51. Phosphorus mining for ecological restoration on former agricultural land
- Author
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Stephanie Schelfhout, An De Schrijver, Leen De Gelder, Andreas Demey, Jan Mertens, Sara De Bolle, Tom Du Pré, Stefaan De Neve, Kris Verheyen, and Geert Haesaert
- Subjects
Biomass (ecology) ,Ecology ,biology ,Soil classification ,Phosphate solubilizing bacteria ,biology.organism_classification ,complex mixtures ,Lolium perenne ,Arbuscular mycorrhiza ,Nutrient ,Agronomy ,Soil water ,Environmental science ,Restoration ecology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Nature and Landscape Conservation - Abstract
To restore species-rich terrestrial ecosystems on ex-agricultural land, establishing nutrient limitation for dominant plant growth is essential because in nutrient-rich soils, fast-growing species often exclude target species. However, N-limitation is easier to achieve than P-limitation (because of a difference in biogeochemical behavior), biodiversity is generally highest under P-limitation. Commonly used restoration methods to achieve low soil P-concentrations are either very expensive or take a very long time. A promising restoration technique is P-mining, an adjusted agricultural technique that aims at depleting soil-P. High biomass production and hence high P-removal with biomass are obtained by fertilizing with nutrients other than P. A pot experiment was set up to study P-mining with Lolium perenne L. on sandy soils with varying P-concentrations: from an intensively used agricultural soil to a soil near the soil P-target for species-rich Nardus grassland. All pots received N- and K-fertilization. The effects of biostimulants on P-uptake were also assessed by the addition of arbuscular mycorrhiza (Glomus spp.), humic substances or phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (Bacillus sp. and Pseudomonas spp.). In our P-rich soil (111 µg POlsen/g), P-removal rate was high but bioavailable soil-P did not decrease. At lower soil P-concentrations (64 and 36 µg POlsen/g), bioavailable soil-P had decreased but the P-removal rate had by then dropped 60% despite N- and K-fertilization and despite that the target (
- Published
- 2015