Anion and cation exchange resin membranes to assess the phosphorus status of some Portuguese soils

Abstract

Ion exchange resin methods were applied to 78 different soils to assess their phosphorus (P) status for predicting their response to P fertilization. The techniques used were anion exchange resin membranes eluted with hydrochloric acid (HCl) (AEM) and cation‐anion exchange resin membranes eluted with HCl (CAEM‐HC1), sodium chloride (NaCl) (CAEM‐NaCl) or water with directly color development (CAEM‐H2O). Greenhouse studies were conducted with the same soils in order to validate laboratory data. Ryegrass was grown with two levels of P: nil and 150 mg P kg‐1 of soil. Results indicate that soil P levels are significantly correlated (p<0.001) if extracted with AEM or CAEM, both eluted with HCl, although the CAEM technique had extracted larger amounts of P. Concerning the type of elution, results did not show significant differences (p<0.05) between CAEM‐HC1 and CAEM‐NaCl, but both were significantly correlated (p<0.001) with the results obtained with CAEM‐H2O. All the techniques used to measure extractable P correlated significantly with relative yield and P uptake by ryegrass, showing their ability to predict soil P availability. Nevertheless, CAEM extraction had higher values of r2. Among the three techniques for elution, the levels of correlation with the biological parameters were equivalent. From these results, it was concluded that: (i) exchange resins, specially CAEM, is an accurate method to assess the P fertility status of soils, and (ii) the traditional step of elution can be avoided, allowing the process to be less time consuming, thus more suitable for routine use.