We have investigated the pools and distributions of soil phosphorus (P) in the top 50 cm of soil in China by using a combination of total and available P information from more than 2400 soil profiles and a map of soil types at a resolution of 1:1,000,000. Our estimates indicate that the average total P density and available P density in China are about 8.3 × 102 g/m3 and 5.4 g/m3, respectively. The total national soil P pool in the surface half meter is 3.5 Pg (1015 g). The available P density ranges from 0.7 g/m3 in the Lithosols to 16.7 g/m3 in the Irrigated Silting Soils. The total P density ranges from 1.2 × 102 g/m3 in the Lithosols to 19 × 102 g/m3 in the Frigid Desert Soils. The ratio of available P to total P density ranges from 0.6 × 10−3 in Aeolian Soils to 21.6 × 10−3 in Coastal Solonchaks. The available P content and its vertical distribution show a complex pattern among soil orders of different development stages, possibly indicating the important role of biota’s control over soil available P content. There are large variations of P content in different climatic regions. The tropical and subtropical region has the lowest available P density (4.8 g/m3) and the second lowest total P density (8.2 × 102 g/m3) among all climatic regions. The large variation in the soil P content suggests that further study is needed to investigate climatic and land-use controls over the soil P content.

H.Q. Tian, J. Liu, S. Wang, M. Liu, S. Pan and X. Shi. 2005.Pools and distributions of soil phosphorus in China.Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 19, GB1020, doi:10.1029/2004GB002296.