Soil Problems and Solutions Practice Test

Nitrogen is abundant in the soil and the atmosphere, while phosphorus is only available in the soil and in bedrock.

Many plants are incapable of taking up available phosphorus, making it very difficult to have compost that is rich in phosphorus.

There are significantly more steps in the phosphorus cycle to make phosphorus usable for plants, limiting availability.

Phosphorus is generally scarce in the natural world.

Atmospheric phosphorus disperses in the form of precipitation, and irrigating crops from a well source will be insufficient in replenishing phosphorus to the soil.