Advances in Soil Science

207 Pages·1989·5.536 MB·English

by  M. B. McBride (auth.), B. A. Stewart (eds.)

Advances in Soil Science
Advances in Soil Science
B.A. Stewart, Editor
Editorial Board
R. Lal
CW. Rose
U. Schwertmann
B.A. Stewart
P.B. Tinker
R.J. Wagenet
B. Yaron
Advances in Soil Science
Volume 10
Edited by B.A. Stewart
With Contributions by
E.G. Beauchamp, D. Binkley, R.I Buresh, S.K. De Datta, S.c. Hart,
M.B. McBride, IW. Paul, IT. Trevors, and A. Van Wambeke
With 36 Illustrations
Springer-Verlag
New York Berlin Heidelberg
London Paris Tokyo
B.A. Stewart
USDA Conservation and Production Research Laboratory
Bushland, Texas 79012, USA
Printed on acid-free paper.
ISSN: 0176-9340
© 1989 by Springer-Verlag New York Inc. Copyright is not claimed for works by US Government
employees.
Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1s t edition 1989
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Typeset by Publishers Service, Bozeman, Montana.
987654321
ISBN-13: 978-1-4613-8849-4 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4613-8847-0
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4613-8847-0
Preface
Soil is formed from physical and chemical weathering of rocks - processes
described historically because they involve eons of time-by glaciation and by
wind and water transport of soil materials, later deposited in deltas and loessial
planes. Soil undergoes further transformations over time and provides a habitat
for biological life and a base for the development of civilizations. Soil is
dynamic -always changing as a result of the forces of nature and particularly by
human influences. The soil has been studied as long as history has been
documented. Numerous references to soil are found in historical writings such as
Aristotle (384-322 B.c.), Theophrastus (372-286 B.c.), Cato the Elder (234-149
B.C.) and Varro (116-27 B.c.). Some of the earliest historical references have to
do with erosional forces of wind and water.
The study of soils today has taken on increased importance because a rapidly
expanding population is placing demands on the soil never before experienced.
This has led to an increase in land degradation and desertification. Desertifica
tion is largely synonymous with land degradation but in an arid land context.
Deterioration of soil resources is largely human induced. Poverty, ignorance, and
greed are the indirect causes of desertification. The direct cause is mismanage
ment of the land by practices such as overgrazing, tree removal, improper tillage,
poorly designed and managed water distribution systems, and overexploitation.
The arrest and possible reversal of land degradation will require policies and
technologies for natural resource management. In recent years, there has been a
significant shift in emphasis of soil science research away from maximum crop
production to the sustainability of crop production systems and to maintaining
the quality of soil and water resources. Unless these goals are achieved, land
degradation will continue and the land will gradually lose its inherent produc
tivity, threatening the livelihood of those who depend on it.
The focus on increasing food production in recent years throughout much of
the world has been on irrigated agriculture. Since 1950, the amount of irrigated
land has increased from about 94 million hectares to about 220 million hectares.
During the 1980s, however, the rate of irrigation development has dropped
materially and is presently less than 1 percent per year. Consequently, it appears
vi Preface
certain that much of the additional food production needed in future years must
come from the 80 percent of the cultivated land which is not irrigated, and from
developing new lands, some of which will surely be fragile lands that can be eas
ily degraded unless careful management practices are implemented.
This series, Advances in Soil Science, was established to provide a forum
for leading scientists to analyze and summarize the available scientific infor
mation on a subject, assessing its importance and identifying additional research
needs. This goal seems even more appropriate today than in 1982 when the
idea of the series was formulated. There has been much learned about our soil
resources. The principles learned and the technology developed need to be used
to increase food production and sustain the productivity of the resource base.
Advances in Soil Science fills a gap between the scientific journal and the com
prehensive reference books. Scientists can delve in depth on a particular subject
relating to soil science. Contributors are asked in particular to develop and
identify principles that have practical applications to both developing and deve
loped agricultures.
Advances in Soil Science was formulated to be international in scope and to
cover all subjects relating to soil science. This volume continues in that format in
that it contains contributions from scientists from Canada, The Philippines, and
the United States on subjects relating to soil classification, nitrogen availability
in forest soils, denitrification, nitrogen management in irrigated rice, and heavy
metal solubilities in soils. Although we consider our audience to be primarily
scientists and students of soil science, the series provides technical information
to anyone interested in our natural resources and human influence on these
resources. Research in the future will focus on systems that are resource efficient
and environmentally sound. The need to optimize crop production while con
serving the resource base has never been greater.
The quick acceptance of Advances in Soil Science by both authors and readers
has been very gratifying and confirms our perception that a need did exist for a
medium to publish soil science reviews. I thank the authors for their excellent
contributions and cooperation. I also thank members of the Editorial Board for
their assistance in selecting such competent authors and the Springer-Verlag staff
for their kind assistance and counsel. Finally, and most importantly, I thank the
readers for their acceptance and use of Advances in Soil Science.
B.A. Stewart
Contents
Preface............................................................ v
Contributors ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Reactions Controlling Heavy Metal Solubility in Soils ............... .
M. B. McBride
I. Introduction .................................................. .
Il. Ion-Exchange on Layer Silicates .................................. 2
Ill. Chemisorption on Mineral Surfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
IV. Nucleation, Precipitation, and Solid Solutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
V. Redox Processes Mfecting Metal Solubility ......................... 32
VI. Metal Adsorption by Organic Matter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
VII. Speciation of Metals in Solution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
VIII. Summary ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The Components of Nitrogen Availability Assessments
in Forest Soils ..................................................... 57
D. Binkley and S.c. Hart
1. Introduction................................................... 57
Il. The Framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Ill. The Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
IV. Conclusions................................................... 100
Acknowledgments .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 103
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 103
Carbon Sources for Bacterial Denitrification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 113
E. Beauchamp, l.T. Trevors, and l.W. Paul
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 113
Il. Carbon Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 119
Ill. Natural C Substrates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 122
viii Contents
IV. 'Coculture and Multiculture Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 123
V. Decomposition of Organic Materials and Denitrification . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 124
VI. Denitrification in Relation to Measured Available Soil C Substrate . . . . . .. 128
VII. Denitrification Near Roots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 130
VIII. Acetylene as a C Substrate for Denitrifiers .......................... 130
IX. Denitrification Kinetics Involving C Substrates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 131
X. Denitrification Versus Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 132
XI. Summary...................................................... 133
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 134
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 134
Integrated Nitrogen Management in Irrigated Rice... ..... ... .. ..... 143
S. K. De Datta and R.l. Buresh
I. Introduction.................................................... 143
11. Efficiency of Nitrogen Fertilizer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 145
Ill. Ammonia Volatilization Loss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 145
IV. Denitrification Loss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 150
V. Management Agenda to Increase Nitrogen Use Efficiency. . . . . . . . . . . . .. 153
VI. Supplemental Sources of Nitrogen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 161
VII. Knowledge Gaps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 163
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 164
Tropical Soils and Soil Classification Updates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 171
A. lim Wambeke
1. Introduction.................................................... 171
11. Keys to Soil Taxonomy 1987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 172
Ill. The FAO-UNESCO 1988 Update .................................. 180
IV. Classifications and Soils of the Tropics ............................. 185
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 192
Index ............................................. _................ 195
Contributors
E.G. BEAucHAMP, Department of Land Resource Science, University of Guelph,
Guelph, Ontario NlG 2W1, Canada.
D. BINKLEY, Department of Forest and Wood Sciences, Colorado State Univer
sity, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, U.S.A.
R.I BURESH, International Rice Research Institute, p.a. Box 933, Manila, The
Philippines.
S.K. DE DATTA, International Rice Research Institute, P.o. Box 933, Manila, The
Philippines.
S.c. HART, Department of Plant and Soil Biology, University of California, Ber
keley, California 94720, U.S.A.
M. McBRIDE, Department of Agronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
14853, U.S.A.
IW. PAUL, Department of Land Resource Science, Ontario Agricultural College,
University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
J.T. TREVORS, Department of Environmental Biology, Ontario Agricultural Col
lege, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
A. VAN WAMBEKE, Department of Agronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New
York 14853, U.S.A.
Reactions Controlling Heavy Metal Solubility
in Soils
M.B. McBride*
I. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. Ion Exchange on Layer Silicates .................................... 2
Ill. Chemisorption on Mineral Surfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
IV. Nucleation, Precipitation, and Solid Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 22
V. Redox Processes Affecting Metal Solubility ........................... 32
A. Oxidation of Metals by Metal Oxides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 32
B. Dissolution of Metals by Organics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 33
VI. Metal Adsorption by Organic Matter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 35
VII. Speciation of Metals in Solution .................................... 42
VIII. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 47
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 47
I. Introduction
Soil chemists have long-recognized that knowledge of the elemental composition
of soils is generally of little use in assessing the availability of these elements to
plants. An obvious illustration of this principle is the common occurrence of Fe
and Mn deficiency in plants despite the relatively high levels of Fe and Mn in
many soils. For this reason, chemical soil tests have relied on measurement of
extractable or "labile" fractions of elements. Such tests are empirical and provide
little basis to relate metal extractability to the chemical forms of the metal in the
soil. As soils are increasingly used in our society for purposes other than agricul
ture, the frequency and extent of soil contamination by toxic metals will increase.
Empirical relationships may have to be replaced by a more fundamental under
standing of the soil processes controlling metal solubility to prevent practices that
could have deleterious effects on soil productivity and environmental quality.
*Department of Agronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853.
© 1989 by Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Advances in Soil Science, Volume 10