Dataset Information

A Global Database of Soil Plant Available Phosphorus.

ABSTRACT: Soil phosphorus drives food production that is needed to feed a growing global population. However, knowledge of plant available phosphorus stocks at a global scale is poor but needed to better match phosphorus fertiliser supply to crop demand. We collated, checked, converted, and filtered a database of c. 575,000 soil samples to c. 33,000 soil samples of soil Olsen phosphorus concentrations. These data represent the most up-to-date repository of freely available data for plant available phosphorus at a global scale. We used these data to derive a model (R² = 0.54) of topsoil Olsen phosphorus concentrations that when combined with data on bulk density predicted the distribution and global stock of soil Olsen phosphorus. We expect that these data can be used to not only show where plant available P should be boosted, but also where it can be drawn down to make more efficient use of fertiliser phosphorus and to minimise likely phosphorus loss and degradation of water quality.

SUBMITTER: McDowell RW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9992394 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A Global Database of Soil Plant Available Phosphorus.

McDowell R W RW Noble A A Pletnyakov P P Haygarth P M PM

Scientific data 20230307 1

Soil phosphorus drives food production that is needed to feed a growing global population. However, knowledge of plant available phosphorus stocks at a global scale is poor but needed to better match phosphorus fertiliser supply to crop demand. We collated, checked, converted, and filtered a database of c. 575,000 soil samples to c. 33,000 soil samples of soil Olsen phosphorus concentrations. These data represent the most up-to-date repository of freely available data for plant available phospho ...[more]

PMID: 36882412

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Project description:Plant traits – the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants and their organs – determine how primary producers respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, influence ecosystem processes and services and provide a link from species richness to ecosystem functional diversity. Trait data thus represent the raw material for a wide range of research from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology to biogeography. Here we present the global database initiative named TRY, which has united a wide range of the plant trait research community worldwide and gained an unprecedented buy-in of trait data: so far 93 trait databases have been contributed. The data repository currently contains almost three million trait entries for 69 000 out of the world's 300 000 plant species, with a focus on 52 groups of traits characterizing the vegetative and regeneration stages of the plant life cycle, including growth, dispersal, establishment and persistence. A first data analysis shows that most plant traits are approximately log-normally distributed, with widely differing ranges of variation across traits. Most trait variation is between species (interspecific), but significant intraspecific variation is also documented, up to 40% of the overall variation. Plant functional types (PFTs), as commonly used in vegetation models, capture a substantial fraction of the observed variation – but for several traits most variation occurs within PFTs, up to 75% of the overall variation. In the context of vegetation models these traits would better be represented by state variables rather than fixed parameter values. The improved availability of plant trait data in the unified global database is expected to support a paradigm shift from species to trait-based ecology, offer new opportunities for synthetic plant trait research and enable a more realistic and empirically grounded representation of terrestrial vegetation in Earth system models.

Project description:Soil phosphorus (P) deficiency is a major challenge to food security in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, including Zimbabwe, where farmers largely depend on local organic nutrient resources as fertilizer in the production of crops. Soil microorganisms can contribute to synchronous availability of soil P to plants through regulating immobilization and mineralization cycles of soil P pools but their activity may be influenced by antecedent soil P, P fertilizer application regimes and P uptake by plants. Using soils collected from plots where Crotalaria juncea (high quality), Calliandra calothyrsus (medium quality), cattle manure (variable quality), maize stover and Pinus patula sawdust (both low quality) were applied at the rate of 4 t C ha-1 with 16 kg P ha-1 at the start of every season over 16 seasons. A pot study was conducted to evaluate the influence of increasing inorganic P fertilizer rates (26 and 36 kg P ha-1) on soil microbial dynamics, soil P pools, and maize P uptake. Results indicated that nineteen (19) fungal and forty-two (42) bacterial colonies were identified over the study period. Fungi dominated bacteria on day one, with Aspergillus niger showing a 30-98% abundance that depends on organic resource quality. Overall, microbial diversity peaked activity characterized succession on day 29, which coincided with a significant (P<0.05) increase in P availability. Increasing P rate to 26 kg P ha-1 amplified the microbial diverse peak activity under medium-high quality resources while under the control the peak emerged earlier on day 15. Mucor and Bacillus had peak abundances on day 43 and 57, respectively, across treatments regardless of P rates. Treatment and P rate had a significant (P<0.01) effect on microbial P. Bacteria were more responsive to added P than fungi. Increasing P to 36 kg P ha-1 also stimulated an earlier microbial diverse peak activity under maize stover on day 15. Addition of P alone, without supplying complementary nutrients such as N, did not have a positive effect on maize P uptake. Farmers need to co-apply medium-high quality organic resources with high fertilizer P rates to increase microbial diversity, plant available P and maize growth on sandy soils (Lixisols). Our results suggest that there is a need to reconsider existing P fertilizer recommendations, currently pegged at between 26 and 30 kg P ha-1, for maize production on sandy soils as well as develop new fertilizer formulations to intensify crop production in Zimbabwe.

Dataset Information

A Global Database of Soil Plant Available Phosphorus.

Publications

A Global Database of Soil Plant Available Phosphorus.

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