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Published online 20 September 2006
Published in Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:1914-1921 (2006)
DOI: 10.2136/sssaj2005.0194
© 2006 Soil Science Society of America
677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA
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Soil Fertility & Plant Nutrition

Response to Phosphorus of Cranberry on High Phosphorus Testing Acid Sandy Soils

L. E. Parent* and S. Marchand

Dep. of Soils and Agri-Food Engineering, Laval Univ., Quebec, QC, Canada G1K 7P4

* Corresponding author (leon-etienne.parent{at}sga.ulaval.ca)


   ABSTRACT
TOP
 ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
 CONCLUSIONS
 REFERENCES
 
The fertilized sand-grown cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton cv. Stevens) could be at risk for water contamination by P during seasonal flooding and drainage, especially in high-P soils. The P diagnosis is usually conducted from soil and tissue tests but should also include water-extractable P (PW) as an environmental index. Although the Bray-1 P (PBray1) test is the current test for cranberry soils, the Mehlich-III (M-III) test is now commonly used in Quebec and the mid-Atlantic USA as an agri-environmental index with specified thresholds. Our objective was to relate the (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio to PW and PBray1 and to evaluate this ratio against yield and tissue P responses to added P in high-P sand-grown cranberry crops. Fertilizer trials were conducted during the 2001 to 2004 period at rates of 0, 13, 26, and 39 kg P ha–1 yr–1 on permanent plots at five locations in central Quebec. The slope of the relationship between the (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio (range: 0.024–0.094) and PBray1 (60–235 mg P kg–1) was 0.0004 (R2 = 0.92). There were significant site and year effects but no significant effect of added P on berry yield. There were significant linear effects of added P on tissue P concentration in the range of 0.9 to 1.4 g P kg–1 but no critical value could be defined. The simulated (P/[Al+Fe])M-III environmental threshold (9.7 mg PW kg–1) was 0.113. The (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio could be used interchangeably with PBray1 in Quebec sand-grown cranberry crops but the provisionary environmental threshold must be ascertained from drainage water monitoring.

Abbreviations: Db, bulk density • DPS, degree of phosphate saturation = (Pox/[{alpha}m(Alox + Feox)]) • {alpha}m, maximum saturation factor for total P sorption • OX subscript, extracted using the acid oxalate method • PBray1, phosphorus extracted using the Bray-1 method • M-III subscript, extracted using the Mehlich-III method • PES, plasma emission spectroscopy • PW, water-extractable phosphorus


   INTRODUCTION
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
 CONCLUSIONS
 REFERENCES
 
THE CRANBERRY (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) is grown in acid organic (peaty) or sandy soils (Eck, 1990). In Quebec, it is produced on ~1100 ha of acid sandy soils and ~130 ha of organic soils (Quebec Cranberry Growers' Association, unpublished data, 2003). A typical cranberry field consists of a 1.5- to 2-ha basin surrounded by dikes and established in a low-landscape position, generally close to or in an acid bog, to facilitate water collection and distribution. The crop takes 2 yr to establish from mother stems to produce berries commercially, and 5 yr to stabilize berry yield. During cranberry production, a sand layer of 0.64 to 2.54, sometimes up to 5 cm, is applied on frozen soil to rejuvenate old plantings, stimulate rooting, curtail vine growth in excessively vegetative bogs, control some pests, and cover fallen leaves and other organic debris to promote their breakdown (Eck, 1990). Cranberry beds are irrigated during summer and flooded in early fall for approximately 48 h for harvesting floating berries, followed by immediate drainage. The beds are flooded again for ~3 wk in December for icing as winter protection against wind damage and soil uplift. The excess water is evacuated to prevent plant asphyxia or damage due to moving ice during melt. Since the P concentration in surface runoff is related to soil PW (Pote et al., 1999), cranberry management practices may make P loss from soils to surface waters of particular environmental concern. Runoff from cranberry bogs is generally low in P when small amounts of fertilizer are applied (Eck, 1990); however, Howes and Teal (1995) found a net annual P loss of 4.8 kmol, that is, 10 kg P ha–1, from a 15-ha cultivated Massachusetts cranberry bog. The eutrophication of surface water by particulate and dissolved P accumulated in the soil is becoming a crucial environmental issue for cranberry production (Roper et al., 2001), and there is a need to develop a routine soil P test related to PW. In addition, cranberry P fertilization must secure yield, color, and tissue P sufficiency (Eaton, 1971a). Hence, such a soil test must also be informative about crop response to added P.

The mobility of phosphate in acid sandy soils is controlled mainly by fast and slow reactions with oxalate-extractable Fe and Al (Lookman et al., 1995). The acid ammonium oxalate method extracts noncrystalline and poorly crystalline Al and Fe [Fe(II) and Fe(III)] forms (Ross and Wang, 1993) that include organically bound (pyrophosphate-extractable) and oxyhydroxide (oxalate- minus pyrophosphate-extractable) forms of Al and Fe. Iron may accumulate in substantial amounts as limonite and goethite in organic or gleyed soils, especially where the subsoil is sandy and facilitates water movement (Naucke et al., 1993). Iron pan fragments, some reported to contain 82 g kg–1 of pyrophosphate-extractable Fe, 7 g kg–1 of pyrophosphate-extractable Al, 134 g kg–1 of oxalate-extractable Fe (FeOX), and 10.4 g kg–1 of oxalate-extractable Al (AlOX) (McKeague, 1967) are often encountered in cranberry soils. In comparison, high-P-fixing volcanic ash Alaskan soils (Cryorthods and Cryandepts) showed 7.8 to 10.9 g FeOX kg–1 and 9.2 to 14.3 g AlOX kg–1 (Ping and Michaelson, 1986). The DPS (degree of P saturation) of Al and Fe oxyhydroxides was computed as the (P/[{alpha}m(Al+Fe)])OX molar ratio (van der Zee et al., 1987), where {alpha}m is the maximum saturation factor for total P sorption. The DPS is closely related to phosphate concentration in the soil solution (Breeuwsma and Reijerink, 1993).

The Al-P forms have been found to be more available to plants than Fe-P forms (Anthony and Ellis, 1968), while P availability in organo–Fe-P complexes depends primarily on saturation degree (Levesque and Schnitzer, 1967). Iron phosphate may also precipitate at the root surface of cranberry plants (Rosen et al., 1990). To account for the important role of amorphous Al and Fe in the retention and release of soil P, Sims et al. (2002) recommended the (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio (Mehlich, 1984) as an agri-environmental index for the mid-Atlantic USA. With some exceptions (DeMoranville and Davenport, 1997), no P addition is generally recommended in cranberry soils testing >60 mg PBray1 kg–1 (Yarborough et al., 1993; Poole et al., 1997) but no environmental threshold was derived from the Bray-1 test in high-P soils. The routine soil test in Quebec and the mid-Atlantic USA is Mehlich III (Khiari et al., 2000; Sims et al., 2002). The (P/Al)M-III and (P/[Al+Fe])M-III ratios were related to PW to establish environmental benchmarks (Khiari et al., 2000; Sims et al., 2002).

Cranberry can acquire P at low concentration in acidic solutions (Medappa and Dana, 1970). Although plants adapted to low-nutrient habitats like cranberry have a low capacity to acquire less mobile ions such as phosphate, they exhibit luxury consumption and high tissue concentration in response to seasonal pulses of nutrient availability (Chapin, 1989). Tissue P concentration has thus been found to be more sensitive to added P than cranberry yield (Greidanus and Dana, 1972). In addition, cranberry fruit set may fluctuate considerably between years (Eck, 1990) and influence tissue P reserves that may be remobilized from leaves and stems to areas of new growth and reproductive organs (Marschner, 1986). Greidanus and Dana (1972) proposed a "hidden hunger" zone (i.e., decrease in tissue dry weight without any visual deficiency symptoms) between 0.9 and 1.1 g P kg–1, and a nutrient sufficiency range from 1.2 to 2.7 g P kg–1 across greenhouse and nutrient solution studies as well as field sand and peat plot trials in Wisconsin. Although Greidanus and Dana (1972) found N effects on new shoot dry weight in sandy soils, there was no visible effect of P on growth in the field during three consecutive seasons as soil test P decreased from 146 kg ha–1 (i.e., ~66 mg kg–1) to ~110 kg ha–1 (i.e., ~50 mg kg–1) and shoot P decreased from 1.5 to 0.9 mg P kg–1 in control plots (Greidanus and Dana, 1972). Hence, field-grown cranberry in high-P sandy soils (>20–30 mg PBray1 kg–1 across trials, according to Greidanus and Dana [1972]) showed possible P sufficiency with 0.9 mg P kg–1, at the lower end of the "hidden hunger" zone. Proposed critical P values varied, however, from 1.0 (Davenport et al., 1995) to 1.1 g P kg–1 (Yarborough et al., 1993). Since tissue P increases directly with P supply (Greidanus and Dana, 1972), the P fertilization based on tissue P alone depends on the proper selection of a critical P value.

Our objectives were to relate the (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio to water-extractable P and the Bray-1 test in cranberry sandy soils of Quebec, establish preliminary environmental benchmarks, and evaluate cranberry yield and shoot P responses to added P in acid sandy soils testing high in P according to the Bray-1 test. A fourth objective was to relate tissue P to added P to estimate the P requirement for a target tissue P level.


   MATERIALS AND METHODS
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
 CONCLUSIONS
 REFERENCES
 
Experimental Setup
We conducted cranberry (cv. Stevens) field trials at five sites in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 in acid sandy soils at Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes (CA02, sand), St-Louis-de-Blandford (CA06, loamy sand), Manseau (CA07, sand), Val-Alain (CA11, sand), and Villeroy (CA27, loamy sand), Quebec, Canada (46°13' to 46°18' N, 71°45' to 71°59' W). The soil series were St-Judes (sandy, mixed, acid, mesic Aquic Haplorthod), St-Samuel (sandy, mixed, acid, mesic Typic Humaquept) and Villeroy (sandy over loamy, mixed, acid, mesic Typic Haplorthod). Climatic conditions (average of three stations within 20 to 30 km from sites) are presented in Table 1. On average, 2001 was the driest and warmest year.


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  		Table 1. Climatic data near the experimental sites.

 
Permanent plots were established because (i) cranberry fruit set may vary considerably between years, often due to biennial cycles of energy reserves in the plant and to environmental factors (Eck, 1990), and (ii) yield may increase in the first, the second, or the third year of continuous fertilization (DeMoranville, 1989). The design was a randomized complete block with two replications at each site. Plot size was 2 by 3 m. The P treatments, applied on the same plot each year, were 0, 13, 26, and 39 kg P ha–1 yr–1 as MAP (monoammonium phosphate) or 26 and 39 kg P ha–1 yr–1 as 11–38–0 (peat–MAP–DAP [diammonium phosphate] Hyper-P granulated fertilizer), close to ranges between 0 and 67 kg P ha–1 and to increments of 15 to 30 kg P ha–1 used by Eaton (1971a, 1971b), Eaton and Meehan (1973), Davenport et al. (1997), and DeMoranville and Davenport (1997). Although rates up to 112 kg P ha–1 have been used in fertilizer trials (Greidanus and Dana, 1972) and were applied by some farmers in Quebec, our sites generally tested high in P according to Yarborough et al. (1993) and Poole et al. (1997), and a 1-yr preliminary experiment in 2000 showed little response to added P (range: 0–112 kg P ha–1) on soils close to these sites. Cranberry N–P–K fertilization in this study was based on N timing (Davenport et al., 2000) since timing of P application has no known effect on cranberry yield (DeMoranville and Davenport, 1997). The N was applied at 40 kg NH4–N ha–1 by supplementing MAP or Hyper-P with (NH4)2SO4 as needed. Potassium sulfate was added to provide 133 kg K ha–1. Fertilizers were broadcast in four equal applications during the growing season (Davenport et al., 2000). Other cultural practices were conducted according to local recommendations by crop advisers. At harvest, berries were collected from five 0.09-m2 squares (total 0.45 m2) in each plot for yield evaluation. Plot yield evaluation overestimated farmer's reported yield by 30% on average, due presumably to greater efficiency of hand picking. Berries were harvested 2 to 3 wk before commercial harvesting, hence the average TAcy index for anthocyanin content (Fulecki and Francis, 1968) was lower (305 ± 60 mg kg–1) than market requirements for bonus payments (350–450 mg kg–1).

Soil and Plant Analysis
Five soil cores were composited from the root zone (0–15 cm) of each 6-m2 plot in May 2001 before fertilization. Soil sampling was also performed in September 2004 to check for soil test variation. Soils were dried at 50°C for 24 h, and sieved to <2 mm. Soil texture was determined using the hydrometer method (Gee and Bauder, 1986). Soil pH was determined in distilled water using a soil/solution volumetric ratio of 1:1. Organic C was quantified according to the Walkley–Black procedure (Nelson and Sommers, 1982). The PW was extracted in a 60:1 H2O/soil ratio according to Sissingh (1971) using NaCl to clarify the suspension, and filtered through Whatman no. 42 paper. The PBray1 was determined according to Bray and Kurtz (1945) and quantified by PES (plasma emission spectroscopy). Soil P, Fe, and Al were extracted using the Mehlich-III method (Mehlich, 1984). The PM-III was determined by colorimetry (Laverty, 1963). The FeM-III and AlM-III were quantified by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Oxalate P (POX), Fe (FeOX), and Al (AlOX) extracted according to Ross and Wang (1993) were quantified by PES.

One hundred of the current season's leaves from fruit-bearing and nonfructiferous upright stems (DeMoranville and Deubert, 1986; Davenport et al., 1995) were randomly collected in each plot between mid-August and mid-September in 2001 and 2002 only. Tissue samples were oven dried at 65°C for 24 to 36 h, ground to <2 mm, and analyzed for total N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Mn, Fe, and B. Total N was determined by micro-Kjeldahl digestion and distillation (Jones and Case, 1990). Other elements were quantified by PES after tissue digestion in a HClO4 and HNO3 mixture (Jones and Case, 1990). Tissue P concentration was related to P rate within soil classes.

Statistical Procedures
Fertilizer trials were analyzed together using a split-plot design with repeated measures (SPSS, 2002), assigning main plot units to sites, and subplot units to P treatments. Yields and tissue P were compared using the LSD test at P = 0.05. The response trend to added P was analyzed using orthogonal polynomials. The PM-III–PW relationship was assessed using soils collected in 2000, 2001, and 2004. Twenty independent soil samples were taken in September 2000 and May 2001 near experimental sites to relate Mehlich-III values to Bray-1 values. Regression equations were computed using the Excel 2000 package (Microsoft, 2000). The PM-III values were paired between 2001 and 2004 in individual plots and compared using a t-test for paired observations (Steel et al., 1997). The (P/[Al+Fe])M-III ratio was expressed as a molar ratio (mmol P mmol–1 Al + Fe) similarly to DPS (van der Zee et al., 1987) but without {alpha}m. The (P/Al)M-III ratio was expressed as a mass ratio. The (P/[Al+Fe])M-III ratio was related to PW and total P in drainage water data from literature to compute apparent critical environmental values for the cranberry soils. The term apparent was used here because, due to frequent flooding and drainage events, the chemistry of cranberry soils could differ from that of upland soils used in the literature to compute environmental benchmarks.


   RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
CONCLUSIONS
 REFERENCES
 
Soil Properties and Conversion Equations
Soils were acid, contained >84% sand, and tested high in P (≥60 mg PBray1 kg–1) according to Yarborough et al. (1993) (Table 2). Our oxalate-extractable P, Al, and Fe values were within published ranges for U.S., Dutch, Belgian, German, and Quebec soils (van der Zee et al., 1987; Lookman et al., 1995; Giroux and Tran, 1996; Sims et al., 2002). The PM-III values remained unchanged between 2001 and 2004, differing insignificantly by only 2 mg P kg–1 (t = 0.54, P = 0.59) possibly due to redistribution of dissolved P from plots to the entire basin by flooding. Water-soluble and available P may increase during a flooding phase due to hydrolysis of Fe(III) and Al(III) phosphates, release of exchangeable P on hydrous oxides of Fe (III) and Al(III), and reduction Fe(III) to Fe(II) releasing chemically bound and sorbed P (Ponnamperuma, 1972); however, wetting–drying cycles may decrease P solubility as a result of biological reduction of Fe during flooding followed by reoxidation during the drying phase, enhancing the reactivity of sesquioxide fractions (Sah et al., 1989; Iyamuremye and Dick, 1996). DeMoranville and Davenport (1997) found an increase of 30 mg P kg–1 (from 40–50 to 70–80 mg P kg–1) after 3 yr of P additions to Massachusetts high-Fe cranberry soils. Compared with peaty and layered (sand–peat) cranberry soils, sandy soils showed lower P sorption and higher P desorption as soils changed from saturated to seasonal dryness under simulated conditions in the laboratory (Davenport et al., 1997). Monitoring the seasonal variations in redox conditions and P release and sorption during field flooding and after drainage is required to quantify the net result of these processes.


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  		Table 2. Soil properties (0–15 cm) of the cranberry sites in May 2001 (means of two replications).

 
The (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio was closely related to PW across soils (Fig. 1 ). The critical value of 9.7 mg PW kg–1 of Khiari et al. (2000) corresponding to a critical DPS value of 0.25 (Breeuwsma and Reijerink, 1993) in upland soils was found to be 0.113 as (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio (Fig. 1), a high value compared with those in Table 2. On the other hand, Beauchemin et al. (2003) related the 3-yr average of weekly monitored total P (TP) in pipe drain water (0.02–0.09 mg TP L–1) to the (P-Al)M-III concentration ratio (0.065–0.387) in nine sandy loam to clay soils of the St-Lawrence valley. Assuming a background noise in the range of 0.01 to 0.04 mg TP L–1 for median monthly monitored TP concentrations in Quebec rivers as derived from Gangbazo et al. (2005), and setting (P/[Al+Fe])M-III = 0.82(P/Al)M-III (R2 = 0.99) using data in Table 2, we computed the Beauchemin et al. (2003) (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio for three TP values of 0.04 mg TP L–1 or less in drainage water of five loamy or coarser soils. The computed mean ± standard deviation was 0.087 ± 0.016, a mean not significantly different from 0.113 using a two-tailed t-test (t = 2.82, P = 0.11). More monitoring of drainage water quality from cranberry soils is necessary to validate the environmental threshold as a (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio for sand-grown cranberry crops.


Figure 1
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  		Fig. 1. Relationship between water-extractable P (PW) (Sissingh, 1971) and the P/[Al+Fe] molar ratio by Mehlich-III extraction in Quebec cranberry sandy soils.

 
The relationship between the Mehlich-III as quantified by colorimetry and Bray-1 tests (Table 2) was found to be PM-III = 0.90PBray1 (R2 = 0.99). Since the PES determination of PM-III was found to be 1.10 times the colorimetric determination in mineral soils (Khiari et al., 2000), the slope would be close to one for the same determination method. The slope of the PM-III–PBray1 relationship was similar to soils from southern and mid-Atlantic USA (Mehlich, 1984); Ultisols, Alfisols, and Mollisols (Hanlon and Johnson, 1984; Wolf and Baker, 1985); Cryochrepts (Michaelson et al., 1987); and Spodosols and Inceptisols (Tran et al., 1990). The Bray-1 test in our study was also found to be closely related to the (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio on the 20 independent soil samples as follows (R2 = 0.92):

Formula 1[1]
In contrast, the Bray-1 method did not appear to be a good indicator of the amount of available P in peaty or layered (peat–sand) cranberry soils testing high in citrate–dithionite-extractable Fe (Davenport et al., 1997). The Al and Fe oxyhydroxides contributing to P sorption in acid soils generally increase with C content (Williams et al., 1957). The Bray-1 test did not appear meaningful also for acid volcanic ash soils high in amorphous Fe and Al (480–710 mmol FeOX + AlOX kg–1; Ping and Michaelson, 1986) and organic C (60–80 g C kg–1; Michaelson et al., 1987). Compared with the Bray-1 extractant, strongly acidic extractants such as Mehlich-III were found to extract larger quantities of P and to be more closely correlated to yield (Michaelson et al., 1987). Soils high in amorphous Fe and Al and in organic C as reported by Ping and Michaelson (1986), Michaelson et al. (1987), and Davenport et al. (1997) had slopes between 1.5 and 2.2 for the PM-III–PBray1 relationships, much higher than in our soils. Khiari and Parent (2005) presented data showing that in paired Ivry loamy sands (Humaquepts) with (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratios of 0.020 and 0.022, respectively, the FeM-III contribution to [Al+Fe])M-III was 3.3% for a typical soil and 17.4% for an adjacent peaty phase. Possibly, organically bound (pyrophosphate-extractable) and oxyhydroxide (oxalate- minus pyrophosphate-extractable) forms of Al and Fe reacted differently to the Mehlich-III extraction. Although Eq. [1] could be useful to convert a (P/[Al+Fe])M-III into a PBray1 environmental benchmark for soils showing (P/[Al+Fe])M-III to PBray1 slopes close to one, Eq. [1] should not be extrapolated too early to those showing slopes close to 2. How reliably the (P/[Al+Fe])M-III ratio can be applied across cranberry soils needs further investigation.

Cranberry Response to Added Phosphorus
Our soil tests ranged between 60 and 235 mg PBray1 kg–1 (Table 2), near or above the adequate range in Maine (Yarborough et al., 1993). The lower boundary of 60 mg PBray1 kg–1 for high soil P test was computed as 0.024 as a (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio using Eq. [1]. Hence, little or no crop response to added P was expected in our soils.

Berry yields were highest in 2001 (Table 3), when temperature was warmest and precipitation lowest during May and June (Table 1). There was a crop failure at Site CA02 in 2003 due to bud asphyxia caused by prolonged flooding during the preceding fall. Average annual yields at each site were confounded with possible crop cycles of higher followed by lower or stable yields. Definite biennial bearing was observed at two sites, but other sites also showed years of significantly higher and lower yields (Table 3). Site effect was significant across years (P < 0.01; CV = 16.1%) with yield from 20 to 32 Mg ha–1 but fertilizer P effect on yield was not significant (P = 0.22; Table 4). Hence, cranberry crops were not responsive to added P across soils, and all soils can be considered as high-P soils as expected.


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  		Table 3. Yearly variations in cranberry yield and the P/(Al+Fe) molar ratio by the Mehlich-III test at the five experimental sites (year x site effect highly significant, P < 0.01).

 

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  		Table 4. Cranberry yield (4-yr average) at P treatments of 0, 13, 26, and 39 kg P ha–1 and the P/(Al+Fe) molar ratio by the Mehlich-III test at the five experimental sites.

 
With the average concentration in fresh fruits at 0.89 g kg–1 moisture content of 113 mg P kg–1 in control plots and 120 mg P kg–1 in P-treated plots, a cranberry harvest of 20 to 30 Mg ha–1 would remove 2.4 to 3.6 kg P ha–1 yr–1 from the field. The annual P uptake by cranberry plants is ~10 kg P ha–1 yr–1 (Roper, 2001). Thus, approximately 7 kg P ha–1 yr–1 could accumulate each year in plant tissues, mitigating the effect of added P. The P taken up by biomass remaining in the field could become environmentally at risk in the long run as fallen leaves and other dead tissues accumulate and break down in the soil. Such processes combined with the annual P budget (added P minus removed P) must be commensurate with the DPS of added sand and the amount applied to control the environmental risk of P. More studies are needed to clarify this point.

Crop Phosphorus Application to Reach Selected Critical Tissue Phosphorus Concentration Values
Compared with published sufficiency ranges (Davenport et al., 1995), tissue nutrient concentrations in the study plots appeared to be sufficient, except for N and Ca (Table 5); however, N and Ca were within the adequate range proposed by DeMoranville and Deubert (1986). There were significant effects of site (P < 0.01) and P treatment (P < 0.01) on tissue P concentration across seasons (CV = 7.4%). Since the year x P treatment effect on tissue P concentration was not significant between 2001 and 2002, tissue P response to P addition was averaged across years (Table 6). The effect of P additions on tissue P was significantly linear (P < 0.05) at most sites (Table 6). No critical tissue P concentration could be derived from this study since added P did not influence berry yield significantly, although concentrations varied between 0.90 and 1.43 g P kg–1 (Table 6). In comparison, DeMoranville and Davenport (1997) found several significant berry yield responses to added P (9.5–19.5 kg P ha–1 yr–1) while shoot P varied inconsistently between 0.71 and 0.98 g P kg–1 at two sites. At a third site, there was a significant yield response to the first dose (22.5 kg P ha–1 yr–1) while shoot P increased from 1.23 (control) to 1.52 (67 kg P ha–1 yr–1) g P kg–1. During the tissue sampling period (August–September), tissue P levels were found to vary from 0.5 to 1.4 g P kg–1 in two Massachusetts sandy soils (DeMoranville and Deubert, 1986) and from 1.0 to 1.5 g P kg–1 in four Oregon bogs (Chaplin and Martin, 1979), with seasonal and yearly patterns. Indeed, plants adapted to low-nutrient habitats like cranberry exhibit luxury consumption and high tissue concentration in response to seasonal pulses of nutrient availability (Chapin, 1989).


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  		Table 5. Average tissue nutrient concentrations at the five sites in 2001 and 2002 compared with the critical range of Davenport et al. (1995).

 

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  		Table 6. Influence of P treatments (0, 13, 26, and 39 kg P ha–1) on P concentration in cranberry leaves collected between mid-August and mid-September 2001 and 2002.

 
Discrepancies between tissue P and yield patterns in the literature compared with our study may be explained by differences in pulses of P uptake by the crop vs. seasonal physiological needs, since the transfer of P in soil–plant systems involves P release into the soil solution, diffusion to the root surface, uptake by the root, storage in the plant, and translocation within the plant to meet the seasonal P demand. The P renewal rate in soil solution depends on P diffusion (Barber, 1995). Hira and Singh (1977) found that the P diffusion volume in soils increased with bulk density (Db), with a maximum at 1.60 g mL–1. On the other hand, maximum diffusion of 36Cl occurred at moisture contents of 0.15 to 0.18 m3 m–3 and 0.18 to 0.25 m3 m–3 in a clay loam and a sandy loam, respectively, with Db of 1.25 g mL–1 (Hira and Singh, 1978). Similar molecular diffusion coefficients were obtained by Riga and Carpentier (1998) for a fine sand (Db = 1.68 g mL–1) and a loam (Db = 1.52 g mL–1) with a moisture content of 0.25 m3 m–3, compared with a peat–perlite mixture with a Db of 0.15 g mL–1 and a moisture content of 0.37 m3 m–3. Since seasonal P acquisition by cranberry must be highly sensitive to soil moisture status, tissue P must depend on site conditions before sampling time, possibly causing erratic results under field conditions.

Tissue analysis could be useful if the P dose is closely related to tissue P analysis. In this study, added P increased tissue P linearly in soils showing (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratios of 0.024 to 0.044 (Table 6) but no critical P level could be defined. Since mean tissue P concentrations were not significantly different among lower P sites (CA07, CA11, and CA27) or higher P sites (CA02 and CA06), they were averaged within soil categories in subsequent calculations. For the three lower P sites, ranging from 0.024 to 0.044, the relationship between tissue P (g P kg–1) and added P (mg P kg–1) was as follows in the range from 0.9 to 1.2 g P kg–1 (R2 = 0.99):

Formula 2[2]
At sites with soil testing 0.069 and 0.094, tissue P concentrations in control and P-treated plots were >1.0 g P kg–1, a critical P level proposed by Davenport et al. (1995). Using Eq. [2], the P addition to reach 1.0 g P kg–1 was computed to be 12 kg P ha–1, close to P removal (Roper, 2001). The P required was 29 kg P ha–1 to reach 1.1 g P kg–1, the upper limit of the "hidden hunger" zone for shoot growth proposed by Greidanus and Dana (1972). At the lower end of the sufficiency range defined by Greidanus and Dana (1972) for shoot growth (1.2 g P kg–1), the P requirement would be 47 kg P ha–1, a large amount. Thus, the P requirement increased rapidly with tissue P target for cranberry growing in 0.024 to 0.044 soils and could result in unnecessarily building soil P saturation and enhancing environmental risk in the long run. The P fertilization, however, should also take into account the sanding operation and P removal by the crop.


   CONCLUSIONS
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
 CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES
 
The (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio was closely related to PW and PBray1 in Quebec cranberry soils. A provisional environmental threshold was close to 0.11 as a (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio, but this needs further investigation. The slope of the relationship between the (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio and PBray1 was close to one, similar to most mineral soils in North America, but lower than the 1.5 to 2.2 range found in volcanic ash soils and some cranberry soils high in Fe and C. There was no significant response to added P in this study; hence, no critical (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio could be defined in the range of a 0.024 to 0.094 (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio or 60 to 235 mg PBray1 kg–1. No critical shoot P values were obtained in the range of 0.9 to 1.4 g P kg–1 for tissues sampled from mid-August to mid-September. The lowest soil P test was at the generally recognized lower end of high-PBray1 soils in North America, and the lower shoot P level was comparable to shoot levels where no visible symptoms were observed in past studies on sandy soils. An experiment must thus be conducted for a longer period of time to derive a critical value of shoot P for cranberry growing in acid sandy soils. The P fertilization based on tissue testing alone was found to be very sensitive to the tissue P concentration target. Tissue testing, however, was found to be not particularly informative for the P dosage across cranberry soils since there are still many discrepancies in the literature, probably involving soil moisture and C contents and various forms of oxalate-extractable Al and Fe. This study showed that cranberry can be grown successfully with no P addition at (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratios down to 0.024 and tissue P uptake down to 0.9 g P kg–1. The (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio could be used interchangeably with PBray1 in Quebec sand-grown cranberry crops but the provisionary environmental threshold must be ascertained from drainage water monitoring. The (P/[Al+Fe])M-III molar ratio should be further investigated as an agronomic and environmental index across a larger spectrum of cranberry soils and moisture conditions, particularly in soils of higher organic matter and Al and Fe oxyhydroxide contents.


   ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 
We thank the Coopérative Fédérée de Québec, the SCA des Bois-Francs (Victoriaville, QC), the SCA Profit D'Or, the SCA de Parisville (QC), the SCA des Appalaches (Laurierville, QC), the Club Environnemental et Technique Atocas Québec (Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, QC), the Cranberry Institute (East Warehamm, MA), and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (OGP #2254) for financial support. Thanks are extended to J. Painchaud from the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and to collaborative farmers.

Received for publication May 20, 2005.


   REFERENCES
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
 CONCLUSIONS
 REFERENCES
 




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