Transformation of organic phosphorus compounds during 1500 years of organic soil formation in Bavarian Alpine forests – A 31P NMR study

Amsterdam

Elsevier

2019

192-205

Bandaufführung

203771

Geoderma: an international journal of soil science ; 340 (2019) , 192-205

In Bavarian alpine forests, long-term input of organic matter from conifer species has built up thick organic
surface layers, thus immobilized substantial soil organic phosphorus upon calcareous parent materials. The
composition of these phosphorus stocks, however, remained unrevealed. Therefore, we analyzed organic
phosphorus species in three so called Tangelhumus (Histosol according to World Reference Base) profiles with
different radiocarbon ages using alkaline extraction followed by one-dimension and two-dimension 31P nuclear
magnetic spectroscopy in order to understand changes in organic phosphorus composition with soil organic
matter genesis. A diverse phosphorus pool composed of monoesters, diesters, and phosphonates was detected.
However, in these Tangelhumus soils only monoesters accumulated overtime and eventually dominated the
organic phosphorus pool after 1558 years. Diesters and phosphonates did not show any significant accumulation
pattern. The origin of monoesters varied with soil depth and soil age: monoesters in young surface soils were
actually hydrolysis products of diesters released by plant and microbial cells during alkaline extraction; whereas
in older soils monoesters originated largely from Ca-bound precipitates formed after long-term in situ decomposition of organic matter and stabilization by Ca2+. Myo-inositol hexakisphosphate was below detection limit in all soils. The presence of its scyllo and other isomers likely pointed to direct synthesis by microorganisms
instead of microbial epimerization from myo-inositol hexakisphosphate. In general, the overall picture of
phosphorus speciation manifested as the continuous degradation of organic matter and accumulation of
monoesters. Therefore, the current data indicated no involvement of humification process but favored the soil
continuum model.
Keywords: Organic phosphorus; Tangelhumus; Humification; Nuclear magnetic resonance