16 research outputs found
Considering Soil Potassium Pools with Dissimilar Plant Availability
Soil potassium (K) has traditionally been portrayed as residing in four functional pools: solution K, exchangeable K, interlayer (sometimes referred to as âfixedâ or ânonexchangeableâ) K, and structural K in primary minerals. However, this four-pool model and associated terminology have created confusion in understanding the dynamics of K supply to plants and the fate of K returned to the soil in fertilizers, residues, or waste products. This chapter presents an alternative framework to depict soil K pools. The framework distinguishes between micas and feldspars as K-bearing primary minerals, based on the presence of K in interlayer positions or three-dimensional framework structures, respectively; identifies a pool of K in neoformed secondary minerals that can include fertilizer reaction products; and replaces the âexchangeableâ K pool with a pool defined as âsurface-adsorbedâ K, identifying where the K is located and the mechanism by which it is held rather than identification based on particular soil testing procedures. In this chapter, we discuss these K pools and their behavior in relation to plant K acquisition and soil K dynamics