Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Peer-reviewed

Sulfur's Long Game: 145 Years of Soil Sulfur Speciation in the World's Oldest Agricultural Experiments

Meghan Barnard, Brigid A. McKenna, Ram C. Dalal, S. P. McGrath, Zhe Weng, Jeremy Wykes, Peter M. Kopittke

Global Change Biology · 2025

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Summary

Sulfur (S) is an essential plant nutrient, but ongoing decreases in inorganic S inputs to soil continue to reduce S availability in agricultural soils globally. This study investigated long-term trends in soil S speciation after land use change and the application of different soil amendments using the world's longest-running agricultural experiments at the Rothamsted Research Centre, UK. Soil samples spanning 145 years were obtained from the Broadbalk Wheat Experiment (continuous cropping with different amendments) and two Wilderness sites, Broadbalk Wilderness and Geescroft Wilderness (cropping land left to rewild) and analysed using synchrotron-based x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. It was found that changes in S speciation were linked to changes in soil organi

Subject
Soil fertility & nutrient management
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
System type
Other
DOI
10.1111/gcb.70136
Catalogue ID
SNmoi1q5x4-mfxe1e
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