Evaluation of phosphorus sorption characteristics of soils from the Bambouto sequence (West Cameroon)

Abstract

The evaluation of phosphorus sorption characteristics of soils and their relation to soil properties from the Bambouto sequence of Baranka 1, Baranka 2, Femock 1 and Femock 2 has been studied. Phosphorus, an essential plant nutrient, is often not readily available to plants and this deficiency tends to limit plant growth. It is thus, necessary to investigate the quantity that is readily available to plants in order to avoid excesses and reduce water pollution by fertilizers. The Freundlich, Langmuir, Temkin, Van Huay and Linear adsorption isotherms were used to describe the P adsorption processes. Phosphorus adsorption capacity decreased in the order Femock 2 > Femock 1 > Baranka 2 > Baranka 1 with maximum adsorption values of 3464.21, 3112.17, 2866.00 and 2758.38 mg kg^-1 respectively. Accuracy of fitness of data of the four soil series into the adsorption equations increased in the order Langmuir, Linear, Van Huay, Temkin and Freundlich isotherm. The capacity of each soil sample to adsorb phosphorus was significantly correlated with the clay content (r = 0.949*) of the soils. The use of organic materials and liming as a basis for phosphorus sorption reduction will be useful for crop production in the Bambouto sequence.

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Keywords: Phosphorus fixation, volcanic soil, free aluminium, clay, soil pH