Semester
Summer
Date of Graduation
2009
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design
Department
Horticulture
Committee Chair
Louis M. McDonald.
Abstract
Microbial Fe-reduction in pasture soils may be of agronomic importance, because it has been shown to influence P cycling. The present study investigated the behavior of Fe and P in an intermittently wet, Appalachian pasture soil during a 42 day anaerobic incubation. Native humic acid (HA) extracted from the sampling location and anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonic acid (AQDS) were used in the experiment to determine their electron-mediating effects on Fe(III) reduction and P solubilization over time. Extracted HA and the International Humic Substance Society (IHSS) Elliott Soil HA standard were compared using 13C-NMR, FT-IR, SEM, and CHNS analysis. Soil samples treated with 1.24 g native HA/kg dry soil and 0.2 g AQDS/kg dry soil displayed the highest, most similar, solubilized P rates during the anaerobic incubation. However, the soil alone, without an added electron mediator, was able to release biologically significant concentrations of P to solution at Eh values between 0 and -200 mV. Total soluble P increases were strongly related to soluble Fe(II) increases over time. Field Eh measurements, relative to naturally occurring seasonal changes, are also reported. The purpose of this research was to further define the mechanisms of Fe and P cycling in temperate, pasture soils.
Recommended Citation
Wilmoth, Jared L., "Mechanisms of iron reduction and phosphorus solubilization in an intermittently wet pasture soil" (2009). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 2810.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/2810