Fractionation and distribution of zinc in soils of biologically and conventionally

managed farming systems, Western Australia

B. Regmi, Z.Rengel and H. Shaberi-Khabaz

Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley WA 6009, Email
basu.regmi@gmail.com

Abstract
Understanding the distribution of zinc (Zn) fractions in soils is important for effective and efficient
management of the fertilizer resources given world-wide limitations of crop production and food quality by
insufficient Zn. Soils were collected from the farmers’ field with the history of biological (combination of
organic and conventional farming practices) and conventional management systems in Dalwallinu and
Merredin, Western Australia. A sequential extraction procedure was used to fractionate water-soluble (WS),
exchangeable (EX), specifically adsorbed (SA), acid-soluble (AS), manganese (Mn)-oxide-occluded (Mn-
OX), organic matter occluded (OM), amorphous iron (Fe)-oxide-bound (AFe-OX), crystalline Fe-oxide-
bound (CFe-OX), and residual (RES) Zn forms. There was a similar trend of distribution of Zn fractions in
both farming systems from the two locations. More than 80 % of the total Zn content occurred in the
relatively inactive and mineral-bound residual form (RES), whereas only a small fraction occurred in WS,
EX, OM, AFe-OX, and CFe-OX fractions. Among all the fractions, water soluble and exchangeable (which
are important for plant use) were higher in biological than conventional soils at both locations. Management
systems, particularly biological practices, enhanced plant-available and total Zn pools in soils.

Key Words
Zinc, fractionation, biological and conventional farming systems.

Introduction
Availability of zinc (Zn) for plants is reported to be associated with the distribution of this nutrient among
soil fractions. Therefore, understanding of the distribution of Zn among various fractions of soils will help to
characterise chemistry of Zn in soils and possibly its availability for plant uptake. However, distribution of
Zn among various chemical forms may vary significantly in response to changing soil properties (Adhikari
and Rattan 2007). Sequential fractionation quantifies the element distribution between fractions of different
binding strengths, as defined by properties of selected extractants. Viets (1962) defined five distinct pools for
micronutrients. These are i) water soluble, ii) exchangeable, iii) adsorbed, complexed and chelated species,
iv) associated with secondary minerals and insoluble metal oxides, and v) associated with primary minerals.
Other scheme of Zn fractionation yielding various other distributions into measurable pools have been
proposed by Shuman (1979), Iyengar et al. (1981), Nielsen et al. (1986), Elliot et al. (1990), and Rauret et al.
(1999).

Zinc deficiency in soils suggests that both native and applied Zn react with the inorganic and organic phases
in the soils, which influences plant-availability of Zn. Viets (1962) reported that the distribution of Zn among
active and non-active soil constituents, and soil solution, is also fundamental to an understanding of the soil
chemistry of Zn. Metals in the soil solution existed in different fractions (Luo and Luo 2002), with
potentially different bioavailability and environmental mobility of various chemical forms. Management
systems alter the Zn pools in soils; e.g. Dvorak et al. (2003) reported that the application of sludge together
with inorganic Zn fertilization increased Zn mobility. Similarly, Qian et al. (2003) also revealed that addition
of animal manure increased the labile pool of Zn in soils. Biological farming systems (BF) defined as the
combination of organic and conventional farming systems, which aims at achieving optimum yield without
compromising soil health. On the other hand, conventional farming system (CF) aims at achieving highest
possible yield through the use of chemical fertilizers and other external inputs. In the study presented here
we characterized the soil-Zn fractions under different farming systems in Western Australia. The aims of the
research were: to assess the distribution of Zn fractions in different soils of biological and conventional
management systems, and to determine the relative importance of various soil-Zn fractions in different soils.

© 2010 19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing World 105
1 – 6 August 2010, Brisbane, Australia. Published on DVD.
Material and methods
Soils: Surface layer (0-10 cm) soils with the history of biological farming (BF) and conventional farming
(CF) systems from Dalwallinu (Lat. 30° 14'166" S and Long. 116 °32' 377" E) and Merredin (Lat. 31° 44' 530" S
and Long. 118° 18' 879" E), Western Australia were collected. Soils were mixed thoroughly and sieved
through a 2-mm sieve. Subsamples were taken and ground into fine powder for analysis.

Table 1. Soil properties of biologically (BF) and conventionally managed (CF) soils.
Soil properties Merredin Dalwallinu
BF CF BF CF
Organic carbon g/kg 8.7 8.0 9.5 9.0
NO3 N (mg/kg) 12 14 9.5 13
pH CaCl2 5.5 5.4 5.1 4.9
pH H2O 6.1 6.1 6.2 5.7
NH4 N (mg/kg) 4 5 2 2
Phosphorous (mg/kg) 31 30 21 18.2
Potassium (mg/kg) 181** 349 60* 42.5
DTPA extractable Zn mg/kg 0.71** 0.32 0.58** 0.36
Total Zn (mg/kg) 14.2* 12.43 12.33* 10.33
Note: * and ** denote significant differences at the 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels, respectively, between the two
farming systems for each location separately.

Sequential fractionation methods

The sequential fraction procedure (except the residual fractions) to study the distribution of Zn fractions in
different soils was used as described by Adhikari and Rattan (2007) and Iwasaki and Yoshikawa (1993) (as a
modified form of the fractionation scheme reported by Miller et al. 1986). Soil sample mass used was 1.5 g;
after each fractionation step, samples were washed with 20 mL of milliQ water.

For the respective fractions, the following extractants and procedures were used. Water soluble (WS): soil
samples were shaken with 25 mL H2O for 16 h. Exchangeable (EX): 25 mL 0.5 M calcium nitrate
[Ca(NO)3)2]-solution and shaking for 16 h. Specifically absorbed [lead (Pb)-displaceable fraction] (SA):
shaking in 25 mL of 0.05 M lead nitrate [Pb(NO3)2] and 0.5 M ammonium acetate at pH 6.0 for 2 h. Acid-
soluble fraction (AS): 25 mL of 2.5% (v/v) acetic acid and shaking for 2 h. Manganese-oxide-bound
fraction(Mn-Ox): samples were shaken in 50 mL of 0.1 M hydroxylamine hydrochloride solution at pH 2.0
for 30 min. Organic-matter-bound fraction (OM): 50 mL of 0.1 M potassium pyrophosphate solution at pH
10.0 and shaking for 2 h. Amorphous iron-oxide-occluded fraction (AFe-Ox): samples were treated with 50
mL of 0.1 M oxalic acid solution and 0.175 M ammonium oxalate [(NH4)2C2O4] solution at pH 3.25 for 4 h
in the dark. Crystalline iron-oxide-occluded fraction (CFe-Ox): samples were kept in 50 mL of 0.1 M oxalic
acid, 0.175 M (NH4)2C2O4 and 0.1 M ascorbic acid in a boiling water bath for 30 min.

Residual fraction (RES): This fraction was estimated by subtracting the sum of all Zn fractions measured as
described above from total Zn (see below) as per Rico et al. (2009).

Total zinc (T Zn): A well-mixed sample of about 0.5 g soil was digested in 12 mL Aqua regia as mentioned
by Cheng and Ma (2001). After extraction, all aforementioned samples were centrifuged and Zn was
determined using an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) (Perkin Elmer 400) at The University of
Western Australia, Perth, Australia.

Statistics: Data were statistically analyzed using Statistical Analysis Systems (SAS 9.1 Institute Inc., Cary,
NC, USA) was used for linear correlation analysis and data analysis tool pack of MS excel used for T test.

Results and discussion

Total Zn in soils indicates the potential capacity of soils to supply Zn for crop production given the capacity
of crop to exploit it. However, total Zn in soil doesn’t indicate Zn availability to plants. Soil Zn fractions is
influenced by different factors for e.g. Adhikari and Rattan (2007) reported that soil pH and organic matter
level markedly alter the distribution of Zn among the plant available pools. Table 2 shows distribution of
different fractions of Zn in soils from biological and conventional management systems from two locations
(Merredin and Dalwallinu). There were significant differences in total Zn content in biological and
conventional soils at both locations. Distribution pattern of Zn fractions and total Zn was found similar in
© 2010 19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing World 106
1 – 6 August 2010, Brisbane, Australia. Published on DVD.
both locations (table 2) except Mn-OX in both location and CFe-OX fraction in Merredin where CF having
higher than BF.

Table 2. Distribution of zinc fractions (mg/kg) in two different farming systems at Merredin and Dalwallinu
locations in Western Australia.
Zinc fractions Merredin Dalwallinu
BF CF BF CF
Water soluble (WS) 0.20 0.17 0.10 0.10
Exchangeable (EX) 0.15 0.14 0.27* 0.21
Specifically absorbed (SA) 0.23* 0.18 0.05 0.03
Acid soluble (AS) 0.31* 0.12 0.12* 0.11
Manganese (Mn)-oxide-occluded (Mn-OX) 0.76* 0.86 0.20 0.26
Organic matter occluded (OM) 0.58* 0.35 0.78* 0.60
Amorphous iron (Fe)-oxide-bound (AFe-OX) 0.60* 0.28 0.36* 0.20
Crystalline Fe-oxide-bound (CFe-OX) 0.21* 0.34 0.28* 0.17
Residual (RES) 11 9.9 11* 8.3
Total Zn 14* 12 12* 10
Note: * denotes significance at the 0.05 probability level between the two farming systems for each location separately.
CF= conventional farming systems and BF= biological farming systems.

For plant production point of view WS, and EX Zn are important which is higher in BF in both sites.
However, only Ex Zn fraction was significant in Dalwallinu BF. DTPA-extractable Zn was significantly
higher in biologically managed soils than in conventionally managed soils (Table 1), which is important
indicator to measure the plant available Zn in soil (Cheng and Ma 2001). Here, in both sites, biological
farming systems revealed increased Zn concentration than conventional farming systems, where mainly
adding of organic matter contributed to that increased concentration of different Zn fractions (Table 2).
Iwasaki and Yoshikawa (1993) reported that management systems particularly intensive fertilizers use had
great role in accumulating Zn in soils for plant use.

Conclusion
Biologically managed soils have higher Zn content compared to conventionally managed soils. Adding the
organic matter into soil and maintaining better soils health is important for better crop production as well as
environmental benefits, particularly in the areas of intensive cropping systems with higher external input use.
Available Zn is influenced by the management practices. Biological farming systems should be promoted to
achieve better soils conditions and for sustainable agricultural development.

Acknowledgement
We would like to acknowledge the Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (eIPRS) and
The University of Western Australia Postgraduate Award for PhD studies. Support from Paul Damon and
Mike Smirk in the lab is highly appreciated.

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© 2010 19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing World 107
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© 2010 19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing World 108
1 – 6 August 2010, Brisbane, Australia. Published on DVD.