ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Changes in Land Use Systems Alter
the Phosphorus Nutrition and Associated Soil
Fertility Status
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1
Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus,
Tobe Camp University Road Abbottabad 22060 Pakistan
2
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah-21589, Saudi Arabia
3
Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt
4
Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus,
Tobe Camp University Road Abbottabad 22060 Pakistan
Submission date: 2019-10-29
Final revision date: 2019-12-11
Acceptance date: 2019-12-28
Online publication date: 2020-07-07
Publication date: 2020-08-05
Corresponding author
Farhan Hafeez
Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Tobe Camp University Road Abbottabad 22060 Pakistan, Pakistan
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2020;29(6):3975-3982
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ABSTRACT
Improved plant nutrition to get high productivity is under severe influence of human activities
drastically impacting the soil-plant ecosystem. In the scenario of increased global socio-economic
demand for food, the changes in land use systems to gain higher agricultural productivity are disrupting
the soil properties as well as the associated soil services. This work investigated the impact of different
land use systems on phosphorus (P) and associated soil nutrients including K, Ca and Mg across six
different land use systems in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Phosphorous fractions were determined by the
modified sequential extraction procedures and the concentration of nutrients was measured by double
acid digestion. Results revealed the significant variations across different land use systems for P
where different P fractions were found considerably varying in order of HCL>NaOH>NaHCO3>H2O
extractable phosphorus. Interestingly, nutrients were found to be varying from thick forest to cultivated
lands. Results demonstrate that the shift from the thick forests to thin forests or arable lands may
increase the P losses and ultimately disturb the associated soil-plant nutrient status thus should remain
intact to promote the plant productivity in a sustainable way.