Abstract
Many isotopic techniques can be applied to determine the relative immediate and residual effectiveness of P fertilizers. Using isotopes as tracers, the percentage of utilization by plants of the P derived from a fertilizer can be determined. However this is only possible during the three or four months after the application. Therefore, the P fertilizers may be classified only according to their relative immediate effectiveness. To also evaluate residual effect, which can be observed when more P is applied than is removed with harvest, isotopes of phosphorus can be used. This residual effect is determined by comparing pool sizes of bioavailable soil P in soils with and without P fertilizer aged in soil. The bioavailable soil P pool may be analyzed according to three isotopic experimental procedures which give access to either the A value, or the E value or the L value. The aims, the similarities and the differences between these three procedures, are examined. Some of the theoretical and practical constraints of each method are described in this paper; they must be followed in order to obtain reliable information for agronomic purposes. A method involves measuring the rate of isotopic exchange of phosphate ions in soil-solution systems maintained in steady-state. It is now possible to predict the effectiveness of P fertilizers, whatever their chemical form when this method is applied on soil samples where P fertilizers were applied.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Atkins GL (1969) Multicompartment Models for Biological Systems. Methuen & Co, Edinburgh, UK
Barrow NJ (1980) Evaluation and utilization of residual phosphorus in soils. In: Khasawneh FE, Sample EC & Kamprath EJ (eds) The Role of Phosphorus in Agriculture, pp 333–361. Wisc. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, USA
Bergner PEE (1964) Tracer dynamics and the determination of pool sizes and turnover factors in metabolic systems. J Theor Biol 6: 137–140
Black CA & Scott CO 1956 Fertilizer evalution. 1. Fundamental principles. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 20: 176–179
Boniface R & Trocmé S (1988) Enseignements fournis par des essais de longue dureé sur la fumure phosphatée et potassique. 2. Essais sur la fumure phosphatée. In: Gachon L (ed) Phosphore et Potassium dans les Relations Sol-Plante: conséquences pour la Fertilisation, pp 279–402. INRA, Paris, France
Dean LA, Nelson WL, Mackenzie AJ, Armiger WH & Hill WL (1947) Applications of radioactive tracer technique to studies of phosphatic fertilizer utilization by crops: Greenhouse experiments. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 12: 107–112
Diatta S & Fardeau JC (1979) Etude au moyen de33PO 3-4 et42K+ de l'action des amendements organiques sur la régénération des sols rouges du Sénégal. In: IAEA-SM 235: Isotopes and Radiation in Research on soil-plant relationships, pp 301–312. IAEA, Vienna, Austria
Fardeau JC (1993) Le phosphore assimilable des sols: sa représentation par un modèle fonctionnel à plusieurs compartiments. Agronomie 13: 317–331
Fardeau JC & Jappé J (1976) Nouvelle méthode de détermination du phosphore assimilable par les plantes: extrapolation des cinétiques de dilution isotopique. CR Acad Sci Paris. 282: D 1137–1140
Fardeau JC & Jappé J (1978) Analyse par dilution isotopique de la fertilité et de la fertilisation phosphate de quelques sols du Québec. Can J Soil Sci 58: 251–258
Fardeau JC & Jappé J (1979) Determination simultanée des valeurs A et L du phosphore d'un sol á l'aide du32P et du33P. In: IAEA-SM/151: Isotopes and Radiation in Research on Soil Plant Relationships including Forestry, pp 499–506. IAEA, Vienna, Austria
Fardeau JC & Jappé J (1980) Choix de la fertilisation phosphatée dans les sols tropicaux: emploi du phosphore 32. Agron Trop 35: 225–231
Fardeau JC & Jappé J (1988) Valeurs caractéristiques des cinétiques de dilution isotopique des ions phosphate dans les systèmes solsolution. In: Gachon L (ed) Phosphore et Potassium dans les Relations Sol-Plante: Conséquences en matière de Fertilisation, pp 79–99. INRA, Paris, France
Fardeau JC & Guiraud G (1972) Determination of available soil and fertilizer phosphorus by isotopic dilution method. Phosphorus Agric 62: 19–26
Fardeau JC, Guiraud G & Squalli A (1973) Détermination au moyen de32P,35S et45Ca, de l'utilisation par une culture de ray-grass du phosphore, du soufre et du calcium du superphosphate. Proceedings of the 10th Internationl Soil Science Congress, Moscou, Vol 4, 304-315.
Fardeau JC, Migadel F, Malja S & Gjermani A (1983) Efficacité d'un phosphate à faible teneur dans quelques sols d'Albanie mesurée au moyen de32P. In: Imphos (ed) Third international congress on phosphorus compounds, pp 519–532. IMPHOS, Casablanca, Morocco
Fardeau JC, Morel C, & Boniface R (1988) Pourquoi choisir la méthode Olsen pour estimer le phosphore “assimilable” des sols. Agronomie 8: 577–584
Fardeau JC, Morel C & Boniface R (1991) Cinétiques de transfert des ions phosphate du sol vers la solution du sol. Agronomie 11: 787–797
Fried M (1964) “E”, “L” and “A” value. Transactions of the 8th Intern. Congress of Soil Science Vol IV: 29–39.
Fried M & Dean LA (1952) A concept concerning the measurement of available soil nutrients. Soil Sci 73: 263–271
Frossard E, Fardeau JC, Brossard M & Morel JL (1994) Soil isotopically exchangeable phosphorus: a comparison between E and L values. Soil Sci Soc Am J 58: 846–851
Larsen S (1952) The use of32P in studies on the uptake of phosphorus by plants. Plant Soil 4: 1–10
Larsen S, Middelboe V & Saaby Johansen V (1989) The fate of18O labelled phosphate in soil plant systems. Plant Soil 117: 143–145
McAuliffe CD, Hall NS, Dean LA & Hendrick SB (1947) Exchange reactions between phosphates and soils: hydroxylic surfaces of soil minerals. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 12: 119–123
Morel C & Fardeau JC (1987) Le phosphore assimilable des sols intertropicaux: ses relations avec le phosphore extrait par deux méthodes chimiques. Agron Trop 42: 248–257
Morel C & Fardeau JC (1988) Détermination par traçage isotopique de la valeur fertilisante du phosphate alumino-calcique: comparaison avec d'autres formes. Agronomie 8: 47–54
Morel C & Fardeau JC (1990) Uptake of phosphate from soils and fertilizers as affected by soil P availability and solubility of phosphorus fertilizers. Plant Soil 121: 217–224
Morel C & Fardeau JC (1991) Phosphorus bioavailability of fertilizers: a predictive laboratory method for its evaluation. Fert Res 28: 1–9
Morel C & Plenchette C (1994) Is the isotopically exchangeable phosphate of a loamy soil the plant available P? Plant Soil 158: 287–297
Naidu R, Syers JK, Tillman RW & Kirkman JH (1991) Assessment of plant-available phosphate in limed acid soils using several soil-testing procedures. Fert Res 30: 47–53
Nelson WL, Krantz BA, Colwell WE, Woltz WG, Hawkins A, Dean LA, Mackenzie AJ & Rubins EJ (1947) Applications of radioactive tracer technique to studies of phosphatic fertilizer utilization by crops. II. Field experiments. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 12: 113–118
Rosenblum C (1957) Principles of isotope dilution assays. Anal Chem 29: 1740–1744
Saaby Johansen H, Middelboe V & Larsen S (1990) Delabeling of18O enriched phosphate added to soil as a function of biological activity in the soil. In: Proceedings of IAEA-SM6313/16, pp 553–559. IAEA, Vienna, Austria
Sheppard CW (1948) The theory of the study of transfers within a multi-compartment system using isotopic tracers. J Applied Phys 19: 70–76
Sheppard CW (1962) Basic principles of the tracer method. John Wiley & Sons, New York and London
Shipley RA, & Clark RE (1972) Tracerin vivo kinetics. Acad Press, New York, USA
Spinks JWT & Barber SA (1947) Studies of fertilizer uptake using radioactive phosphorus. Sci Agric: 27: 145–156
Talibudeen O & Arambarri P (1964) The influence of the amount and the origin of calcium carbonates on the isotopically exchangeable phosphate in calcareous soils. J Agric Sci 62: 93–97
Triboi E & Gachon L (1988) Etude des méthodes d'appréciation de l'offre phosphatée du sol. I. Détermination du phosphore isotopiquement échangeable ou valeur E. In: Gachon L (ed) Phosphore et potassium dans les relations sol-plante: conséquences en matière de fertilisation, pp 165–180. INRA, Paris, France
White RF, Kempthorne O, Black CA & Webb JR (1956) Fertilizer evaluation. 2. Estimation of availability coefficients. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 20: 179–183
Wiklander L (1950) Kinetics of phosphate exchange in soils. Ann R Vet Coll Sweden 17: 407–424
Zapata F & Axmann H (1991) Agronomic evaluation test of rock phosphate materials by means of radioisotope techniques. Pédologie XLI: 291–301
Zilversmit DB, Entenman C & Fishler MC (1943) On the calculation of turnover time and turnover rate from experiments involving the use of labeling agents. J Gen Physiol 26: 325–331
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This paper was originally submitted as part of the special issue on Evaluation of the Agronomic Effectiveness of Phosphate Fertilizers through the use of Nuclear Related Techniques edited by F. Zapata
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fardeau, J.C., Guiraud, G. & Marol, C. The role of isotopic techniques on the evaluation of the agronomic effectiveness of P fertilizers. Fertilizer Research 45, 101–109 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00790659
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00790659