THE SCIENCE OF PHOSPHORUS NUTRITION: FORMS IN THE SOIL, PLANT UPTAKE, AND PLANT RESPONSE.

Williams and Lipsett (1961) found that 50-60 years of wheat cultivation in NSW resulted in a loss of 30% of organic C but only 17% organic P. In natural soils the extent of net immobilization of P in organic matter and probably soil organic matter levels may often be set by the P supply in the parent material... Many authors only consider supply to occur by mass flow and diffusion (the interception component in Table 2.2 is combined with the diffusion component)... Plants can access a greater volume of soil through the formation of a mycorrhizal symbiosis...