Biogeochemical cycling of soil phosphorus during natural revegetation of Pinus sylvestris on disused sand quarries in Northwestern Russia

Abstract

Background and aims Quarrying causes severe degradation of soils and forest cover that can be recovered partially when the quarries are abandoned and re-colonised by plants. To understand the recovery of soil functionality and nutrient cycling, we studied the development of soil phosphorus pools during Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) revegetation in a disused sand quarry in Northwestern Russia. Methods Sites that had been developing for different times since abandonment were compared to the parent sand and an adjacent undisturbed forest. Phosphorus speciation in genetic horizons of soil profiles was determined by sequential fractionation and solution phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Results Rapid transformations in soil properties occurred in 40 years, with a marked decline in pH and an accumulation of organic matter. Phosphorus transformations were shaped by geochemical processes, with a rapid release of inorganic phosphorus from primary minerals and accumulation of organic phosphorus to concentrations exceeding those found in the undisturbed site. Adsorbed and/or precipitated phosphorus increased rapidly, despite few reactive mineral colloidal surfaces. Conclusions Natural succession of Scots pine in post-mining landscapes promotes ecosystem restoration through the rapid re-establishment of the biogeochemical cycles of organic matter and phosphorus. This study also provides an important example of biogeochemical phosphorus cycling during the initial stages of pedogenesis.

Soil organic phosphorus transformations along a coastal dune chronosequence under New Zealand temperate rain forest

“…The pace of P transformations at Haast is driven by the warm, wet climate, the relatively low initial total P pool, and the coarsetextured soil. Similar rapid depletion of apatite has been reported for a number of other chronosequences on sandy soils (Syers and Walker 1969;Singleton and Lavkulich 1987;Celi et al 2013). At the nearby Franz Josef chronosequence, where soils are developed on post glacial deposits and develop into finetextured soils, the rate of decline in total P is similar to Haast, but total P concentrations remain high for a much longer period of time due to the greater initial P concentration in the schist/greywacke parent material (Walker and Syers 1976;Turner et al 2012b).…”

Characterizing differences in the phosphorus activation coefficient of three typical cropland soils and the influencing factors under long-term fertilization

“…Despite the less important roles of climate and P inputs, we found that the amount of variance of the PAC explained by the interactive terms of these three factors was largest (Fig 2), suggesting that climate and P inputs alter the soil factors [46] and subsequently affect the PAC.…”

Soil phosphorus supply controls P nutrition strategies of beech forest ecosystems in Central Europe

“…In consequence, the degree of P saturation of the soil sorbents decreased with increasing soil depth (S6). In contrast, several studies showed translocation of P by podsolization (Turner et al 2012;Wu et al 2014;Celi et al 2013;Wood et al 1984), especially in cold temperate climate (Väänänen et al 2008). Also Backnäs et al (2012) observed P translocation from topsoil to subsoil horizons during podsolization.…”