Evaluation of Mehlich-3 as a Multi-Element Extractant of Micronutrients and Sulfur in a Soil–Ryegrass System Amended with Varying Biochar Rates from Two Feedstocks

Joao Arthur Antonangelo (), Joao Luis Bigatao Souza, Andrew Whitaker, Brian Arnall and Hailin Zhang
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Joao Arthur Antonangelo: Department of Agriculture, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN 37044, USA
Joao Luis Bigatao Souza: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
Andrew Whitaker: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
Brian Arnall: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
Hailin Zhang: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: Mehlich-3 (M-3) is used as a universal nutrient extractant due to its ability to simultaneously extract multiple elements. This study aimed to assess M-3 for the simultaneous determination of plant-available zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), boron (B), and sulfate (SO 4 -S) in a soil amended with switchgrass- (SGB) and poultry litter-derived biochars (PLB), which were used to vary soil pH values (5.7–7.6) and organic carbon (OC) content (2.0–5.5%) in the short-term. Soil and ryegrass ( Lolium perenne ) were sampled from a growth chamber experiment and analyzed for plant-available and tissue phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), micronutrients (B, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn), and sulfur contents. The commonly accepted extractants diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), for micronutrients, and 0.008 M monocalcium phosphate (MCP), for SO 4 -S, were used for the evaluation. Relationships between M-3 and DTPA were not reliable for micronutrient availability, although highly significant relationships for Zn and Cu were found. However, M-3-extractable S was highly correlated with S contents in ryegrass tissues regardless of the treatments and provided a 1:1 relationship between MCP and M-3. This offers the potential to eliminate MCP by simply adding S determination after extraction with M-3. Although this research evaluated the d-index for an easier linear relationship between the traditional and proposed methods, more research using several soil samples is needed to establish models and find conversion equations for micronutrients and SO 4 -S between DTPA-sorbitol, MCP, and M-3.

Keywords: Mehlich-3; multi-element extractant; biochar; DTPA; alternative method; monocalcium phosphate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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