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Phosphorus Content in Five Representative Landscape Units of The Lomas de Arequipa (Atacama Desert-Peru) PDF
Phosphorus Content in Five Representative Landscape Units of The Lomas de Arequipa (Atacama Desert-Peru) PDF
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a
Laboratoire Dynamique de la Biodiversite, 29 Rue Jeanne Marvig, 31055 Toulouse Cedex, France
Universidad Nacional San Augustin, Instituto Regional de Ciencias Ambientales, Casilla 985, Arequipa, Peru
Received 27 September 2004; received in revised form 21 September 2005; accepted 12 October 2005
Abstract
Phosphorus forms and content were studied in soils of the Lomas de Arequipa (Atacama desert, Peru) using a fractionation method. These
Lomas are small hills periodically submitted to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) which causes heavy rainfall. Sample soils were
randomly selected in five landscape types characterized by vegetation: cactaceae (Cac), cactaceae and herbaceous (CacHerb), shrubs (Shr),
trees with cover <60% (Tree) and shrubs or trees with cover > 60%) (ShrTree). All the soils were strongly acidic and classified as loamy sand,
sandy loam or silt loam. Organic carbon content was under 1% in Cac or CacHerb, then increased strongly in ShrTree (6.50%). Considering
phosphorus, all the forms (labile as well resistant forms) increased markedly from Cac soils to ShrTree soils. In all the soils, the labile forms
(Resin-P: range 45 105 Ag g 1; NaHCO3-Pi: 23 123 Ag g 1; or NaHCO3-Po: 10 122 Ag g 1) were very high. These high phosphorus
contents were attributed to the specific climatic conditions of the Lomas that feature a long period of vegetation dormancy (very dry period)
and a short period of growth, following ENSO-associated precipitation. We suggested that during the dry period, plant decay and microbial
cells death lead to release and accumulation of labile P in the soil, the rainfall wetting the soil, permitting vegetation growth. In this respect,
the Lomas climatic conditions contribute to soil fertility, especially as labile forms of phosphorus are chiefly concerned.
D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Soils; Phosphorus fractionation; Lomas; Peru; ENSO; Atacama desert
1. Introduction
Coastal deserts such as Atacama (Coastal Peruvian desert
continued by the Northern Chilean desert) present specific
characteristics: a) they are the driest among all deserts; b) the
general climate is mild and uniform; c) the temperature is
fairly evenly distributed throughout the year; d) they are
subject to winter fogs. These climatic conditions impart to
coastal arid regions unique characteristics compared to arid
regions characterised by high mean and large amplitude
temperature. The aridity results from several combined
factors, especially the permanent high pressure area over
the Pacific Ocean and atmospheric stability induced by the
cold northward flowing Humboldt Current. This cold current
makes the air become cool or cold but dry and very stable
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: acfabre@aol.com (A. Fabre).
0341-8162/$ - see front matter D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.catena.2005.10.004
81
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Table 1
Floristic composition of each Lomas type
Lomas type
Altitude
(range)
% Plant
cover
Cacti
160 680
13
620 790
2 10
Shrubs
620 850
20 35
620 690
690 980
10 50
75 100
3. Results
3.1. General characteristics
The mean pH values (Table 2) were not significantly
different between stands. They were very acid (pH around
4.7). All the soils were very poor in clay (range 2.1 12.7%)
and presented large variability concerning silt and sand
(range 11.0 60.8 and 26.5 87.0%, respectively). The soils
were classified as loamy sand, sandy loam or silt loam. Cac
stands were very rich in sand content (87.0%) and very poor
in clay (2.1%). Inversely, Tree and especially ShrTree were
the richest in clay content (11.2% and 12.7%, respectively).
Organic carbon contents were under 1% in Cac and
CacHerb. Then they increased in Shr and Tree (1.45% and
2.40%, respectively) and above all in the ShrTree stands
(6.50%).
3.2. Phosphorus contents
Considering the sum of the fractions (Table 3), Cac
presented the lowest value (448.1 Ag g- 1) and ShrTree the
highest value (962.8 Ag g 1). The three other stands were not
significantly different ( P > 0.05). Resin-P varied from
44.7 Ag g 1 in the Cac stands to 104.5 Ag g 1 in the
ShrTree stands. These values are significantly different from
Table 2
General characteristics of the soil for each Lomas type (4 replicates in each Lomas type)
Lomas type
pH
% Organic C
% Clay
% Silt
% Sand
Cacti
Cacti and herbaceous
Shrubs
Trees (cover <60%)
Shrubs and trees (cover >60%)
4.9 T 0.21
4.5 T 0.19
5.0 T 0.19
4.6 T 0.15
4.7 T 0.27
0.34 T 0.28
0.68 T 0.16
1.45 T 0.38
2.40 T 0.47
6.50 T 0.42
2.1 T 0.71
6.1 T 0.37
7.5 T 0.33
11.2 T 0.85
12.7 T 0.83
11.0 T 3.42
39.0 T 3.64
59.2 T 1.07
59.3T
60.8 T 2.08
87.0 T 4.10
54.9 T 3.97
33.4 T 1.38
29.8 T 2.49
26.5 T 2.87
Loamy sand
Loamy sand sandy loam
Silt loam
Silt loam
Silt loam
83
Lomas type
Resin-P
NaHCO3-Pi
NaHCO3-Po
NaOH-Pi
NaOH-Po
HCl-P
Residual-P
Cacti
44.7 T 4.6
(10.0)
78.1 T 6.1
(12.5)
78.9 T 6.2
(9.9)
81.6 T 6.7
(10.8)
104.5 T 2.9
(10.9)
23.4 T 4.3
(5.2)
33.4 T 2.7
(5.3)
122.9 T 4.3
(15.5)
109.9 T 7.9
(14.5)
92.3 T 7.1
(9.6)
10.4 T 2.5
(2.3)
76.6 T 6.0
(12.3)
62.4 T 3.4
(7.8)
84.9 T 5.3
(11.2)
122.4 T 3.5
(12.7)
33.4 T 5.6
(7.5)
72.0 T 11.5
(11.5)
70.9 T 4.8
(8.9)
94.8 T 7.0
(12.5)
125.1 T13.2
(13.0)
22.1 T 4.9
(4.9)
9.8 T 1.9
(1.6)
27.4 T 5.5
(3.4)
49.9 T 4.8
(6.6)
139.3 T 4.3
(14.5)
267.3 T 5.1
(59.7)
297.8 T 2.7
(47.7)
386.3 T 35.2
(48.6)
256.4 T 27.8
(33.9)
136.4 T 16.3
(14.2)
47.0 T 3.9
(10.5)
57.2 T 10.8
(9.2)
46.2 T 7.7
(5.8)
79.8 T 6.2
(10.5)
242.8 T 10.4
(25.2)
448.1 T13.0
624.8 T 23.1
795.0 T 39.4
757.2 T 53.3
962.8 T 40.1
Mean values and standard error of the mean (n = 4). In brackets, percentage of the sum of the fractions.
4. Discussion
4.1. Carbon content
The high correlation between organic carbon and
vegetation cover has already been shown in several studies
in arid areas (Le Houerou, 1986; Gauquelin et al., 1998).
Nevertheless we can notice the high organic carbon content
(around 6.50%) of the soils of the ShrTree stands, generally
situated in the upper part of the Lomas, where the
percentage of plant coverage is high (> 75%).
4.2. Phosphorus content
In all the soils, we found high labile P contents (Resin-P,
NaHCO3-Pi and Po), in comparison with data from other
arid or desert soils. Nevertheless, comparisons with literature data are difficult because most of these data concern hot
arid areas or deserts not periodically exposed to intense
rainy periods (ENSO events). The high concentrations of the
different forms of P in the Lomas can be ascribed to the
combination of different and independent effects (Fig. 2).
Table 4
Correlation matrix between phosphorus forms and related parameters (in bold character: statistical significance at P < 0.05 level)
Resin P
Resin P
NaHCO3 Pi
NaHCO3 Po
NaOH-Pi
NaOH-Po
HCl-P
Residual P
% Organic C
Altitude
% Cover
% Clay
% Silt
% Sand
0.53
0.89
0.78
0.65
0.33
0.65
0.68
0.73
0.75
0.82
0.77
0.79
NaHCO3 Pi
0.50
0.55
0.36
0.08
0.24
0.38
0.47
0.51
0.66
0.83
0.81
NaHCO3 Po
0.87
0.71
0.47
0.74
0.76
0.73
0.73
0.88
0.81
0.83
NaOH Pi
NaOH Po
0.74
0.41
0.79
0.76
0.70
0.79
0.89
0.76
0.79
0.72
0.96
0.96
0.55
0.93
0.75
0.51
0.56
HCl P
0.73
0.67
0.06
0.60
0.41
0.08
0.14
Residual P
0.93
0.51
0.91
0.71
0.44
0.49
% Organic C
0.66
0.90
0.80
0.61
0.65
Altitude
% Cover
% Clay
0.61
0.78
0.81
0.82
0.80
0.62
0.66
0.88
0.92
% Silt
0.99
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5. Conclusion
The Lomas constitute an original landscape chiefly
characterized by: a) the localization near the Pacific Ocean
and the presence of the cold Humboldt Current; b) the
topography (regular increase of the altitude from around 100
to 1000 m) which acts as a barrier to Ocean influences,
causing fogs, especially between 600 to 1000 m (May to
October) or receiving heavy rainfalls during ENSO events.
With regard to the vegetation, the specific climatic
conditions leads to a strong contrast between long periods
of seed dormancy then short periods of growth, the trigger
mechanism being rainfalls associated to ENSO events.
85
Acknowledgments
The authors thank M.F. Bellan and D. Lacaze for the
field assistance and F. Barthelat, K. Saint-Hilaire and M.
Saurat for help with many chemical analyses. The study
received financial support from European Communities:
Contrat U.E. n- TS3 CT 94 0324 (1995 1998): Fog as a
new water resource for the sustainable development of the
ecosystem of the Peruvian and Chilean coastal desert.
Project Coordinator: Dr Roberto Semenzato (1995 1997)
and Dr Mario Falciai (1997 1998).
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