Kationinvaihtokapasiteetin määritys ja käyttö viljavuusanalyysin tulkinnassa

Cation exchange capacity (CEC) is a measure of the soil’s ability to store positively charged nutrients (cations) in a plant available (exchangeable) form. The amount of clay and organic matter influence the CEC of a specific soil and CEC can be used as a measure of the overall fertility potential of a soil. In addition CEC has been used to interpret concentrations of Ca, Mg, K and Na in relation to the overall CEC of the soil. This presents a more detailed interpretation of soil analysis than interpretation which is based on soil type classifications, but it also requires the estimation of CEC. 24 test fields were used as a test case for comparing different methods of measuring or estimating CEC. Example fields are used to demonstrate the use of CEC in making soil management recommendations and the scientific literature on using CEC as a basis for fertilizer recommendations is reviewed.