Understanding interactions between C and Pat the microscale in Amazonian Dark Earths

Phosphorus (P) is essential for all organisms, yet in many tropical soils P is often both, present only in low concentrations and strongly bound to the soil’s mineral phase. Thereby plant growth and ecosystem productivity is often limited by P in tropical ecosystems. Amazonian Dark Earths (ADE) are an exception to this general rule by its significantly higher concentrations of bioavailable P. In this project, we aim to resolve the microscale heterogeneous spatial distribution of bioavailable P forms in ADE and whether these are co- localized and potentially mediated by soil organic matter. To unravel this relation, we aim to correlate synchrotron SXM and NanoSIMS analyses.