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Phosphorus is an essential element for plant growth. The evaluation of available forms of this nutrient in soils used in agricultural productivity is demanded. The study assesses the amounts of phosphorus in different forms in surface horizon of Gleysols and Histosols used as meadow and pastures. Soil samples were collected from eight profiles situated in the eastern part of Wielkopolska in the Kujawskie Lake region, central Poland. Phosphorus forms were sequentially extracted by Hedley et al. (1982) procedure modified by Ajiboye et al. (2004). Moreover, total and available contents of phosphorus were determined. On the basis of the obtained results it was stated that the content of both total and available phosphorus was comparable for Gleysols and Histosols and on average amounted from 0.885 to 0.908 g⋅kg-1 for phosphorus total and from 0.220 to 0.276 g⋅kg-1for the available form. The predominant extractable fractions were residual (58% of Ptot) in Gleysols and organically bound (49% of Ptot) in Histosols. The percentage share of phosphorus in fraction I (0.7%), fraction II (from 19 to 25%) and fraction IV (from 1.1 to 1.3%) in total content of phosphorus was similar for Gleysols and Histosols. The correlation coefficients indicated that the content of organic matter, the amounts of total and available phosphorus strongly influenced water soluble phosphorus in the investigated soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]