Authors:
Sabine Jordan, Jutta Zeitz and Jan Fiedler
Book:
After Wise Use – The Future of Peatlands, Proceedings of the 13th International Peat Congress: Chemical, Physical and Biological Characteristics of Peat
Keywords:
fens, humification, peat-type, re-wetting, sequential-extraction
Documentfile:
Jordan et al. 2008: Phosphorus binding forms in fens influenced by degree of peat decomposition
Summary:
Due to a possible increasing release of phosphorus (P) in fens after re-wetting it is important to characterize different inorganic and organic P binding forms in peat substrates.
Labile P, redox-sensitive P and P adsorbed to metal oxides are the inorganic P forms that could be released from the fen peat substrate by re-wetting.
In peat soil samples with different degrees of peat decomposition (DPD) a sequential extraction method was carried out for the detection of P binding forms in fens. The samples have been taken from fens in north- eastern Germany represented by different environmental conditions.
In peat soil samples with completely humification the P concentration in each fraction is higher than in poorly humified peat. For P releases after re-wetting, completely humified horizons are decisive because they have been changed pedogenetically.