Relationships between Available and Exchangeable Potassium Content and Other Soil Properties

Canonical correlation analysis was applied to the study of interrelationships between two multivariate datasets, one consisting of available and exchangeable potassium content, and second consisting of pH, hydrolytic acidity, and content of exchangeable aluminum, calcium and magnesium, available phosphorus, and total nitrogen. An attempt has been made to provide an overall pattern of interrelationships among soil properties, critically examining the two forms of potassium: available and exchangeable. Soil is a very complex body, made of biotic and abiotic components. All these components remain in strict relationships between them. The plant-soil interaction must not be ignored, since the soil plays a multiple role in plant life, providing support, space, air, water, and nutrients to the roots. Within the last factor mentioned, nitrogen, phosposphorus, and potassium are most commonly applied with fertilizers. Although the potassium is not considered the most important yield-forming nutrient, its uptake by many plants is frequently greater than of nitrogen and phosphorus. Moreover, the effect of potassium on resistance of plants on stress factors, such as pathogens, pests, and draught, cannot be overestimated. Despite, frequently fertilizing with this nutrient is neglected in last years, and the balance of it becomes negative in many countries [2, 3, 10, 17]. There are some papers dealing with interrelationships between various forms of soil K [4, 7, 8, 11, 15]. In some papers, the relationships between selected forms of soil potassium and soil properties, such as granulometric composition, organic P O L I S H J O U R N A L O F S O I L S C I E N C E VOL. XXXVIII/2 2005 PL ISSN 0079-2985