Phosphorous (P)
Submitted by Tom Miles on Sun, 2008-04-13 22:32.
Sewage Sludge and The HEAP Trap
Folke Gunther, April 12, 2008
I was refraining from this, since I don’t think it is an item really belonging to the TP list, but now we are here.
1. Urine and faeces are excellent plant food. The reason we don’t use them directly is mostly cultural for the urine, I guess, but for faeces it is really an adaptive behaviour. Burning or charring cold be a good idea for faeces. The charring might make it sterile, and the non-gaseous nutrients, as phosphorus, would be returned to land, for a future production of new food. A large pat of the faeces is indigestible cellulose, why it could be a good thing to char it. The urine, which normally is sterile at the production site, could enrich charcoal very well.
2. Currently, the westernized wastewater behaviour is base on the MIFSLA (Mix First and Separate Later) philosophy This results in a mixture of high nutrient – high pathogen – high toxic – high water content mixture that is almost impossible to do something sensible with. Commonly, it is thrown away into the nearest lake or sea, where the harm it does is not immediately evident. On the other hand, avoiding the MIFSLA with a source-separating toilet is really easy, if you don’t live on the 21st floor and is forced to use the system, either you want it or not.
3. Living in dense communities (e.g. towns or cities) put another invisible restriction on you: As you use the MIFSLA system, you put the used nutrients on a smaller area than the food production area. It is like filling a glass of beer, when the glass is full, he leakage will equal the import. Normally, you stop the beer-filling process then, but you can not stop eating. It will end up in a steady state, which I call the HEAP trap.
I will add a ppt, trying to explain the HEAP effect and its cultural background.
YS
FG
Folke Günther
Kollegievägen 19
224 73 Lund, Sweden
home/office: +46 46 14 14 29
cell: 0709 710306 skype: folkegun
Homepage:
blog: http://folkegunther.blogspot.com/
folke@holon.se
Submitted by Tom Miles on Wed, 2008-01-02 19:59.
Phosphorus Speciation in Manure and Manure-Amended Soils Using XANES Spectroscopy
S. Sato, D. Solomon, C. Hyland, Q.M. Ketterings, and J. Lehmann, NSLS Science Highlights, February 9, 2006
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
It is important to know what inorganic phosphorus (P) species are being formed in soils subjected to high, long-term poultry-manure application in order to understand P accumulation and release patterns. Phosphorus K-edge XANES spectra of fresh manure showed no evidence of crystalline P minerals, but did exhibit a dominance of soluble calcium phosphates (CaP) and free and weakly bound phosphates. Soils with a short-term manure history contained both Fe-associated phosphates and soluble CaP. Long-term application resulted in a dominance of CaP and a transformation from soluble to more stable CaP species. However, none of the amended soils showed the presence of crystalline CaP. Maintaining a high pH is therefore an important strategy that can be used to minimize P leaching in these soils.
Submitted by Tom Miles on Wed, 2008-01-02 03:53.
Knowing when plants capture phosphorus
Luis Pons, USDAi Agricultural Research, Jan, 2003
ARS research into how and when plants use the phosphorus in manure may aid farmers as they try to stem nutrient runoff into waterways.
"A future challenge," says soil scientist Thomas J. Sauer, "will be not only to avoid over-application of phosphorus to soil, but also to ensure that in doing so a farmer does not make the land phosphorus deficient."
Sauer and soil scientist John L. Kovar focus on phosphorus as they study nutrient management of animal manure at ARS' National Soil Tilth Laboratoryi in Ames, Iowa.
This research is part of Water and Quality Management, an ARS National Program (#201) described on the World Wide Web at http://www.nps.ars.usda.gov.
Thomas J. Sauer and John L. Kovar are with the USDA-ARS National Soil Tilth Laboratory, 2150 Pammel Drive, Ames, IA 50011-4420; phone (515)294-3416 [Sauer], (515)294-3419 [Kovar], fax (515) 294-8125, e-mail sauer@nstl.gov.kovar@nstl.gov.
Submitted by Tom Miles on Thu, 2008-01-03 01:30.
Soil Testing and Available Phosphorus
Antonio Mallarino, assistant professor and John E. Sawyer, associate professor, Department of Agronomy, John Creswell and Michael Tidman, Iowa State University, September 2000
This article is the continuation of a series of articles that provides producers with information that aids in phosphorus (P) management. We address the following: soil testing as a tool, trying to predict availability of P for crops, agronomic testing for P, environmental testing for P versus agronomic testing for P, and environmental perspective and interpretation.
Soil testing as a tool
Trying to predict availability of P for crops
Soil P testing for crop production
Soil P tests interpretation and fertilization requirements
Environmental versus agronomic testing for P
Environmental perspective and interpretation
Summary
Submitted by Tom Miles on Thu, 2008-01-03 01:03.
Phosphorus Facts - Soil, Plant and Fertilizer
David Whitney, Kansas State University Cooperative Extension Service, C-665, October 1988
Phosphorus (P) does not exist in soils in the simple elemental form, but is found combined with other elements forming complex minerals (inorganic)and organic compounds. The total phosphorus content of the surface six inches may be as little as 200 pounds per acre on very sandy soils to over 2,500 pounds per acre on fine textured soils.
However, only a small fraction of this total phosphorus is in a form that is readily available to plants. Thus, application of phosphorus fertilizer, or agricultural or municipal wastes are necessary on many soils to meet plant phosphorus needs.
Soil Considerations
Plant Considerations
-Plant Needs
-Accumulation by Plants
-Plant Uptake
Fertilizer Considerations
-fertilizer Terminology
Manufacture of Phosphorus Fertilizer
Phosphorus Sources
Phosphorus Application
Putting it All together
Submitted by Tom Miles on Thu, 2008-01-03 00:45.
The Nature of Phosphorus in Soils
Lowell Busman, John Lamb, Gyles Randall, George Rehm, and Michael Schmitt, University of Minnesota extension, FO-06795-GO, 1998
Phosphorus (P) is an essential element classified as a macronutrient because of the relatively large amounts of P required by plants. Phosphorus is one of the three nutrients generally added to soils in fertilizers. One of the main roles of P in living organisms is in the transfer of energy. Organic compounds that contain P are used to transfer energy from one reaction to drive another reaction within cells. Adequate P availability for plants stimulates early plant growth and hastens maturity. Although P is essential for plant growth, mismanagement of soil P can pose a threat to water quality. The concentration of P is usually sufficiently low in fresh water so that algae growth is limited. When lakes and rivers are polluted with P, excessive growth of algae often results. High levels of algae reduce water clarity and can lead to decreases in available dissolved oxygen as the algae decays, conditions that can be very detrimental to game fish populations.
The Phosphorus Cycle
Forms of Phosphorus in Soils
Fate of Phosphorus Added to Soils
Predicting the Availability of Phosphorus in Soils
Soil Phosphorus and Water Quality
Submitted by Tom Miles on Mon, 2007-04-23 01:49.
NUTRIENT LEACHING FROM CARBON PRODUCTS OF SLUDGE
Yoshiyuki Shinogi, National Institute for Rural Engineering, Japan, 2004
ASABE/CSAE Paper 0440063
ABSTRACT
We proposed pyrolysis as a promising optional technology for recycling waste products,
especially sewage sludge and animal waste (manure). In this study, nutrient (nitrogen,
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