Surface-layer samples (0 to 20 cm) of eleven lowland soils from different regions of Minas Gerais, Brazil, were used to quantify phosphorus adsorption in soils of drained lowland areas, originally under alternate wetting and drying cycles, as well as to verify the influence of some soil attributes on this adsorption. Air-dried samples (2 g) of the soil fraction smaller than 2 mm were shaken during 12 hours, with 40 mL of 0.01 mol L-1 CaCl2 solutions containing 0, 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg L-1 of P. Phosphorus was quantified in the supernatant in order to determine phosphorus adsorption. A new period of 12-hour shaking with 0.01 mol L-1 CaCl2 was performed to determine P desorption. The adsorption values were adjusted to the Langmuir isotherm to estimate the maximum phosphorus adsorption capacity (MPAC). The phosphorus buffer index (PBI) was estimated by using the b1 coefficient of the 2nd degree equations adjusted between adsorbed and desorbed P at different concentrations of added P. The observed values for MPAC ranged from 476 to 3,961 mg kg-1 of P soil, and PBI ranged from 4.3 to 129. Eight soils presented very high (> 1.000 mg kg-1) phosphorus adsorption capacity. The values of MPAC were directly correlated with the Fe o/Fe d ratio, soil organic matter, and potential acidity and inversely correlated with Fe d and base saturation. The values of PBI correlated positively with potential acidity and negatively with base saturation. This study showed that: (a) soils of drained lowland areas might exhibit a great phosphorus adsorption capacity, with most of the soils from this experiment presenting a high (500 a 1.000 mg kg-1) and very high (> 1.000 mg kg-1) value of phosphorus maximum adsorption capacity; (b) lowland soils that present high phosphorus maximum adsorption capacity and phosphorus buffer index desorb less P (on a fractional basis) to soil solution; (c) potential soil acidity is the attribute that best correlates with phosphorus maximum adsorption capacity and phosphorus buffer index in the studied lowland soils.
maximum phosphorus adsorption capacity; desorption; phosphorus buffer index; drained lowland areas