Phosphorus resources and fractions in peat-muck soils

Abstract The goal of the research was to determine the resources and speciation (forms of occurrence) of phosphorus in organic soils of drained fens of the Wysoczyzna Siedlecka. Two profiles of muck soils were generated from different peats. Basic physical and chemical properties of the soils and the quantity, resources and fractions of phosphorus in the soil were determined. The majority of the total resource of soil phosphorus was accumulated in the muck horizons of the analysed soils. The total content of phosphorus materially correlated with characteristically variable parameters in the moorshification process (voids free bulk density of the content of organic matter, C/N ratio and C/P ratio). Additionally, a material positive correlation of the content of phosphorus with the content of iron, manganese and aluminium was observed. The moorshification process of the analysed soils entails the qualitative transformation of phosphorus compounds, mainly involving an increase in the share of more labile and easily available forms, forms released in reduction conditions and forms combined with metallic oxides, apatite, carbonate and labile organic forms.