Lowland soils are seasonally flooded for rice cultivation and undergo alternate oxidation and reduction conditions, which modify the soil solid mineral phase and the dynamics of highly reactive elements such as phosphorus. Low-crystallinity forms of iron oxides and hydroxides become predominant with time. They could be the most important components in phosphorus adsorption during dry periods, and could control phosphorus release after flooding. The objective of this study was to evaluate the maximum phosphorus adsorption capacity (MPAC) of some lowland soils in Rio Grande do Sul State (RS), Brazil and relate it with soil chemical and physical properties. Soil samples from 16 different areas in RS with widely varied soil chemical and physical properties were collected from the surface layer (0-20 cm). They were air-dried, sieved (2 mm), and the MPAC measured using adsorption isotherms. Each soil was kept in contact with increasing levels of P (0, 50, 100, 200, 300, 600, 900, and 1.800 mg kg-1 of P soil) for 16 hours. The equilibrium P in the solution was determined and the data fit to the Langmuir equation. The MPAC varied considerably among the RS lowland soils (from 71 to 933 mg kg-1 of P); the variation was significantly correlated with the clay, organic matter and iron oxide contents extracted by dithionite and ammonium oxalate. The different MPAC affected the phosphorous doses necessary to increase available phosphorous by the Mehlich-1extractant in lowland soils.
flooded soils; Langmuir; phosphorus fertilization; rice
