Abstract
Essential and non-essential metals occur in soils as a result of weathering,
industrial processes, fertilization, and atmospheric deposition. Badly adapted
cultivation of agricultural soils (declining pH value, application of
unsuitable fertilizers) can enhance the mobility of metals and thereby
increase their concentrations in agricultural products. As the enrichment of
metals in soils occurs over long time periods, monitoring of the long-term impact
of fertilization is necessary to assess metal accumulation in agricultural
soils. The main objective of this study was to test the effects of different
mineral fertilizer variations on soil properties (pH, Corg, and
cation exchange capacity (CEC)) and pseudo-total and mobile metal contents of soils after 14 years of
fertilizer application and to determine residual effects of the fertilization
8 years after cessation of fertilizer treatment. Soil samples were taken from
a field experiment which was carried out at four different locations (210,
260, 360, and 620 m above sea level) in Hesse, Germany. During the study, a
significant decrease in soil pH and an evident increase in soil carbon
content and cation exchange capacity with fertilization were determined. The
CEC of the soils was closely related to their organic C contents. Moreover,
pseudo- and mobile metal (Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, Zn) contents in the soils increased
due to application of 14 years of mineral fertilizer treatments (N, P, NP, and
NPK) when compared to control plots. Eight years after termination of the
fertilization in the soil samples taken from soil profiles of the fertilized
plots (NPK) for monitoring the residual effects of the fertilizer
application, a decrease of 82.6, 54.2, 48.5, 74.4, and 56.9% in pseudo-total Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn contents, respectively, was determined.
Citation
ID:
159246
Ref Key:
czarnecki2015soilinfluence