Soil & Tillage Research 96 (2007) 166–173

www.elsevier.com/locate/still

Soil micronutrient availability to crops as affected by

long-term inorganic and organic fertilizer applications
B.Y. Li a,b, D.M. Zhou a,*, L. Cang a, H.L. Zhang c, X.H. Fan a, S.W. Qin a
a
State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
b
Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
c
Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
Received 24 October 2006; received in revised form 9 April 2007; accepted 12 May 2007

Abstract
Micronutrient status in soils and crops can be affected by different fertilization practices during a long-term field experiment.
This paper investigated the effects of different fertilization treatments on total and DTPA-extractable micronutrients in soils and
micronutrients in crops after 16 year fertilization experiments in Fengqiu County, Henan Province, China. The treatments of the
long-term experiment included combinations of various rates of N, P and K in addition to two rates of organic fertilizer (OF)
treatments. Winter wheat and summer maize were planted annually. Soil macro- and micronutrients along with pH and organic
matter (OM) were analyzed. Grains and above ground parts of both crops in the final year were harvested and analyzed for Cu, Zn,
Fe and Mn. The results showed that soil Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn concentrations did not change among the different treatments to a
significant level, except for a slight decrease of soil Zn in the CK (no fertilizer application) compared to the OF treatment. The
DTPA-extractable soil Zn, Fe and Mn concentrations increased from 0.41 to 1.08 mg kg1, from 10.3 to 17.7 mg kg1, and from 9.7
to 11.8 mg kg1, respectively, with increasing soil OM content, thus showing the importance of soil OM in micronutrient
availability for crops. The NPK treatment also had higher DTPA-extractable micronutrient concentrations in soil. Deficiency of N or
P resulted in a low yield but high micronutrient concentrations in crops except Cu in maize stalks. Higher available soil P
significantly decreased crop micronutrients, possibly because of their precipitation as metal phosphates. Maize stalks contained
higher concentrations of micronutrients than those of wheat straw, whereas wheat grain had higher micronutrients than those of corn
grain. The transfer coefficients (TCs) of micronutrients from straw to grain were significantly different between winter wheat (1.63–
2.52 for Cu; 2.31–3.82 for Zn; no change for Fe; 0.55–0.84 for Mn) and summer maize (0.24–0.50 for Cu; 0.50–1.21 for Zn; 0.02–
0.04 for Fe; 0.07–0.10 for Mn). In conclusion, application of organic matter significantly increased the DTPA-extractable
concentrations of Zn, Fe and Mn compared to the CK, grain and vegetative tissue in the CK and NK had higher micronutrient
concentrations than those in other treatments.
# 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Long-term fertilization experiment; Soil; Micronutrient; Aquic inceptisol

1. Introduction

The availability of micronutrients in the soil can

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 25 86881180;
fax: +86 25 86881000.
E-mail address: dmzhou@issas.ac.cn (D.M. Zhou).
strongly affect the production and quality of crops. As a
result of the change of basic soil characteristics, such as
pH, organic matter (OM), and nutrients in response to
long-term fertilization field experiments, status and

0167-1987/$ – see front matter # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.still.2007.05.005
 B.Y. Li et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 96 (2007) 166–173
behaviors of micronutrients in soil and crop vary with
different fertilization practices. For instance, available
Zn and Cu levels in cropped treatments were lower than
the fallow treatment, probably due to the removal of
these micronutrients from soil through crop uptake and
harvest. In contrast, available Mn and Fe levels were
higher in cropped treatments compared to the fallow
treatment (Wei et al., 2006). Soil OM exerts a significant
and direct impact on the availability of Zn, Fe and Mn
but has little influence on the availability of soil Cu
(Zhang et al., 2001). In addition, the interaction of other
soil macronutrients and micronutrients also affected
micronutrients uptake by crops (Aulakh and Malhi,
2005).
Different fertilization treatments of a long-term
field experiment can cause soil macronutrients and
their available concentrations to change, which in turn
affects soil micronutrient levels. For example,
excessive application of P inhibited the transfer of
soil Zn and resulted in shortage of Zn in maize, due to
possible precipitation of Zn3(PO4)2. However, when
applied P to soil was at a suitable level, it significantly
reduced the content of carbonate-, organic- and Fe
oxide-bound soil Zn, and increased the content of
exchangeable and amorphous iron oxide-bound soil
Zn, similar to soil Mn (Shuman, 1988; Kaushik et al.,
1993). The effects of soil P on soil micronutrients are
also related to soil water content. Under field
conditions, application of P generally decreased
water-soluble and extractable soil Zn (Agbenin,
1998; Bierman and Rosen, 1994).
Application of appropriate rates of N, P and K
fertilizers can increase soil Cu, Zn and Mn availabilities
and the concentrations of Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn in wheat
(Zhang et al., 2004). Rice Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Mg and Ca
concentrations initially increased and then decreased as
applied N dose continued to increase. Shortage of
fertilizer K increased rice Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn
concentrations (Cheng, 1995; E et al., 2005).
Micronutrients Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn in grain directly
affect food quality and are closely related to human and
livestock nutrition. Deficiency of micronutrients will
result in anaemia, decreased immunity, slow growth,
and nyctalopia. However, little attention has been paid
to micronutrients in response to different fertilization
practices, and how soil fertility impacts on the uptake of
micronutrients from soil and their transfer from tissues
to grains are not well documented. The objectives of
this paper are to (1) study the changes of basic soil
characteristics and micronutrient concentrations in
grain and vegetable tissues of wheat and maize in a
long-term fertilization field experiment, and (2)
167
investigate the transfer of micronutrients from soil to
crop tissues and then to grains as affected by fertilizer
treatments.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Soil and plant sampling
Surface soil samples (0–20 cm) were collected on
September 10, 2005 following the harvest of maize
from a long-term fertilization field experiment, which
was established in Fengqiu County, Henan Province,
China (358000 N, 1148240 E) in September, 1989 by the
Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, to study the influence of the long-term
application of different chemical fertilizers, organic
fertilizers and their combination on crop yields and soil
properties. The soil, classified as aquic inceptisol, had a
sandy loam texture and an average pH of 8.65. At the
beginning of the experiment, the soil contained 0.58%
organic C, 0.045% total N, 0.05% total P, and 1.86%
total K.
Seven treatments, including organic fertilizer (OF),
half-organic fertilizer plus half-fertilizer N (1/2OFN),
fertilizer NPK (NPK), fertilizer NP (NP), fertilizer NK
(NK), fertilizer PK (PK) and no applied fertilizer (CK),
were laid out in a randomized block design with four
replications. The size of each plot was 9.5 m  5 m.
The amounts of N, P and K applied were 150 kg N ha1,
75 kg P2O5 ha1, and 150 kg K2O ha1, respectively,
for wheat and 200, 75, and 150 kg ha1 for maize
annually. All P (superphosphate), K (K2SO4) and
organic fertilizers were applied as basal fertilizers,
whereas N (urea) was applied in half as basal fertilizer
and the rest as topdress.
Wheat straw, oil cake and cotton cake were composted
and used as organic fertilizer at 9400 kg ha1 annually,
and the contents of N, P and K in the compost were 1.60,
0.52 and 0.69%, respectively. Supplemental P and K were
added to the OF treatments and mixed thoroughly if the
compost did not contain enough to match other P and K
treatments.
Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and summer
maize (Zea mays L.) were planted each year. The mean
annual temperature was 13.9 8C, and the lowest and
highest mean monthly values were 1.0 8C in January
and 27.2 8C in July. The average annual precipitation
per year was 605 mm (Meng et al., 2005). Generally,
winter wheat was irrigated at 900 m3 ha1 water in the
elongating and flowering stages, and summer maize was
irrigated at 1200 m3 ha1 water in the stem extension
and flowering stages.
168 B.Y. Li et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 96 (2007) 166–173

The 2004–2005 winter wheat and 2005 corn
above ground plant tissues and grains were sampled
to evaluate micronutrient transfer from soils to
crops.
2.2. Sample analysis
Soil samples were air-dried, and ground to pass
through a 2 mm sieve for the analysis of soil pH, soil
OM, available soil N, P and exchangeable K. Part of
each soil sample was ground to pass through a 100 mesh
sieve for the analysis of soil total Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn
concentrations.
Soil pH was determined with a pH electrode at a soil
to water ratio of 1:2.5 (Lu, 1999). Soil OM was analyzed
using the Walkley–Black method (Walkley and Black,
1934). Available N, P and exchangeable K were
analyzed by extracting 5.0 g soil with 50 mL 2 M
KCl, 100 mL 0.5 M NaHCO3, and 50 mL 1.0 M
NH4OAc, respectively (Page et al., 1982).
DTPA-extractable soil Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn (DTPA-
Cu, or -Zn, -Fe, -Mn) were obtained by extracting 10 g
soil (<2 mm) with 20 mL 0.005 M DTPA + 0.01 M
CaCl2 + 0.1 M TEA (triethanolamine) solution
(Lindsay and Norvell, 1978). After 2 h continuous
shaking at room temperature, the soil suspension
was centrifuged and filtered through a 0.45 mm
membrane. Copper, Zn, Fe and Mn in the extract
were analyzed with an Atomic Absorption Spectro-
meter (AAS).
Soil total Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn were analyzed by
digesting 0.1 g soil with HClO4-HNO3-HF (Agemian
and Chau, 1976; Tessier et al., 1979). The digested
solution was washed to a flask, and de-ionized water
was added to a fixed volume. Plant materials were
collected, ground, and digested with HClO4-HNO3
(Amacher, 1996). The digested solutions were
analyzed with AAS for metals. Both reference
samples of soil and plant were used as quality control
checks.
2.3. Data statistical analysis
Data analysis was performed with SPSS (Version
10.0) statistical software (Statistical Graphics Corp.,
Princeton, NJ). Data on soil available N, P, K, and yield
of individual crop were compared at a significance level
of 0.05. The same letter in each column in the tables
represents no significant difference among the treat-
ments.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Effects of long-term fertilization treatments on
soil micronutrient status
Table 1 shows total and DTPA-extractable micro-
nutrient concentrations in soils with different long-term
fertility treatments. Soil Cu, Zn, Fe or Mn concentra-
tions did not show significant difference among the
different treatments except for a significant difference
of total soil Zn between the OF treatment and the
control, suggesting the influence of crop uptake of
these micronutrients to be small in comparison to the
total soil micronutrient content. For instance, only
120 g Cu ha1 year1 and 330 g Zn ha1 year1 were
taken up by wheat and maize in the NPK treatment.
Furthermore, these micronutrients can be supplied from
irrigation, air deposition, and possibly through applied
fertilizers.
After 16 years, soil pH varied only slightly from 8.3
to 8.5 among the treatments. The soil pH values in the
CK, NK and PK treatments were slightly higher than
those in other treatments. It is ascribed that this soil is
alkaline with a strong pH buffer capacity. However, the
results from a similar study on a red soil (Ultisol) were
different from this study, especially for fertilizer N
treatment having a decreased soil pH (Fang et al., 2005).
Pernes-Debuysera and Tessier (2004) also reported that
the use of ammoniacal fertilizers strongly decreased soil
pH and cation exchange capacity. Soil organic matter

Table 1
Soil pH, organic matter (OM), total and DTPA-extractable micronutrient concentrations after 16 year organic and inorganic fertilization
Treatments pH OM (%) Total Cu DTPA-Cu Total Zn DTPA-Zn Soil Fe DTPA-Fe Total Mn DTPA-Mn
(mg kg1) (mg kg1) (mg kg1) (mg kg1) (mg kg1) (mg kg1) (mg kg1) (mg kg1)
CK 8.54a 0.658e 14.2a 1.26ab 49.4b 0.52dc 24195a 10.3d 520a 10.0b
NK 8.52ab 0.646e 14.3a 1.25ab 50.2ab 0.58c 24531a 11.1d 530a 9.7b
PK 8.48abc 0.753d 14.6a 1.34a 50.8ab 0.61c 24634a 15.2bc 537a 10.1b
NP 8.45bc 0.864c 14.2a 1.22b 49.8ab 0.41d 24250a 14.3c 528a 10.0b
NPK 8.42d 0.909c 14.4a 1.33ab 50.8ab 0.50cd 24928a 16.0abc 545a 11.0ab
1/2OFN 8.43d 1.104b 14.4a 1.31ab 50.9ab 0.83b 24068a 17.5ab 522a 11.1ab
OF 8.30e 1.377a 14.7a 1.30ab 52.2a 1.08a 24483a 17.7a 526a 11.8a
 B.Y. Li et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 96 (2007) 166–173 169

content changed significantly in an increasing order of

CK  NK < PK < NP < NPK < 1/2OFN < OF.
Application of organic fertilizer significantly increased
soil organic matter content, whilst deficiency of
fertilizer N and/or P inhibited the accumulation of soil
organic matter as a result of low biomass, which is
consistent with Yin et al. (2005).
DTPA-Cu did not show significant change among the
different treatments except the NP treatment had a
higher Cu concentration than the PK treatment. In
comparison to the critical value of 0.2 mg kg1 below Fig. 1. Yields of wheat and corn under different treatments of a long-
which plants are likely to suffer from Cu deficiency term fertilization experiment (CK: control; N, P, K: nitrogen, phos-
phorus and potassium, respectively; OF: organic fertilizer, 1/2OFN:
(Viets and Lindsay, 1973; Lindsay and Norvell, 1978),
half of the OF and N).
the DTPA-Cu is still higher than the adequacy level after
16 year at this field experiment. Application of organic 1982). Therefore, these plots had adequate but not
fertilizer increased soil organic matter content, but did excessive Mn.
not significantly increase DTPA-Cu. This is consistent
with previously reported results (Zhang et al., 2001). 3.2. Effect of long-term fertilization treatments on
DTPA-Zn concentrations varied greatly amongst the crop production in 2004–2005
different treatments. Application of organic materials
significantly increased DTPA-Zn concentration. Both Fig. 1 shows the effect of long-term fertilization
the CK and NPK treatments had DTPA-Zn concentra- treatments on wheat and maize production in 2004–2005.
tions near the critical value of 0.5 mg kg1 (Silanpaa, The yields of wheat or maize in the CK, NK and PK
1982). For the NP treatment, the DTPA-Zn was lower treatments were lower than that in the NP, NPK, 1/2OFN
than the critical value, possibly due to Zn precipitation and OF treatments. Yields with the NP and NPK
by high concentrations of available soil P (Robson and treatments were similar after 16 year, suggesting that the
Pitman, 1983). soil had adequate K supply. The exchangeable soil K only
DTPA-Fe concentrations were higher for the 1/ decreased with time at a rate of 0.3 mg kg1 year1.
2OFN, OF and NPK treatments than the others, due Therefore, there should be no K deficiency of this site for
probably to high concentrations of soil OM. For all a long time.
treatments, extractable Fe levels were above the Lack of available soil N or P supplies severely
proposed critical levels of 0.3–10 mg kg1 (Lindsay affected crop yields (Fig. 1, CK, NK and PK). As for the
and Cox, 1985) and hence adequate for both wheat and OF treatment, the wheat production was lower than the
corn grown in the soil. NP, NPK and 1/2OFN treatments, due probably to
The OF treatment had a higher concentration of inadequate N supply from the organic materials applied.
DTPA-Mn than the other treatments. This may also due
to the higher organic matter content in the OF treated 3.3. Micronutrients in wheat straw and grain
plots. The suggested deficiency level for Mn (DTPA) in
the soil varied from 2.0 to 5.0 mg kg1, with values The Cu concentrations in wheat straw were 3.28 and
>140–200 mg kg1 regarded as excess (Silanpaa, 3.95 mg kg1 in the NK an NP treatments, respectively,
Table 2
Concentrations of Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn (mg kg1) in wheat straws and grain
Treatments Wheat straw Wheat grain
Cu Zn Fe Mn Cu Zn Fe Mn
CK 2.62bc 15.5b 473ab 26.0bc 6.57a 42.8b 39.1ab 18.8a
NK 3.95a 25.6a 547a 28.3bc 6.33a 61.0a 44.2a 18.5a
PK 2.53bc 12.0c 505a 35.3a 4.87b 34.2cd 37.4ab 21.2a
NP 3.28ab 7.16e 352bc 36.9a 6.73a 21.5d 37.2ab 20.1a
NPK 2.43c 6.31e 348bc 31.5ab 5.09b 20.2d 31.4bc 21.7a
1/2OFN 2.26c 6.97e 310c 28.6bc 4.80b 24.0d 27.2c 20.7a
OF 2.61bc 9.67d 344bc 23.9c 4.84b 37.1bc 25.8c 20.0a
170 B.Y. Li et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 96 (2007) 166–173

The differences of wheat grain Mn concentrations

with different treatments were not significant. But,
wheat straw Mn concentrations of NP, PK and NPK
treatments were higher than that of other treatments.
The Mn requirement for the majority of the world’s crop
plants are satisfied at tissue levels of 20–40 mg kg1
(Hannam and Ohki, 1988; Reisenauer, 1988). Excess
Mn in crop plants would result in Mn toxicity and
reduce crop yield, whilst Mn deficiency can also
dramatically reduce crop yields. No indications of Mn
Fig. 2. Available soil N, P and K (0.1) concentrations in different
treatments.
deficiency or toxicity were observed in this study.

which were higher than the other treatments in the range
of 2.26–2.62 mg kg1 (Table 2). It suggests that the
deficiency of P or K significantly increased Cu uptake
by wheat plant. As for the 1/2OFN, OF and NPK
treatments, Cu concentrations in wheat grains varied
from 4.80 to 5.09 mg kg1 without significant differ-
ence. However, similar to the Cu concentration in wheat
straw, they were higher when soil available K or P was
deficient. As for the CK treatment, Cu concentration in
the wheat straw was low, but it was relatively high in the
wheat grain.
As shown in Fig. 1, wheat yields for the CK, NK and
PK treatments were lower than those in the NP, NPK,
1/2OFN and OF treatments. As a result, Zn concentra-
tions in wheat straw from CK, NK and PK (34.2–
61 mg kg1) were higher than those of NP, NPK,
1/2OFN and OF (6.31–9.67 mg kg1). It is clear that
macronutrient supply affects micronutrient uptake. The
PK and NK treatments possessed the highest and lowest
available soil P, respectively, as shown in Fig. 2. Similar
results were obtained in wheat grain.
The NPK, 1/2OFN and OF treatments had lower
concentrations of Fe in the wheat straw than that of CK,
NK, PK and NP. Similar results were observed for
wheat grain Fe. The Fe concentrations in the wheat
grain were lower than that in the wheat straw. Available
soil P concentration did not have significant effect on
the wheat grain Fe (Table 2).
3.4. Micronutrients in maize stalks and grain
Similar to Cu in wheat straw, lack of P or K resulted
in higher Cu concentrations in maize stalks for the NK
and NP treatments than those in the CK and PK
treatments (Table 3). However, high Cu was also
observed in the NPK, 1/2OFN and OF treatments,
suggesting higher uptake of micronutrients by maize
due to more balanced fertility. Temperature and
moisture are important factors affecting the availability
of micronutrients in soils. The availability of most soil
micronutrients tends to decrease at low temperatures
and moisture contents because of reduced root activity
and low rates of dissolution and diffusion of nutrients
(Cooper, 1973; Fageria et al., 1997, 2002). Copper
concentrations of maize grain amongst the different
treatments varied little in the range of 2.06–
2.77 mg kg1, suggesting that high concentrations of
Cu in maize stalks can satisfy the requirement of grain.
Except for CK, NK, and PK, other treatments had
almost the same Zn concentrations in maize stalks. The
Zn concentrations of maize grain in different treatments
varied in the range of 12.6–17.3 mg kg1. The
treatments with low yields had higher Zn concentration
in maize stalks and grain.
The Fe concentrations of maize stalks in all the
treatments did not show significant differences except
OF with higher Fe resulted from organic material

Table 3
Concentrations of Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn (mg kg1) in corn stalks and grain
Treatments Corn stalks Corn grain
Cu Zn Fe Mn Cu Zn Fe Mn
CK 4.97d 28.4b 703bc 35.8ab 2.49ab 16.2a 17.6ab 2.33c
NK 6.54c 34.5a 588bc 35.7ab 2.51ab 17.3a 20.1a 2.74abc
PK 4.02d 17.0c 771b 32.4bc 2.06b 16.4a 12.6b 2.48bc
NP 9.50a 11.5d 704bc 37.2a 2.77a 12.6b 21.4a 2.89ab
NPK 8.68ab 12.1d 679bc 35.4b 2.70ab 14.3ab 22.9a 3.05a
1/2OFN 7.99b 12.0d 490c 29.1c 2.17ab 14.4ab 17.3ab 2.85ab
OF 8.91ab 13.5d 1028a 38.7a 2.14b 14.7ab 18.2ab 2.94ab
 B.Y. Li et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 96 (2007) 166–173 171

addition and increased soil organic matter content. It is
ascribed to a higher available soil Fe in OF than other
treatments as a result of increasing soil OM content.
However, all treatments had almost the same Fe
concentration in maize grains except the PK treatment.
No significant differences were observed for the Mn
concentrations of maize stalks among the different
treatments. Except for CK and NPK, other five
treatments had almost the same Mn concentration in
the maize grains.
3.5. Transfer of micronutrients from soil to crops
Crop production for NP was higher in comparison to
other treatments deficient in soil N or P. However, a
deficiency of available soil K increased crop micro-
nutrient concentration. Similar results were reported by
others, e.g., Cheng (1995). Competitive uptake of
micronutrients by K+ was reduced and correspondingly
decreased their uptake by crops.
Generally, low yields resulted in high concentrations
of micronutrients, for wheat straws, which had a high
concentration of Cu in the NP, NPK, 1/2OF and OF
treatments, possibly because of strong photosynthesis
of maize grown in summer.

Copper, Zn, Fe and Mn are essential nutrients for
crop growth, and their plant availability affects the
transfer from soil to crop and also the crop yield and
quality. In view of the total micronutrients in soils, no
significant difference was observed among the different
treatments after the 16 year of this experiment (Table 1).
The DTPA-Cu and -Mn concentrations did not
significantly change among the different treatments,
but the DTPA-Zn and -Fe concentrations increased with
increasing soil OM content. After this 16 year
experiment with various fertilizer applications, some
soil properties (pH and OM) and also macronutrient
contents changed during this period.
Some primary conclusions can be drawn regarding
plant uptake of Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn. Due to the low
concentrations of available soil P in the NK treatment,
the concentrations of Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn in the crops
were higher. In contrast, while soil contained a high
concentration of available soil P in the PK treatment, the
concentrations of these micronutrients in the crops were
the lowest among all treatments. Available soil P
significantly reduced crop concentrations of soil
micronutrients (Cheng, 1997). High clay and P supply
and low soil temperatures are also known to promote Zn
deficiency (Marschner, 1985). But, the effect of soil P
on Mn uptake was not significant.
3.6. Transfer of Cu/Zn/Fe/Mn from plant tissues to
grain
Micronutrients in maize stalks were higher than
those in wheat straws, but the reverse was true for their
concentrations in grains. Water, light and temperature
were higher in the warm growth period of maize, which
resulted in a strong transpiration and more micronu-
trient uptake by crops. The transfer of micronutrient
from straw to grain is a slow process. Wheat grain took
up more micronutrients because of their long growth
period.
The transfer coefficients (TCs) of micronutrients
from straw to grain were calculated and shown in
Table 4. Due to the difference of soil macronutrient
levels, the TCs of micronutrients from crop straw to
grain varied. They were the lowest and highest in wheat
in the treatment NK and CK, respectively. The CK
treatment also had the highest TC for maize Cu, but the
OF treatment had the lowest TC of maize Cu.
The TCs of wheat Zn and maize Zn varied in the
range of 2.31–3.82 and 0.51–1.21, respectively. High
soil organic material content resulted in a high TC of
Zn, and inadequate fertilization status caused a low TC.
The TCs of crop Fe and Mn did not show significant
difference among the various treatments.

Table 4
Transfer coefficientsa of Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn from vegetative tissues to grain
Treatments Wheat Corn
Cu Zn Fe Mn Cu Zn Fe Mn
CK 2.52a 2.77bc 0.08a 0.73ab 0.50a 0.57c 0.03ab 0.07c
NK 1.63b 2.37c 0.08a 0.65bcd 0.38b 0.50c 0.04a 0.08bc
PK 2.06ab 2.31c 0.08a 0.60cd 0.52a 0.97b 0.02b 0.08b
NP 2.10ab 3.05abc 0.11a 0.55d 0.37b 1.11ab 0.03ab 0.08bc
NPK 2.10ab 3.21abc 0.10a 0.70bc 0.31bc 1.18ab 0.03a 0.09ab
1/2OFN 2.15ab 3.45ab 0.09a 0.72abc 0.33bc 1.21a 0.04a 0.10a
OF 1.90b 3.82a 0.08a 0.84a 0.24c 1.10ab 0.02b 0.08bc
a
Transfer coefficient = concentration in grain/concentration in straw.
172 B.Y. Li et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 96 (2007) 166–173
4. Conclusions
After 16 year of various fertilizer treatments,
concentrations of DTPA-extractable Cu, Fe and Mn
were not significantly different, while available soil Zn
was slightly higher in all treatments compared to the CK
treatment. The NP, NPK, 1/2OFN and OF treatments
had a high production and increased soil OM content,
which also increased the DTPA-extractable soil Zn and
Fe. Maintaining or increasing soil OM is very important
in providing available micronutrients for crop produc-
tion.
Low yields of both winter wheat and summer maize
resulted in high concentrations of micronutrients in the
plant tissues and grains. The concentrations of
micronutrients in soils or crops were strongly affected
by available soil P and K concentrations.
Acknowledgements
This work is financially supported by the CAS
Research Program on Soil Biosystems and Agro-
Product Safety (No. CXTD-Z2005-4-1) and the Knowl-
edge Innovative Program of Chinese Academy of
Sciences (KZCX2-YW-404).
References
Agbenin, J.Q., 1998. Phosphate-induced zinc retention in a tropical
semi-arid soil. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 49, 693–700.
Agemian, H., Chau, A.S.Y., 1976. Evaluation of extraction techniques
for the determination of metals in aquatic sediments. The Analyst
101, 761–767.
Amacher, M.C., 1996. Nickle, cadmium and lead. In: Sparks, D.L.,
Page, A.L., Helmke, P.A., Soltanpour, P.N., Tabatabai, M.A.,
Johnston, C.T., Summer, M.E. (Eds.), Methods of Soil Analysis,
Part 3, Chemical Methods. third ed. ASA, Madison, WI, pp. 739–
744.
Aulakh, M.S., Malhi, S.S., 2005. Interactions of nitrogen with other
nutrients and water: Effect on crop yield and quality, nutrient use
efficiency, carbon sequestration, and environmental pollution.
Adv. Agron. 86, 342–409.
Bierman, P.M., Rosen, C.J., 1994. Phosphate and trace metal avail-
ability from sewage-sludge incinerator ash. J. Environ. Qual. 23,
822–830.
Cheng, S.C., 1995. The effects of K supplement on the absorption and
distribution of Zn, Mn, Fe, and Cu in wheat. J. Anhui Agri. Univ.
22, 196–202 (in Chinese, with English abstract).
Cheng, S.Z., 1997. Effect of P-fertilization level on the content
distribution of Mo, Fe, in beer barley and on its yield and quality.
Acta Pedol. Sin. 34, 444–450 (in Chinese).
Cooper, A.J., 1973. Root Temperature and Plant Growth. Research
Review No. 4. Commonwealth Bureau of Horticultural and Plan-
tation Crops, East Maling, Madison, Kent, UK.
E, E.S., Yuan, J.C., Ding, Z.Y., Yao, F.J., Yu, X.P., Luo, F.X., 2005.
Effect of N, P, K fertilizers on Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Ca, Mg contents and
yields in rice. Chin. J. Rice Sci. 19, 434–440 (in Chinese, with
English abstract).
Fageria, N.K., Baligar, V.C., Clark, R.B., 2002. Micronutrients in crop
protection. Adv. Agron. 77, 185–268.
Fageria, N.K., Baligar, V.C., Jones, C.A., 1997. Growth and Mineral
Nutrition of Field Crops, second ed. Dekker, New York.
Fang, X.H., Sun, Y.H., Lin, D.X., Meng, A.M., Qin, S.W., 2005. The
characteristics of mineralization and nitrification in red soil and
calcareous soil from long term fertilization experiments. Chin. J.
Soil Sci. 36, 672–674 (in Chinese, with English abstract).
Hannam, R.J., Ohki, K., 1988. Detection of manganese deficiency and
toxicity in plants. In: Graham, R.D., Hannam, R.J., Uren, N.C.
(Eds.), Manganese in Soils and Plants. Kluwer Academic Publish-
ers, The Dordrecht, pp. 243–259.
Kaushik, R.D., Gupta, V.K., Singh, J.P., 1993. Distribution of zinc,
cadmium, and copper forms in soils as influenced by phosphorus
application. Arid Soil Res. Rehabil. 7, 163–171.
Lindsay, W.L., Cox, F.R., 1985. Micronutrient soil testing for the
tropics. In: Vlek, P.L.G. (Ed.), Macronutrients in Tropical Food
Crop Production. International Fertilizer Development Center,
Muscle Shaols,AL, pp. 169–200.
Lindsay, W.L., Norvell, W.A., 1978. Development of a DTPA soil test
for zinc, iron, manganese, and copper. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 42,
421–428.
Lu, R.K., 1999. Analytical Methods for Soil Agrochemistry. Chinese
Agriculture Science Press, Beijing, pp. 12–21 (in Chinese, with
English abstract).
Marschner, H., 1985. Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants. Academic
Press, San Diego,CA.
Meng, L., Ding, W.X., Cai, Z.C., 2005. Long-term application of
organic manure and nitrogen fertilizer on N2O emissions, soil
quality and crop production in a sandy loam soil. Soil Biol.
Biochem. 37, 2037–2045.
Page, A.L., Miller, R.H., Keeney, D.R., 1982. Methods of Soil
Analysis. Part 2, Chemical and Microbiological Properties, sec-
ond ed. Am. Soc. of Agron, Madison, Wisconsin.
Pernes-Debuysera, A., Tessier, D., 2004. Soil physical properties
affected by long-term fertilization. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 55, 505–
512.
Reisenauer, H.M., 1988. Determination of plant-available soil manga-
nese. In: Graham, R.D., Hannam, R.J., Uren, N.C. (Eds.), Man-
ganese in Soils and Plants. Kluwer Academic Publishers, The
Dordrecht, pp. 87–98.
Robson, A.D., Pitman, M.G., 1983. Interactions between nutrients in
higher plants. In: Lauchli, A., Bieleski, R.L. (Eds.), Encyclopedia
of Plant Physiology, New Series, vol. 15A. Springer-Verlag, New
York, pp. 147–180.
Shuman, L.M., 1988. Effect of phosphorus level on extractable
micronutrients and their distribution among soil fractions. Soil
Sci. Soc. Am. J. 52, 136–141.
Silanpaa, N., 1982. Micronutrients and Nutrient Status of Soils: A
Global Study. FAO Soil Bulletin. FAO, Rome, pp. 17–96.
Tessier, A., Campbell, P.G.C., Bisson, M., 1979. Sequential of extrac-
tion procedure for the speciation of particulate trace metals. Anal.
Chem. 51, 844–851.
Viets, F.G., Lindsay, W.L., 1973. Testing soils for zinc, copper,
manganese and iron. In: Walsh, L.M., Beaton, J. (Eds.), Soil
Testing and Plant Analysis. Soil Science Society of America,
Madison, pp. 153–172.
Wei, X.R., Hao, M.D., Shao, M.G., Gale, W.J., 2006. Changes in soil
properties and availability of soil micronutrients after 18 years of
cropping and fertilization. Soil Till. Res. 91, 120–130.
 B.Y. Li et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 96 (2007) 166–173 173

Walkley, A., Black, I.A., 1934. An examination of the Degtjareff
method for determining soil organic matter and a proposed
modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Sci. 37,
29–38.
Yin, Y.F., Cai, Z.C., Qin, S.W., 2005. Dynamics of fluvo-aquic soil
organic matter fractions under long-term fertilization. Chin. J.
Appl. Ecol. 16, 875–878 (in Chinese, with English abstract).
Zhang, R., Guo, Y.X., Nan, C.Q., 2004. Study of trace elements of
wheat grain in different fertilizer treatments. Acta Bot. Boreal.
Occident. Sin. 24, 125–129 (in Chinese, with English abstract).
Zhang, S.X., Wang, X.B., Jin, K., 2001. Effect of different N and P
levels on availability of zinc, copper, manganese and iron under
arid conditions. Plant Nutr. Fert. Sci. 7, 391–396 (in Chinese, with
English abstract).