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Phosphorus and Global Change

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Phosphorus in Action

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 26))

Abstract

Phosphorus (P) is both an agent of global change, with P loads increasing in most global environments due to the loss of mined phosphate from agricultural, industrial, and urban environments, and is affected by global change processes such as land degradation or the need for P in biofuel production. P plays a fundamental role in food security and, because the only source for new P inputs to agriculture are phosphate rock deposits, P is a strategic, limited resource. Increasing the food supply for a growing world population requires additional P while sources are slowly being depleted. Sustainability of food, fiber, and fuel demands efforts towards maximizing the efficient use of this nutrient and defining priorities for its use. However, P is being used in production systems in such a way that large amounts of P leak into down-stream ecosystems. The negative effects of eutrophication are well known and occur now at a global scale. P use will have to be accompanied by greater efforts towards re-use, recycling, and strategic targeted applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, Av. dos Astronautas 1758, 12227-010, São José dos Campos, SP, Brasil

    Holm Tiessen

  2. Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Centenário 303, 13416-000, Piracicaba, SP, Brasil

    Maria Victoria Ballester

  3. Departamento de Energia Nuclear, Ignacio Salcedo, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Tecnologia, Av. Prof. Luiz Freire 1000, Cidade Universitária, 50740-540, Recife, PE, Brasil

    Ignacio Salcedo

Authors
  1. Holm Tiessen
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  2. Maria Victoria Ballester
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  3. Ignacio Salcedo
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Correspondence to Holm Tiessen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. Pflanzenwissenschaften, ETH Zürich, Eschikon 33, Lindau, 8315, Switzerland

    Else Bünemann

  2. Inst. Pflanzenwissenschaften, ETH Zürich, Eschikon 33, Lindau, 8315, Switzerland

    Astrid Oberson

  3. Inst. Pflanzenwissenschaften, ETH Zürich, Eschikon 33, Lindau, 8315, Switzerland

    Emmanuel Frossard

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Tiessen, H., Ballester, M.V., Salcedo, I. (2011). Phosphorus and Global Change. In: Bünemann, E., Oberson, A., Frossard, E. (eds) Phosphorus in Action. Soil Biology, vol 26. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15271-9_18

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