A comparison of buffered and unbuffered ammonium salts to determine exchangeable base cations in acid soils

Abstract

In soil samples from two study sites in southern Norway, exchangeable cations were determined using two different ammonium (NH4)‐salts as extractant. As expected, the cation exchange capacity (CEC) determined in 1M ammonium acetate (NH4OAc), buffered at pH 7.0 was higher than the CEC measured in ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3). By contrast, the amount of exchangeable calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and barium (Ba) was lowest in the NH4OAc extract, in particular in the upper soil horizons high in organic matter (O‐ and E‐horizon). This suggests that NH4 in 1M NH4OAc does not compete effectively with multivalent base cations. The relatively high levels of exchangeable base cations in NH4NO3 could not be explained by increased weathering. An increase in selectivity of especially divalent cations may explain the relatively low amount of exchangeable base cations extracted by NH4OAc, as this involves increased deprotonation and thus a higher negative charge.