Bioavailability and Interaction of Si and P in a Coastal Saline Soil Amended with Pig Slurry

The effects of widely applied organic waste amendment on soil Si and P bioavailability and their interaction have rarely been investigated. The study examined bioavailability and interaction of Si and P in response to pig slurry (PS) amendment in a coastal saline (CS) soil. The final purposes of the study are to assess fertilizer Si and P needs and to ensure environmental quality. The results show that PS amendment can cause accumulation of bioavailable Si in surface soil (0-20 cm), and significantly improve both soil bioavailable P content and soil P lability through PS-Si and P input, and by the input of PS-organic matter (OM) and enhancing the complexation of OM with soil Si and P. As a result of the Si-P competitive sorption, Si shows a more rapid increase in bioavailability than P at the preliminary stage of PS amendment. However, under the weakly alkaline conditions as a result of relatively long term PS amendment, the fixation capacity of Si by soil solid components increases causing a rapider decline of Si bioavailability than that of P.