An evaluation of Colwell-P as a measure of plant-available phosphorus in soils of volcanic and non-volcanic origins in the highlands of Papua New Guinea

Kirchhof, G., Ramakrishna, K. and Bailey, J.S. (2008) An evaluation of Colwell-P as a measure of plant-available phosphorus in soils of volcanic and non-volcanic origins in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Soil Use And Management, 24 4: 331-336.


Author Kirchhof, G.
Ramakrishna, K.
Bailey, J.S.
Title An evaluation of Colwell-P as a measure of plant-available phosphorus in soils of volcanic and non-volcanic origins in the highlands of Papua New Guinea
Journal name Soil Use And Management  (ERA 2012 Listed)    (ERA 2010 Rank B)   Check publisher's open access policy
Publication date 2008-06-28
Sub-type Article
DOI 10.1111/j.1475-2743.2008.00160.x
Volume number 24
Issue number 4
ISSN 0266-0032
Start page 331
End page 336
Total pages 6
Editor Donald A. Davidson
D. Bryan Davies
Place of publication United Kingdom
Publisher Wiley-Blackwell Publishing
Collection year 2009
Language eng
Subject C1
961402 Farmland, Arable Cropland and Permanent Cropland Soils
050209 Natural Resource Management
Formatted abstract Various soil test methods including Olsen, Colwell, Bray and Truog have been used to assess the levels of plant-available P (PAP) in soils situated in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Up until now, though, there has been no guarantee that these tests provide valid assessments of PAP in these somewhat atypical organic matter-rich tropical soils. Furthermore, the critical soil-P concentrations associated with the tests have been based on studies conducted elsewhere in sub-tropical and temperate latitudes and as such may or may not be valid for soils or cropping situations in PNG. Soil (Colwell)-P and leaf-P data collected during a recent survey of sweet potato gardens in the highlands of PNG were therefore used to determine if useful relationships existed between these variables for different groups of soils, and if they do, to use these relationships to evaluate critical soil Colwell-P concentrations corresponding to a known critical concentration of P in sweet potato index leaf tissue. Separate, highly significant linear relationships were obtained between leaf-P and Colwell-P for soils of volcanic and non-volcanic origins. Based on these relationships, the critical Colwell-P concentration for volcanic soils was found to be four times greater than that for non-volcanic soils, presumably because much of the P extracted from the former soils with alkaline sodium bicarbonate had been chemically 'fixed' via sorption and precipitation reactions with sesquioxides and rendered unavailable to plants at ambient soil pH. These critical Colwell-P concentrations if adopted as benchmark values for the soil groups in question should ensure that the results of future soil fertility surveys involving Colwell-P assessments are correctly interpreted. © 2008 The Authors.
Keyword Colwell-P
Critical phosphorus concentration
Leaf tissue phosphorus
Papua New Guinea highlands
Sweet potato
Volcanic ash soils
Q-Index Code C1
Q-Index Status Confirmed Code
Institutional Status UQ

Document type: Journal Article
Sub-type: Article
Collections: 2009 Higher Education Research Data Collection
School of Agriculture and Food Sciences
 
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Created: Wed, 15 Apr 2009, 18:01:43 EST by Emma Cushworth on behalf of School of Land, Crop and Food Sciences