Comparison of different phosphorous adsorption models in acid forest soils of Bityili (Southern – Cameroon) and their relationship with soil properties

Abstract

This study was designed to compare the phosphorous fixation capacity of three soils series named Tyele, Minkonmingon and Mekoto in the south region of Cameroon and to determine the soil properties that are the main predictors of the P activity of those soils. Five adsorption equations viz. Linear, Langmuir, Van Huay, Freundlich and Temkin were used to describe P adsorption processes. The results of the study showed that maximum adsorbed P of Minkonmingon, Tyele and Mekoto was 936.09, 311.15 and 823.37 mg kg ^-1 of soils respectively with the mean of 690.20 mg kg ^-1 of soils. By applying various models, P adsorption data revealed that for low concentration range, the Freundlich equation show a better fit followed by the Langmuir, Van Huay, Temkin and Linear equations. It can be thus concluded from the adsorption and Spearman correlation analysis that the soil of Minkonmingon has a greater capacity to fix P followed by those of Mekoto and Tyele respectively with silt, exchangeable acidity, free aluminum, potassium and soil organic carbon and pH KCl being the main predictors of P activity in these soils.

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Keywords: Phosphorous fixation, adsorption isotherms, soil characteristics, correlation, acid soils, Cameroon