The use of DGT for prediction of plant available copper, zinc and phosphorus in agricultural soils

Susan Tandy, Simon Mundus, Jesper Per Anders Yngvesson, Thomas Christian de Bang, Enzo Lombi, Jan Kofod Schjørring, Søren Husted

    102 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Soil chemical extractions are widely used to predict the nutritional status of soils. However, the correlation between extracted elements and plant uptake is often poor, especially if compared over a range of soil types. The aim of this study was to examine a new method called Diffusive Gradients in Thin films (DGT), which measures the diffusive supply of elements, thereby mimicking a plant root. The ability of DGT to assess plant-available P, Zn and Cu was tested in a wide range of typical Scandinavian agricultural soils along with conventional methods (EDTA and DTPA for Cu and Zn; NaHCO3 for P and soil solution concentrations). Extracted soil concentrations were compared to that of the element in the youngest fully developed leaf of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) grown in pots. For Zn and P, only DGT could predict plant uptake while conventional extraction methods and soil solution analyses performed poorly. All soil tests could predict Cu concentration in leaves, but the DGT technique proved to be most accurate followed by the soil solution concentration of Cu. We conclude that DGT is much more accurate at predicting plant-available P, Zn and Cu than commonly used methods for analysing plant-available nutrients in soil.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalPlant and Soil
    Volume346
    Issue number1-2
    Pages (from-to)167-180
    Number of pages14
    ISSN0032-079X
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Sept 2011

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