Transformation of Soil Accumulated Phosphorus and Its Driving Factors across Chinese Cropping Systems

Abstract

Understanding the transformation of accumulated phosphorus (P) is vital for P management. However, previous studies are limited to a few sites in Chinese agroecosystems. In this study, to investigate the temporal-spatial differences of transformation from accumulated P to available P (determined by the Olsen method), a dataset was assembled based on 91 national long-term experimental sites across China in the recent 31 years (1988–2018). A boosted regression tree (BRT) and a structural equation model (SEM) were used to analyze the factors influencing the transformation. The results showed that the transformation from accumulated P to available P in South China (1.97 mg kg−1) was significantly higher than that in other regions (0.69–1.22 mg kg−1). Soil properties were the main driving factors with a relative contribution of 81.8%, while climate and management practices explained 7.8% and 10.4% of the variations, respectively. Furthermore, SEM analysis revealed that the soil organic matter (SOM) could positively and directly affect the transformation, whereas the soil pH, soil silt content, and P fertilizer had negative and direct effects on it. For the first time, this study analyzed the transformation from soil accumulated P to available P at a national scale and at multiple sites and quantified the contribution of the main influencing factors. These results help to predict the soil available P content across different agroecosystems based on the input amount of P fertilizer, contributing to the regional precise management of P fertilizer application.