# Phosphorus Distribution in Soils from Australian Dairy and Beef Rearing Pastoral Systems
## 3 Results  
The physical characteristics of the sampled sites and fertiliser application are summarised in Table 1. Evidently, the sampled sites in the Warragul area were much higher in elevation than those in the Maffra area. Also, the fertiliser applications for most of the sites in Warragul area were generally higher than those in the Maffra area. The results obtained for various soil properties for the selected sites are given in Table 2. Dual pH measurements were conducted on all soil samples, one using deionised water (pH\({}_{\text{W}}\)) and the other with calcium chloride (pH\({}_{\text{Ca}}\)) as extractants. Of these, the (pH\({}_{\text{Ca}}\)) test is more accurate, as it is more directly related to the pH a plant is exposed to in the soil. In general, (pH\({}_{\text{W}}\)) is usually about 0.5-0.9 higher than (pH\({}_{\text{Ca}}\)). The soil pH measurements of the samples obtained from the Warragul area were: pH\({}_{\text{W}}\) 5.0 to 5.6 (average 5.3) and for pH\({}_{\text{Ca}}\) 4.1 to 4.9 (average 4.6). These were only slightly higher for soil samples obtained from the Maffra area with pH\({}_{\text{W}}\) 4.9 to 6.2 (average 5.7) and pH\({}_{\text{Ca}}\) 4.5 to 5.6 (average 5.2). The electrical conductivity, water extractable P and calcium chloride extractable P obtained for soil samples from the sites in the Maffra area were higher than those from the Warragul area. In contrast, the Colwell P obtained for sites in the Warragul area were higher than those from the Maffra area. As evident in the results in Table 3, the total P concentrations ranged between 1779 and 3009 mg P kg\({}^{-1}\) for the classified soil from sites (W1-W6) in the Warragul area and ranged between  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Sampling** & **Measured Parameters** & **Site W1** & **Site W2** & **Site W3** & **Site W4** & **Site W5** & **Site W6** & **Site W7** \\ \hline \multirow{6}{*}{Warragul Area} & Estimated Slope & \multirow{2}{*}{\(<\)1.0} & \multirow{2}{*}{2.9} & \multirow{2}{*}{11.7} & \multirow{2}{*}{9.2} & \multirow{2}{*}{11.7} & \multirow{2}{*}{\(<\)1.0} & \multirow{2}{*}{4.0} \\  & (m 100 m\({}^{-1}\)) 1 [FOOTNOTE:1]Footnote 1: Estimated slope: Calculated as metres (m) fall over a 100 m area. Measured accounting for the sampling area; 2 Elevation above sea level; 3 Estimated soil description; GCLD = Grey clay loam Dermossol, RCLF = Red clay loam Ferrorool, GSLD = Grey sandy loam Dermossol, GRCLS = Grey/red clay loam Sodosol, GRCLS = Grey/yellow clay loam Sodosol, GRCLS = grey clay loam Sodosol,  
1447 and 2381 mg P kg\({}^{-1}\) for the sites in Maffra area. This is somewhat reflective of the higher fertiliser application in the Warragul area. The total P concentrations obtained with the NaOH-EDTA extracts indicate that between 71.6% and 90.5% of the soil P was extracted. The proportion of P extracted with NaOH-EDTA varied with soil type, and ranged from 85.9% to 90.5% for Dermosols (not including the unclassified site W7), 71.6% to 81.3% for Sodosols and 73.3% to 77.3% for Ferrosols. Organic P (the combination of monoester P and diester P) represented between 21.3% and 50.2% (sites W3 and M4) of total extract P (Table 4). More specifically, the organic P in the Dermosols, Ferrosols and Sodosols ranged from 30.7% to 32.9%, 21.3% to 31.1% and 23.5% to 50.2%, respectively. It is important to note that the extractable organic P obtained for Dermosols and Ferrosols were in reasonable agreement with the range of 20% to 30% obtained by [PERSON] [45]. In contrast, the Sodosols gave much wider range of extractable organic P of 23.5%-50.2%, but the recoveries obtained (23.5%-31.6%) for soils collected from three of these sites (M1, M2 and M7) were also close to the range reported by [PERSON] [46].