Accumulative loss risk of phosphorus and its environmental threshold in fluvo-aquic soil

Abstract: Fluvo-aquic soil is a typical cultivated soil with the widely distribution and high intensity of fertilization in China. However, the accumulation and loss of phosphorus in fluvo-aquic soil cannot be ignored as the ecological changes. In this study, the typical fluvo-aquic soils were collected as the test soils with different phosphorus levels (high, medium, and low) in Henan province, China, in order to explore the characteristics of phosphorus loss from fluvo-aquic soil induced by surface runoff and leaching. Simulation experiments of an artificial rainfall and a soil column were conducted to measure the content of Olsen-P and soluble active phosphorus (CaCl2-P) in soils, and the concentrations of different forms of phosphorus in runoff or leaching. In a split-line model, the relationship between soil Olsen-P content and Total Phosphorus (TP) in solution was used to evaluate P risk from black soil in surface runoff and leaching. The results showed that: 1) The contents of Olsen-P and CaCl2-P in fluvo-aquic soil profiles were in the order of high, medium and low phosphorus level, whereas, the soil phosphorus sorption index value were in the order of low, medium and high phosphorus level. In the profile distribution of phosphorus, the content of Olsen-P and CaCl2-P in fluvo-aquic soil with low and medium phosphorus level decreased with increasing soil profile, while the content of Olsen-P and CaCl2-P in fluvo-aquic soil with high phosphorus level was the highest in the 20-40 cm soil layer. 2) The concentration and losses of TP, Total Dissolved Phosphorus (TDP) and particulate phosphorus (PP) in the runoff from fluvo-aquic soils with different phosphorus levels were in the order of high > medium > low phosphorus level, and the PP dominated in fluvo-aquic soil runoff. 3) The concentration and loss of various forms of phosphorus in the leachate of low- and medium-phosphorus level from fluvo-aquic soil decreased with the increasing soil depth. However, in the leachate of high phosphorus level, the concentration and loss of phosphorus in the 20-40 cm soil profile were significantly higher than those of in other soil profiles, where the phosphorus concentration in the whole profile increased first and then decreased with the increasing soil profile, whereas, the profile of high phosphorus level presented the distribution pattern that upper and lower was low, and middle was high. The leaching loss of fluvo-aquic soil was dominated by TDP. The high- and low-phosphorus fluvo-aquic soil was dominated by Dissolved Organic Phosphorus (DOP), while the medium-phosphorus fluvo-aquic soil was dominated by Molybdate Reactive Phosphorus (MRP). 4) The relationship between CaCl2-P and Olsen-P were characterized using split-line models, identifying the thresholds at 24.65 Olsen-P mg/kg for the fluvo-aquic soil. It was also pointed out that the TP concentration in runoff and leachate was positively correlated with the CaCl2-P content in soil, and that CaCl2-P can be used to predict the phosphorus concentration of water discharged from soil. The outcomes derived from these experimental conditions regarding the determination of P loss in runoff by the artificially simulated rainfall experiment. The P loss in leaching by the soil column method and P environmental thresholds also need further verification in the field. This finding can help to assess phosphorus loss from fluvo-aquic soil under different phosphorus levels, and further to provide a scientific basis for water environment protection and soil phosphorus management in fluvo-aquic soil areas.