Abstract
Alkaline humic acid fertiliser amendment (HAFA) can significantly enhance the microstructural stability of soils, as well as alleviate Al toxicity. Thus, the potential effects of HAFA on soil have attracted increased attention. A soil incubation experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of HAFA. A typical acidic latosol was cultured for 51 days with five fertiliser treatments—unfertilised (CK), 0.32 g of inorganic fertiliser (IF), 0.32 g of inorganic fertiliser combined with 1.00 g lime (IF.CaO), 0.32 g of HAFA (HAFA0.32), and 0.42 g of HAFA (HAFA0.42)—to investigate the effects of HAFA on the microstructural stability and Al toxicity of soils. The results indicate that HAFA increased the number of aggregates and their honeycomb structures in latosol, as well as enhanced the adsorption capacity of the aggregates. HAFA not only increased latosol pH by 0.72–0.92, but also reduced the exchangeable acid content by 39.49–43.03% as compared with CK, which was similar to the lime treatment; it also significantly increased the soil organic matter content and the availability of N, P, and K, and improved the cation exchange capacity. However, HAFA decreased the effect of increasing the amount of exchangeable Ca when compared to the lime treatment. Additionally, the total amounts of reactive and exchangeable Al in the HAFA treatments were reduced by 45.84–54.59% and 56.67–67.53%, respectively. Both HAFA and lime applications effectively decreased the concentrations of phytotoxic Al species in latosols when compared to the application of inorganic fertiliser alone, with the HAFA0.42 treatment being more effective than lime application in decreasing the amount of dissolved and exchangeable Al. The HAFA0.42 treatment was also the best amendment for stabilising the microstructure, increasing the nutrient content, and mitigating Al toxicity in the potted acidic latosol.
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