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Soil phosphorus scarcity promotes in-situ abiotic and microbial mobilization of iron oxide-bound phosphorus.
Front. For. Glob. Change 9, DOI: 10.3389/ffgc.2026.1783866 (2026)
In temperate forest ecosystems, phosphorus (P) leached into the mineral soil largely adsorbs to pedogenic iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) oxides. This raises the question as to which extent adsorbed P in mineral soil can be recycled and whether soil P scarcity promotes microbial communities better adapted to use these P sources. To investigate the mobilization of P bound to hydrous Fe oxides under natural conditions, goethite with adsorbed orthophosphate (OP) and phytic acid (PA) was buried for 35 months in beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest soils at three sites in Germany varying in geogenic P supply. We quantified total and surface P losses by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and photoelectron spectroscopy and assessed changes in bioavailable P by sequential extractions (resin and NaHCO3). Surrounding soil and goethite samples were analyzed for amino sugars, acid phosphomonoesterase activity, and microbial metagenomic properties. Total losses of OP and PA ranged between 1% and 58%, with lower losses of PA due to stronger sorption complexes. Resin- and NaHCO3-extractable P declined by 48%-94% and 31%-75%, respectively. Besides P desorption caused by concentration gradients, microbial P mining explained higher P losses under soil P scarcity. Based on stocks of P bound to pedogenic Fe and Al oxides, mineral P saturation levels, and in-situ P release rates, we infer that oxide-bound P in a P-poor sandy soil could likely not meet the P requirement of the vegetation, despite higher P losses. This result supports the idea that vegetation under P-deficient conditions depends more on P recycling in forest floor layers than under conditions of high P availability. Conversely, at the loamy P-rich sites, release of P bound to Fe and Al oxides was high enough to contribute to forest nutrition. Our results indicate that P, especially OP, when leached into mineral soil and sorbed to Fe and Al oxides, is not fully passivated but partly recycled at high P saturation levels, thus contributing to biological assimilation or downward P translocation.
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Publication type
Article: Journal article
Document type
Scientific Article
Keywords
beech forest; iron oxide; orthophosphate; phosphorus nutrition; phytate; Inositol Hexaphosphate; Desorption; Phosphate; Forest; Availability; Mechanisms; Fractions; Goethite; Fungal; Roots
ISSN (print) / ISBN
2624-893X
e-ISSN
2624-893X
Quellenangaben
Volume: 9
Publisher
Frontiers
Publishing Place
Lausanne
Reviewing status
Peer reviewed
Institute(s)
Research Unit Comparative Microbiome Analysis (COMI)