Relationship between acidity and chemical properties of brazilian soils

Relações entre acidez e propriedades químicas de solos brasileiros

SOILS AND PLANT NUTRITION

Relationship between acidity and chemical properties of Brazilian soils

Relações entre acidez e propriedades químicas de solos brasileiros

Cássio Hamilton Abreu Jr.^I; Takashi Muraoka^II; André Fernando Lavorante^III

^IUSP/CENA - Lab. de Nutrição Mineral de Plantas, C.P. 96 - 13400-970 - Piracicaba, SP - Brasil

^IIUSP/CENA - Lab. de Fertilidade do Solo

^IIIUSP/CENA - Lab. Química Analítica

^{Correspondence}

ABSTRACT

In soils of tropical climate regions the high acidity and the presence of exchangeable aluminum (Al

³⁺), associated to low fertility, are the main restrainting factors for agricultural production. A laboratory experiment was conducted using 26 soils of different Brazilian regions, to investigate soil acidity components, giving emphasis to Al and their relations with chemical properties. The pH correlated positively with P, Ca, Mg, K, BS, CEC and V% values, and negatively with Al saturation. The Al

³⁺ was the predominant exchangeable cation in 32% of the soils with pH below 5.6. The KCl titratable H

⁺ represents the hydroxi-Al(OH)

_x complex with low stability and the Wolf-Morgan extracted Al corresponds to the exchangeable + non-exchangeable Al species. The Al

³⁺ and low stability hydroxi-Al decreased quickly with increasing pH up to 5.5. The non-exchangeable Al increased up to pH 4.5, then decreased to pH 5.5 and had a small increment from 7.0 to 7.5.

Key words: total acidity, exchangeable acidity, pH, aluminum in soil

RESUMO

Nos solos de regiões de clima tropical, a elevada acidez e a presença de alumínio trocável (Al³⁺), aliadas à baixa fertilidade, são os principais fatores a restringir a produção agrícola. Investigaram-se os componentes da acidez, com ênfase ao alumínio, e suas relações com as propriedades químicas de 26 solos de regiões brasileiras. O pH correlacionou positivamente com os valores de P, Ca, Mg, K, SB, CTC e V%, e negativamente com a saturação de Al. O Al³⁺ foi o cátion trocável predominante em 32 % dos solos com pH inferior a 5,6. O H⁺ titulável em KCl representa formas hydroxi-Al(OH)_x de baixa estabilidade e o Al obtido pelo extrator de Wolf-Morgan corresponde ao Al trocável + não-trocável. As formas Al³⁺ e hydroxi-Al de baixa estabilidade diminuíram rapidamente com o pH até 5,5. O Al não-trocável aumentou até pH 4,5, diminuiu a seguir até pH 5,5 e aumentou lentamente com o pH de 7,0 a 7,5.

Palavras-chave: acidez total, acidez trocável, pH, alumínio no solo

INTRODUCTION

For soils of tropical and humid subtropical climate regions, the high acidity and high exchangeable aluminum content, associated to low fertility, are the main constraints for agricultural production (McLean, 1965; Pavan, 1983; Nachtigall & Vahl, 1989). Soil acidity is characterized by its intensity and quantity aspects (Kinjo, 1983). The intensity factor is given by the soil solution hydrogen (H⁺) ion activity, and the quantity factor, by the amount of H, bound to the exchange complex, which the soil can liberate to solution. There is also the soil acidity capacity factor, which is the resistance to the variation of pH resulting from the addition of acids or bases, i.e., the soil buffering capacity.

The characterization of soil acidity components is given by the active acidity (intensity factor), usually expressed as soil pH (-log[H⁺] in solution), and by the potential acidity (quantity factor), of which more actual terminology, and hereafter used, is the total acidity (at pH 7) (Raij et al., 2001). The total acidity, by its turn, is the sum of exchangeable acidity and non-exchangeable acidity. The exchangeable acidity is given by the aluminum ion electrostatically retained by colloid surfaces with pH dependent negative charges, also called exchangeable aluminum (Al³⁺). The non-exchangeable is related to the content of H covalently bound to colloids, and monomers and polymers of aluminum in soil (Kinjo, 1983; Thomas & Hargrove, 1984; Raij et al., 1987; Nachtigall & Vahl, 1989; Raij et al., 2001).

The detrimental effects of acidity on plant growth depend on the H⁺ and Al³⁺ ions activities in the soil solution, which may be related to the activities and exchangeable contents of calcium (Ca²⁺), magnesium (Mg²⁺) and potassium (K⁺) cations, of orthophosphate (H₂PO₄^-), nitrate (NO₃^-) and sulphate (SO₄^2-) anions, and with organic matter (MO) content (Pavan, 1983; Thomas & Hargrove, 1984). With the neutralization of part of the soil total acidity by lime application, negative charges of the soil exchange complex are released, and then occupied by Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and K⁺ (Oates & Kamprath, 1983), improving the soil fertility and the conditions for agricultural production.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the acidity components and their relationship with chemical properties, for improving crop management in soils from different regions of Brazil.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The experiment was carried out in Piracicaba (SP), Brazil, using samples collected from the surface layer (0 – 0.2 m depth) of 26 soils from different Brazilian regions (Table 1). Soil samples with reaction close to neutrality were also included with the objective of evaluating the extraction of non-exchangeable forms of aluminum and to obtain low total acidity values.

Air dried samples of each soil were homogenized, divided in three subsamples, identified, ground in a porcelain crucible and passed through 0.5 mm mesh sieve and packed. For the chemical characterization of soil samples (Table 2), methods described in Raij et al. (1987; 2001) were used, except for the exchangeable sodium which was extracted with 0.05 mol L^-1 HCl + 0.0125 mol L^-1 H₂SO₄ solution in 1:5 (v/v) soil/extractant ratio and determined in flame photometer.

Soil acidity components were characterized as follows: the active acidity was determined in 0.01 mol L^-1 CaCl₂ solution, 1:2.5 (v/v) soil/solution ratio, through pH measurement; the total acidity (H + Al³⁺) directly through the extraction with 1 mol L^-1 ammonium acetate solution at pH 7, followed by titration, and indirectly by SMP method (Raij et al., 1987; 2001). The exchangeable acidity (Al³⁺ + H⁺_tit ) and the exchangeable aluminum (Al³⁺) were extracted by 1 mol L^-1 KCl solution, 1:10 (v/v) soil/solution ratio, and determined by titration of 25 mL KCl extract with 25 mmol L^-1 NaOH, using 1 g L^-1 phenolphthalein as indicator, and by back-titration, after acidification with 40 g L^-1 NaF, with 25 mmol L^-1 HCl, respectively (routine methodology of Soil Fertility Lab., USP/CENA, adapted from McLean, 1965). The difference between titratable exchangeable acidity and titratable aluminum gave the socalled titratable hydrogen (H⁺_tit) content. The soluble Al (WMAl) was extracted with Wolf-Morgan solution (0.73 mol L^-1 sodium acetate and 0.0001 mol L^-1 DTPA, pH 4.8) and determined through the aluminon method, (Wolf, 1982). The total Al content was determined in ICPAES, after HClO₄ + HNO₃ + HF digestion. The nonexchangeable acidity was determined by the difference between the total acidity and exchangeable acidity obtained by titrimetric method.

Results were submitted to descriptive statistics for estimations of mean, median, upper and lower quartiles, and correlation and regression analysis for selected variables.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The pH values in CaCl₂ (Table 3), varied from 3.78 to 7.86, with 4.58 as the most frequent value, and 75% of values between 4.25 and 5.52. According to the limits established by Raij et al. (1987) for soils of São Paulo State, Brazil, 31% of samples presented very high active acidity (pH_CaCl2£ 4.3), 38% high (4.4 to 5.0), 4% medium (5.1 to 5.5), 8% low (5.6 to 6.0), and 19% very low (> 6.0).

For soil samples with medium to very high acidity (pH < 5.6), the sum of bases (SB), the cation exchange capacity (CEC) and base saturation (V%) (Table 2) varied from 3.3 to 66.7 mmol_c dm^-3, from 37.7 to 117.8 mmol_c dm^-3 and from 4.5 to 66.0%, respectively. There were positive correlations between the values of P (resin), Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺, SB, CEC and V% and soil pH (Table 4), and a negative correlation between aluminum saturation (m%), showing the importance of soil reaction on soil fertility and the conditions for crop production. The chemical properties values (Tables 2 and 3) were similar to those obtained by Pavan (1983) and Nachtigal & Vahl (1989) for soils in the same pH range.

The titratable exchangeable acidity (Al³⁺ + H⁺_tit ) varied between 0 to 18 mmol_c dm^-3, and the exchangeable aluminum (Al³⁺) between 0 to 15 mmol_c dm^-3 (Table 3). This demonstrated that the exchangeable acidity was constituted mostly of Al³⁺. In samples with pH lower than 5.6, the contribution of H⁺_tit was highly significant, representing 50% or more of titrated exchangeable acidity in 35% of all samples.

Aluminum (Al³⁺) was the predominant exchangeable cation (m% > 30) in 23% of the analyzed soils, and in 32% of those with pH lower than 5.6. This result differs from that verified by Pavan (1983) in acid soils of Paraná, and explains that even in soil with high acidity, the Al³⁺ may not be present and Al³⁺ is a function of parent material and of soil mineralogy. The high Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ content (Table 2) and the negative correlation between these cations with Al³⁺ (Table 4) may indicate that a significant fraction of soluble Al could have been neutralized by the liming.

In acid mineral soils, the H⁺_tit present in the KCl soil extract is not derived from Al³⁺ displaced from exchange sites; it is rather the result of pH dependent hydrolysis reactions that involve the hydroxi-Al(OH)_x forms, the organic matter, and the Al and Fe oxides (Kissel et al., 1971; Thomas & Hargrove, 1984). Hiradate et al. (1998), using the nuclear magnetic resonance technique for the Al speciation of acid soil samples in KCl solution, verified that 92 to 96% of Al³⁺ were made of electrically symmetric octahedral Al (monomer and dymer of hydroxi-Al) and of organically complexed Al, respectively. However, the behavior of hydrogen bound to exchange complex depends on the nature of soil colloids. When associated to constant negative charge of 2:1 clay minerals, with planar surface, the H⁺ ion is retained by electrostatic forces, i.e., as exchangeable cation; when associated to variable negative charge of organic matter, kaolinite, allophane and iron and aluminum oxides, the hydrogen is retained by covalent bound, i.e., non-exchangeable cation (Kinjo, 1983). Therefore, in acid mineral soils, the H⁺_tit present in non-buffered KCl soil solution extract does not represent the soil exchangeable acidity, but the low stability hydroxi-Al forms, except in soils with high organic matter content (Oates & Kamprath, 1983; Raij et al., 1987; 2001).

The concentration of low stability hydroxi-Al forms in soil samples from different regions of Brazil (H⁺_tit contained in non-buffered KCl solution) varied from 0 to 4.7 mmol_c dm^-3 (Table 3) and was dependent on Al³⁺ content (Figure 1) and of sample pH (Table 4). In acid soils, there are predominance of Al³⁺ over the Al(OH)²⁺ and Al(OH)⁺₂, however with increasing pH, there gradually occurs the increment of OH/Al relation and of polymerization of hydroxi-Al forms. The formed polymers, of variable size and charges, neutralize negative charges but are not displaced in non-buffered saline solutions (Thomas & Hargrove, 1984). Therefore, in acid mineral soil containing 1:1 clay minerals and Al, Fe oxides, the lower the hydroxi-Al forms content, the higher is the proportion of their hydrolysable forms, resulting from lower polymerization (stability) of these Al forms, which produces H⁺ in KCl extract (Kissel et al., 1971).

The soluble Al content obtained by Wolf-Morgan extractant (WMAl) varied from 0.2 to 21.8 mmol_c dm^-3 (Table 3), with most frequent value of 7.0 mmol_c dm^-3 (8.2 mmol_c dm^-3 in samples with pH < 5.6) and were superior or near the Al³⁺ content in KCl neutral solution, except in LA-3 sample. Similar values of Al extracted with 1 mol L^-1 NH₄AO_c (pH 4.8), to obtain the exchangeable + non-exchangeable Al, was reported by Pavan (1983) in soil samples from Paraná with the same range of Al³⁺ of this work. This indicates that the Wolf-Morgan solution extracts exchangeable Al and non-exchangeable Al as well, which may be toxic to plants (Noble et al., 1988; Hiradate et al., 1998). Therefore, the Al obtained by difference between WMAl and Al³⁺ constitute the non-exchangeable Al (Table 3), and those values varied from 0 to 11.7 mmol_c dm^-3. Similar results were observed by Pavan (1983) in soil samples with the same variation in Al³⁺.

The Al contents of exchangeable and of low polymerization degree hydroxi forms diminish rapidly with the sample pH increment up to 5.5 value; through the non-exchangeable form increased up to pH 4.5, decreased thereafter up to pH 5.5, and increased slowly with the pH of 7.0 to 7.5 (Figure 2), according to the stage of polymerization of hydroxi-Al forms which are functions of pH and of organic matter (McLean, 1965; Kissel et al., 1971; Pavan, 1983; Thomas & Hargrove, 1984).

The determined total acidity was 8.6 to 91.9 mmol_c dm^-3 and those obtained by SMP pH, 7.9 to 95.2 mmol_c dm^-3, with most frequent values of 39.1 to 39.4 mmol_c dm^-3, respectively. The indirect determination of total acidity (Raij et al., 1987) is based on SMP pH (buffered at pH 7.5) variations in consequence of H⁺, Al³⁺ and OH ions released by soil colloids and organic matter, which allows to establish the relationship between the pH of SMP solution and the H⁺ + Al³⁺ content in the soil sample.

The analysis of the relationship between exchangeable aluminum with total acidity and base saturation of the soils (Figure 3) revealed that a small increase in Al³⁺ content (0 to 0.2 mmol_c dm^-3) results in a quick evolution of total acidity (8.6 to 21.1 mmol_c dm^-3). This generated acidity, for soils with pH ³ 5.6, is exclusively attributed to H⁺ ions (Table 3). Thereafter, when Al³⁺ > 0.2 mmol_c dm^-3, the total acidity increased 5.1 mmol_c dm^-3, on average, for each released mmol_c dm^-3 of Al³⁺. Simultaneously, the base saturation reduced drastically with increasing Al³⁺ content from 0 to 4 mmol_c dm^-3; above this boundary value, the effect of increasing Al³⁺ was much smaller in reducing soil V%.

There was a very narrow relationship between the total acidity obtained directly and indirectly (Figure 4a) and the obtained exponential relationship between SMP pH and the determined total acidity (Figure 4b) was much similar to that used by laboratories of soil analyses, mainly in the State of São Paulo (Raij et al., 1987; 2001). This indicates that the SMP pH method can be used for the evaluation of total acidity of soils practically from all Brazilian regions. Recently, Nascimento (2000) and Silva et al. (2000) established second degree equations for the calculation of H⁺ + Al³⁺ by SMP pH method in soils of Pernambuco and of Semi-Arido of Brazilian Northeast, respectively.

Although, unlike Pavan's (1983) paper, significant correlations have not been verified among the variables associated to the soil acidity and the organic matter content (Table 4), except for non-exchangeable acidity, it is known that in acid soils the organic matter can play an important role in Al³⁺ complexation (McLean, 1965; Pavan, 1983; Oates & Kamprath, 1984; Hiradate et al., 1998), reducing the toxic effect of aluminum to plants. This fact may have an important role in agricultural systems with management of crop residues or of organic fertilizers, for which the liming would be reduced without affecting productivity, increasing the cost/benefit relationship. The relationship with organic matter explains also the Al³⁺ content reduction along the acid soil profile (McLean, 1965).

There were correlations (P < 0.001) between the soil Al saturation (m%) and other acidity associated variables (Table 4), except for total Al. The total Al only correlated with the CEC of soil with pH bellow 5.6, evidencing different mineralogy among the studied soil samples.

Received August 19, 2002

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  15 May 2003
• Date of issue
  2003

History

• Received
  19 Aug 2002