change in a period of time
into other less soluble inorganic and organic soil components. The available P in
the soil samples taken in the interrows did not varied (data not shown). The
available P behavior in the fertilized band, could be considered the start of P
stratification in the studied soil.
In conclusion, whether fertilized or not, P will tend to stratify in a no-tillage
soil. However, P fertilization increased the magnitude of P stratification and can
be considered the main factor in P stratification.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are thankful to Dr. Grant W. Thomas, University of Kentucky, for his
comments in an early manuscript. The research was financially supported by the
Scientific and Technological Bureau of the University of Buenos Aires.

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 ROLE OF FERTILIZATION ON P STRATIFICATION 2711

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