Comparison of soil tests for assessing boron toxicity to alfalfa

Conference · · Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.; (United States)

OSTI ID:7096901

Gestring, W D; Soltanpour, P N

Three soils from Colorado that varied in texture and organic matter (OM) content were treated with sodium borate at rates of 0, 10, 20, and 40 mg B kg/sup -1/ soil. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa, Ladak, Rambler, Riley, and Agate) was planted in the soils in the greenhouse and cut twice at the 30% bloom stage. Plant tissue digests and soil extracts (ammonium bicarbonate-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (AB-DTPA), saturation, hot water, and mannitol-CaCl/sub 2/) were analyzed for B using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. Alfalfa yield was significantly reduced with increased B application rate in the Ascalon sandy loam and Ulysses loam soils, whereas no yield reduction was observed in the Keith silt loam soil (Aridic Argiustoll, Haplustoll, and Argiustoll, respectively). Yield response for the pooled soils were poorly correlated to the four soil extractants; however, yield reduction due to B toxicity corresponded to critical plant B levels of 850 mg B kg/sup -1/ and 975 mg B kg/sup -1/ for the first and second harvests, respectively. The inclusion of NH/sub 4/OAc-extractable Ca into the regression equation of soil B vs. yield significantly increased the correlation. Multiple linear regression analysis utilizing Mallow's Cp statistic increased the adjusted coefficient of determination to 0.87 for all of the soil B extractants upon inclusion of soil variables into the equation. Although NH/sub 4/OAc-extractable Ca did not appear in any of the best subsets, this was probably the result of it's high correlation with percent clay and OM content.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7096901
• Report Number(s): CONF-871180-
• Journal Information: Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.; (United States), Vol. 51:5; Conference: 51. annual meeting of the Soil Science Society of America, Atlanta, GA, USA, 29 Nov 1987
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ALFALFA
PRODUCTIVITY
BORON
MEASURING METHODS
TOXICITY
BIOLOGICAL AVAILABILITY
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY
EQUATIONS
REGRESSION ANALYSIS
SOILS
BACTERIA
ELEMENTS
LEGUMINOSAE
MATHEMATICS
MICROORGANISMS
PLANTS
RHIZOBIUM
SEMIMETALS
SPECTROSCOPY
STATISTICS
510200* - Environment
Terrestrial- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology