Phosphorus Fixation in Mangrove Swamp Muds

Abstract

IT is generally accepted that much of the beneficial effect of phosphate applied to soils is due to fixation of aluminium. During a recent examination of mud from a mangrove swamp in Sierra Leone it was found that despite a high (5 per cent) dilute acid-extractable aluminium content, there was practically no aluminium-bound phosphorus. This was true even in cases where added calcium phosphate had been immobilized in the mud. This finding has led to a detailed investigation into the phosphorus relationships existing in the mud.