State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. Electronic address: [Email]
Phosphorus (P), despite being an essential nutrient element for plants growth in agricultural ecosystem, the low utilization rate of soil P and the environmental problems caused by soil P losses are serious. Therefore, scoping knowledge of the possible sources and utilization extent of soil P by microorganisms is very helpful for better understanding of promoting P utilization for sustainable agriculture. Oxygen isotope of phosphate technology is an effective tool to trace the sources of P. In this study, P contents and oxygen isotope composition of inorganic phosphate (δ18OP) of different pools (H2O-P, NaHCO3-P, NaOH-P, and HCl-P) in typical agricultural soil from Northeast China and Central China were analyzed and quantified. The results showed that fertilizer and land use were important factors influencing the contents of H2O-Pt and NaHCO3-Pt and the soil TP contents from different types of soils were greatly affected by soil weathering degree. The δ18OP of different P pools indicated that the difference in utilization extent of different P fractions by microorganisms and the δ18OP values of different P fractions could be due to accumulation of multiple factors. The results will provide effective information for further study on sources and effective utilization of different P fractions in soil.