ABSTRACT

The management of phosphate, a finite nonrenewable resource, is far from being in accordance with the principles of sustainability. This is partly because of the still prevailing misconception that soil is a homogenous, static entity. Phosphorus is regarded traditionally as immobile, but its chemical reactivity with environmental factors, acting at different spatial scales and over different time periods, results in the formation of phosphorus species, which not only differ in their plant availability but also in their spatial distribution throughout the field. This spatial speciation is the key for a new approach to assess soil analysis methods.