Effects of Exogenous Humic Acids on Forms of Organic Phosphorus in Three Contrasting Types of Soil

Abstract

A laboratory incubation study was conducted to examine the effects of exogenous humic acids on the forms of organic phosphorus (P) in three contrasting soil types: red soil, brown soil, and drab soil. Results indicated that the Olsen P concentration increased in all the three types of soil with addition of the humic acid extracts, with the magnitude of increment ranked in a sequence of brown soil > drab soil > red soil. For the soil organic P fractions, addition of the humic acid extracts increased the labile organic P and moderately labile organic P concentrations while reducing the moderately resistant organic P and highly resistant organic P concentrations, suggesting that the exogenous humic acids could enhance transformation of organic P from resistant forms to labile forms. The activation of organic P by addition of the humic acid extracts varied with soil type, and this variation was related to soil characteristics.