Abstract
Knowledge of the distribution of total phosphorus (P) content in native soils provides information on the management of ecosystem, land capability for agriculture, environmental quality, and biodiversity conservation. We mapped the spatial distribution of total P concentrations in topsoils (0-30 cm) of uncultivated (native) areas in Brazil. We obtained data on native total P of the southern, south-eastern, and north-eastern regions from reports of exploratory projects developed between 1960s and 1970s by EMBRAPA and by the RADAM Brazil Project. We estimated data from the central-western and northern regions from the relationship between total P and soil properties (Fe, Al, C and clay content), based on the RADAM Brazil Project. Soil total P varied widely (< 25 to > 500 mg kg–1) in all regions in Brazil. Higher concentrations (> 500 mg kg–1) were observed in southern region compared to most of the rest of the country (< 200 mg kg–1), while the Cerrado (Central), Amazon (North) and Caatinga (Northeast) biomes are very poor in total P. This first national native soil total P map provides a valuable baseline for understanding the historical patterns of agriculture expansion in Brazil. It allows quantifying the effect of agriculture expansion and future cropping systems on soil available P content and legacy P, targeting regional soil-crop specific strategies for optimization of ecosystem services, and mitigating potential environmental risk due to P transference to water bodies.
Highlights
Phosphorus (P) is the most used nutrient in liming for plant growth in Brazilian tropical soils (Novais and Smyth, 1999; Roy et al, 2016)
We mapped the spatial distribution of soil total P in the topsoil (0-30 cm) of uncultivated areas of Brazil for a better understanding of patterns of past agricultural expansion, for quantifying rates of soil P build-up associated to intensive farming systems, and for optimizing soil-crop specific strategies for sustainable land management with minimal environmental impact
Original total P contents in the surface (0-30 cm) of Brazilian soils under native vegetation were obtained from reports of exploratory projects developed for the 1960s to 1970s by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) and by the RADAM Brazil Project developed by the Brazilian Ministry of Mining and Energy
Summary
Phosphorus (P) is the most used nutrient in liming for plant growth in Brazilian tropical soils (Novais and Smyth, 1999; Roy et al, 2016). We obtained data on native total P of the southern, south-eastern, and north-eastern regions from reports of exploratory projects developed between 1960s and 1970s by EMBRAPA and by the RADAM Brazil Project. We estimated data from the central-western and northern regions from the relationship between total P and soil properties (Fe, Al, C and clay content), based on the RADAM Brazil Project.
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