Mn and zn micronutrients concentrations in acidic soils and source identification using multivariate statistical methods

Available (extractable by diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, DTPA) manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn) micronutrient concentrations in acidic agricultural soils from western Greece and their relationships with physicochemical soil parameters were evaluated by sampling and analyzing 82 representative topsoil samples. Manganese concentration in the studied soil samples (on average 31.67 mg kg^-1) was of both sufficient and high levels, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food of the United Kingdom (MAFF classification, in 15.9% and 79.3% of the soil samples, respectively). In contrast, 39% of the soil samples were classified as very low and 58.5% as low in respect to the available Zn concentration (on average 1.36 mg kg^-1). Nevertheless, 9.8% of the studied soils contained less Zn than is commonly accepted as plant-growth critical level. The dataset was treated using multivariate statistics to describe the relationships of the micronutrients in the studied soils and the factors that influence these relationships. Factor analysis identified soil acidity as the main factor affecting available Mn concentration and phosphate fertilizer application as the main contributor to plant-available Zn concentration.