The Fate of Phosphate Fertilisers in Soil

Phosphorus is thus naturally available in the soil. However, there isn't usually enough available for plants to grow well. Phosphorus levels are reduced by animals eating the plants then dying elsewhere so that the phosphorus is removed, and also by phosphorus being adsorbed into soil particles or washed away by excess rain. For this reason phosphate fertilisers are widely used. The ways in which this influences phosphate cycling in the soil are discussed in more detail in the following article.