Distribution of Zinc in Selected Benchmark Soils of South Western Nigeria

The Understanding of the different fractions of Zinc in soils is important to effectively manage fertilizer resources due to the low availability of Zinc in the native soil worldwide. Bioavailability, uptake of Zinc by plant and its fractions depend largely on the soil parent material, the type of chemical transformation the soil has been expose to over times and some anthropogenic intervention. This study examined five different Zn pools.

The distribution of Zn in soil fractions was determined for seven selected soils of South Western Nigeria. A sequential batch extraction which had been modified was used to identify Zn fractions and were separated into: the extractable zinc (Ex-Zn), zinc associated with the carbonate (CO3-Zn), the organically bound zinc (Org-Zn), sesquioxide (Ox-Zn) and residual (Res-Zn) in each soil. Total Zn was estimated as a sum of all the pools.

Result showed that Zinc fractions in the soils were in this order: extractible pool (3.8%) < organic pool (13.6%) < carbonate pool (14.8%) < sesquioxide pool (22.8%) < residual pool (45.1%). The residual pool amounts for almost half of the zinc that made up the total zinc in the soil. The distribution of zinc into these pools were determined by selected physical and chemical properties of the soil; the pH, organic carbon, clay, CEC, and phosphorus. However, soil phosphorus and pH had the highest influence on the zinc in the experimental soils. The stable fraction that dominated the soil was evident in the low extractable Zn fractions in the soil. Which is an indication of the inherently low levels of the bioavailability of Zn in the selected soils used in this study.