Changes in land use systems alter the phosphorus nutrition and associated soil fertility status

Improved plant nutrition to get high productivity is under severe influence of human activities drastically impacting the soil-plant ecosystem. In the scenario of increased global socio-economic demand for food, the changes in land use systems to gain higher agricultural productivity are disrupting the soil properties as well as the associated soil services. This work investigated the impact of different land use systems on phosphorus (P) and associated soil nutrients including K, Ca and Mg across six different land use systems in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Phosphorous fractions were determined by the modified sequential extraction procedures and the concentration of nutrients was measured by double acid digestion. Results revealed the significant variations across different land use systems for P where different P fractions were found considerably varying in order of HCL>NaOH>NaHCO3 >H2 O extractable phosphorus. Interestingly, nutrients were found to be varying from thick forest to cultivated lands. Results demonstrate that the shift from the thick forests to thin forests or arable lands may increase the P losses and ultimately disturb the associated soil-plant nutrient status thus should remain intact to promote the plant productivity in a sustainable way.