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Extractable sulphate and organic sulphur in soils and their availability to plants

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Abstract

Ten soils collected from the major arable areas in Britain were used to assess the availability of soil sulphur (S) to spring wheat in a pot experiment. Soils were extracted with various reagents and the extractable inorganic SO4-S and total soluble S(SO4-S plus a fraction of organic S) were determined using ion chromatography (IC) or inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), respectively. Water, 0.016 M KH2PO4, 0.01 M CaCl2 and 0.01 M Ca(H2PO4)2 extracted similar amounts of SO4-S, as measured by IC, which were consistently smaller than the total extractable S as measured by ICP-AES. The amounts of organic S extracted varied widely between different extractants, with 0.5 M NaHCO3 (pH 8.5) giving the largest amounts and 0.01 M CaCl2 the least. Organic S accounted for approximately 30–60% of total S extracted with 0.016 M KH2PO4 and the organic C:S ratios in this extract varied typically between 50 and 70. The concentrations of this S fraction decreased in all soils without added S after two months growth of spring wheat, indicating a release of organic S through mineralisation. All methods tested except 0.5 M NaHCO3-ICP-AES produced satisfactory results in the regression with plant dry matter response and S uptake in the pot experiment. In general, 0.016 M KH2PO4 appeared to be the best extractant and this extraction followed by ICP-AES determination was considered to be a good method to standardise on.

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Zhao, F., McGrath, S.P. Extractable sulphate and organic sulphur in soils and their availability to plants. Plant Soil 164, 243–250 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00010076

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