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Aggarwal S, Rallapalli S, Thinagaran N, Bakthavatchalam AS, Khare S, Magner J. Agricultural watershed conservation and optimization using a participatory hydrological approach. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2024:10.1007/s11356-024-34410-7. [PMID: 39034376 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-024-34410-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 07/14/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024]
Abstract
Maximizing the impact of agricultural wastewater conservation practices (CP) to achieve total maximum daily load (TMDL) scenarios in agricultural watersheds is a challenge for the practitioners. The complex modeling requirements of sophisticated hydrologic models make their use and interpretation difficult, preventing the inclusion of local watershed stakeholders' knowledge in the development of optimal TMDL scenarios. The present study develops a seamless modeling approach to transform the complex modeling outcomes of Hydrologic Simulation Program Fortran (HSPF) into a simplified participatory framework for developing optimized management scenarios. The study evaluates seven conservation practices in the Pomme de Terre watershed in Minnesota, USA, focusing on sediment and phosphorus pollutant load reductions incorporating farmers' opinions to guide practitioners toward implementing cost-effective CPs. Results show reduced tillage and filter strips are the most cost-effective practices for non-point source pollution reduction, followed by conservation cover perennials. The integration of SAM with HSPF is crucial for sustainable field-scale implementation of conservation practices through enhanced involvement of amateur-modeling stakeholders and farmers directly connected to fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shubham Aggarwal
- Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Srinivas Rallapalli
- Department of Civil Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Rajasthan, India.
| | - Nithyasree Thinagaran
- Department of Civil Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Rajasthan, India
| | | | - Srishti Khare
- Department of Civil Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Rajasthan, India
| | - Joe Magner
- Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
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Liu J, Djodjic F, Ulén B, Aronsson H, Bechmann M, Bergström L, Krogstad T, Kyllmar K. Toward better targeting of mitigation measures for reducing phosphorus losses from land to water: Andrew Sharpley's legacy in Norway and Sweden. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2024. [PMID: 38556846 DOI: 10.1002/jeq2.20558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 02/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Nordic agriculture faces big challenges to reduce phosphorus (P) loss from land to water for improving surface water quality. While understanding the processes controlling P loss and seeking for P mitigation measures, Norwegian and Swedish researchers have substantially benefited from and been inspired by Dr. Andrew Sharpley's career-long, high-standard P research. Here, we demonstrate how Sharpley and his research have helped the Nordic researchers to understand the role of cover crops in cold environmental conditions, best manure P management practices, and ditch processes. His work on critical source area (CSA) identification and site assessment tool development have also greatly inspired our thinking on the targeting of mitigation measures and the contextualizing tools for Nordic climate, landscape, and soils. While reflecting on Sharpley's legacy, we identify several needs for Norwegian and Swedish P research and management. These include (1) tackling the challenges caused by local/regional unevenness in livestock density and related manure management and farm P surpluses, (2) identifying CSAs of P loss with high erosion risk and high P surplus, (3) obtaining more high-resolution mapping of soils with low P sorption capacity both in the topsoil and subsoil, (4) improving cross-scale understanding of processes and mitigation measures and proper follow-up of applied mitigation measures, and (5) increasing collaborations of researchers with farmers and farmers' advisory groups and watershed groups by developing high-quality educational courses and extension materials. The needs should be addressed in the context of the challenges and opportunities created by climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian Liu
- Department of Soil and Land Use, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Ås, Norway
| | - Faruk Djodjic
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Barbro Ulén
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Helena Aronsson
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Marianne Bechmann
- Department of Soil and Land Use, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Ås, Norway
| | - Lars Bergström
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Tore Krogstad
- Faculty of Environmental Science and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Katarina Kyllmar
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
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Sandström S, Lannergård EE, Futter MN, Djodjic F. Water quality in a large complex catchment: Significant effects of land use and soil type but limited ability to detect trends. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 349:119500. [PMID: 37951108 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2023] [Revised: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/29/2023] [Indexed: 11/13/2023]
Abstract
Globally, significant societal resources are devoted to mitigating negative effects of eutrophication from excessive phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) loading. Potential effectiveness of mitigation measures and possible confounding factors are often assessed using studies conducted in headwater catchments. However, success is often evaluated based on trends in river mouth water chemistry. It is not clear how transferrable insights from headwater catchments are to larger rivers. Here, relationships between P and suspended solids (SS) identified in small agricultural headwater catchments were applied to 30 larger, mixed land use catchments draining into Mälaren, a Swedish great lake. Relationships identified in headwater streams between SS concentration, catchment agricultural land percentage and arable land clay content were corroborated for the larger catchments (R2 = 0.59, p-value<0.001. The same was true for connections between SS and particulate P (R2 = 0.74, p-value<0.001). This study highlights the importance of agricultural land, clay content and SS for P transport, on both smaller headwater as well as larger catchment scales, supporting the use of headwater findings on larger, management relevant scales. Consequently, these relationships should be used to target mitigation measures to reduce SS and P losses. To explore the effectiveness of mitigation measures on water quality, we assessed long-term (20 year) trends in tributary water quality and compared these trends to the amount of mitigation measures implemented in the catchment. Overall improving trends were detected using regional Mann Kendall tests, but few decreasing trends in nutrient concentrations were found for individual sites using Generalized Additive Models (GAM). The lack of significant trends and identifiable connections to amount of mitigation measures implemented could be due to several reasons, e.g. insufficient time for recently implemented measures to have an effect, ongoing release of legacy P as well as low areal coverage and poor spatial placement of implemented measures. In addition, trend detection requires large amounts of data and the results should be carefully interpreted and communicated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Sandström
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO-Box 7050, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Emma E Lannergård
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO-Box 7050, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Martyn N Futter
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO-Box 7050, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Faruk Djodjic
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO-Box 7050, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
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Williamson TN, Dobrowolski EG, Kreiling RM. Phosphorus sources, forms, and abundance as a function of streamflow and field conditions in a Maumee River tributary, 2016-2019. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2023; 52:492-507. [PMID: 34543452 DOI: 10.1002/jeq2.20290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Total phosphorus (TP), dissolved P (DP), and suspended sediment (SS) were sampled in Black Creek, Indiana, monthly during base flow and for 100 storm events during water years 2016-2019, enabling analysis of how each of these varied as a function of streamflow and field conditions at nested edge-of-field sites. Particulate P was normalized for SS (PSS = [TP - DP]/SS). Streamflow events were differentiated by maximum TP concentrations co-occurring with maximum SS (SED) or DP (SOL). The combination of new precipitation and high antecedent soil-water storage during months when fields were exposed coincided with higher streamflow that drove SED events. These SED events carried more SS, including sediment eroded from streambanks that added sediment P but also may have provided for sorption of DP. During SOL events, DP was higher and contributed approximately half of TP; SS was lower. These SOL events had higher PSS , more similar to that in base flow as well as composited samples of overland flow and tile-drain discharge from fields. Base-flow samples had significantly higher PSS concentrations than most event samples, with ≤25 times enrichment relative to soil P concentrations in fine-grained source material. Combining base-flow and event samples showed that PSS integrates SS, DP, and streamflow. Addition of new suspended sediment during events may provide for sorption of DP during and after events and storage in the system, delaying delivery of this P to Lake Erie relative to what would be expected for the dissolved form but adding to the legacy P stored in the stream system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanja N Williamson
- U.S. Geological Survey, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center, 9818 Bluegrass Parkway, Louisville, KY, 40299, USA
| | - Edward G Dobrowolski
- U.S. Geological Survey, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center, 5957 Lakeside Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN, 46278, USA
| | - Rebecca M Kreiling
- U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, 2630 Fanta Reed Road, La Crosse, WI, 54603, USA
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Hurlbert M, Bhardwaj A, Akbari M. Best versus beneficial MP discourses: The significance of a change in discourse managing agricultural water quality in Canada. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 332:117289. [PMID: 36736079 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Revised: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Best Management Practices and Beneficial Management Practices ("MP") are two ideational elements, that have emerged in water quality literature. This research explores the questions of where has the lesser utilized term 'Beneficial' emerged and why? To answer these questions, articles obtained from the Web of Science by searching keywords "Best MP"/"Beneficial MP" and "Water" are analyzed using bibliometric techniques through VOS Viewer including time trend of publications, and indicators including keywords, disciplines, institutions, geographies, influential authors and journals, and key funders of these two terms. This paper also employs document analysis and semi-structured interviews with key policy stakeholders. Beneficial Management Practices emerged in Canada (although the term was used in a few instances elsewhere) in Canadian government policy documents starting in 2003. The term 'Beneficial' refers to a lesser standard than "Best" and is exclusive to agricultural practices in risk and environmental farm policy; "Best Management Practices" refer to a wider set of practices (in other sectors like mining) utilized by a more substantive and diverse set of institutions (predominately American and significantly populated by universities). Explanations for the emergence of the term include that it is more 'honest,' it allows for more choices and trade-offs, it reflects the strong economic driver of agriculture, and several interviewees referred to it better reflecting the uncertainty of science. While the strength of the agricultural sector in influencing the 'Beneficial' discourse is not surprising, the failure to measure the improvement to the water quality of Beneficial Management Programs and measure policy's effectiveness is noteworthy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margot Hurlbert
- Canada Research Chair, Climate Change, Energy and Sustainability, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, 3rd Floor, 2155 College Avenue, College Avenue Campus, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2, Canada.
| | - Asmita Bhardwaj
- M.P.P. Candidate, Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, Canada
| | - Muhhamad Akbari
- Canada Research Chair, Climate Change, Energy and Sustainability, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, 3rd Floor, 2155 College Avenue, College Avenue Campus, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2, Canada.
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King WM, Curless SE, Hood JM. River phosphorus cycling during high flow may constrain Lake Erie cyanobacteria blooms. WATER RESEARCH 2022; 222:118845. [PMID: 35868100 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Cyanobacterial harmful blooms have been increasing worldwide, due in part to excessive phosphorus (P) losses from agriculture-dominated watersheds. Unfortunately, cyanobacteria bloom management is often complicated by uncertainty associated with river P cycling. River P cycling mediates P exports during low flow but has been assumed to be unimportant during high flows. Thus, we examined interactions between dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) and suspended sediment P during high flows in the Maumee River network, focusing on March-June Maumee River DRP exports, which fuel recurring cyanobacteria blooms in Lake Erie. We estimate that during 2003-2019 March to June high flow events, P sorption reduced DRP exports by an average of 13-27%, depending upon the colloidal-P:DRP ratio, decreasing the bioavailability of P exports, and potentially constraining cyanobacteria blooms by 13-40%. Phosphorus sorption was likely lower during 2003-2019 than 1975-2002 due to reductions in suspended sediment loads, associated with soil-erosion-minimizing agricultural practices. This unintended outcome of erosion management has likely decreased P sorption, increased DRP exports to Lake Erie, and subsequent cyanobacteria blooms. In other watersheds, DRP-sediment P interactions during high flow could have a positive or negative effect on DRP exports; therefore, P management should consider riverine P cycles, particularly during high flow events, to avoid undermining expensive P mitigation efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Whitney M King
- Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Behavior, The Ohio State University, 230 Research Center, 1314 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212, USA
| | - Susan E Curless
- Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Behavior, The Ohio State University, 230 Research Center, 1314 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212, USA
| | - James M Hood
- Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Behavior, The Ohio State University, 230 Research Center, 1314 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212, USA; Translational Data Analytics Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
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7
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Hepp G, Zoboli O, Strenge E, Zessner M. Particulate PhozzyLogic Index for policy makers-an index for a more accurate and transparent identification of critical source areas. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2022; 307:114514. [PMID: 35085975 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2021] [Revised: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The identification of critical source areas (CSAs) is a key element in a cost-effective mitigation of diffuse emissions of phosphorus from agricultural soils into surface waters. One of the challenges related to CSAs is how to couple complex, data-intensive fate and transport models with easy-to-use information on field level for management purposes at the scale of large watersheds. To fill such a gap and create a bridge between the two tasks, this study puts forward the new Particulate PhozzyLogic Index (PPLI) based on the innovative combination of the results of a complex watershed model (in this case the PhosFate model) with fuzzy logic. Its main feature is the ability to transform the results of diverse scenarios or even models into a final map showing a catchment-wide ranking of the possibility of high PP emissions reaching surface waters for all agricultural fields. Further, this study enhances the PhosFate model with a new algorithm for the allocation of particulate phosphorus (PP) loads entering surface waters to their sources of origin. This is a basic requirement for the identification of critical PP source areas and in consequence for a cost-effective implementation of mitigation measures. By means of a sensitivity analysis, this study investigates the impacts of storm drains, discharge frequencies and flow directions on the designation of CSAs with the help of present-day scenarios for a case study catchment with an area of several hundred square kilometres. The upfront model calibration exhibits a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) of about 0.95 and a modified Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (mNSE) of around 0.83. A core result of the sensitivity analysis is that the scenarios at least partially disagree on the identified CSAs and suggest that especially open furrows at field borders have the potential to lead to deviating outcomes. All scenario results nevertheless support the 80:20 rule, which states that about 80% of the phosphorus inputs into the surface waters of a catchment originate from only about 20% of its area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerold Hepp
- Institute for Water Quality and Resource Management, Technische Universität Wien, Karlsplatz 13/226, 1040, Wien, Austria.
| | - Ottavia Zoboli
- Institute for Water Quality and Resource Management, Technische Universität Wien, Karlsplatz 13/226, 1040, Wien, Austria
| | - Eva Strenge
- Institute for Water Quality and Resource Management, Technische Universität Wien, Karlsplatz 13/226, 1040, Wien, Austria
| | - Matthias Zessner
- Institute for Water Quality and Resource Management, Technische Universität Wien, Karlsplatz 13/226, 1040, Wien, Austria
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Zhao F, Zhan X, Xu H, Zhu G, Zou W, Zhu M, Kang L, Guo Y, Zhao X, Wang Z, Tang W. New insights into eutrophication management: Importance of temperature and water residence time. J Environ Sci (China) 2022; 111:229-239. [PMID: 34949352 DOI: 10.1016/j.jes.2021.02.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Revised: 02/18/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Eutrophication and harmful cyanobacterial blooms threaten water resources all over the world. There is a great controversy about controlling only phosphorus or controlling both nitrogen and phosphorus in the management of lake eutrophication. The primary argument against the dual nutrients control of eutrophication is that nitrogen fixation can compensate the nitrogen deficits. Thus, it is of great necessary to study the factors that can significantly affect the nitrogen fixation. Due to the difference of climate and human influence, the water quality of different lakes (such as water temperature, N:P ratio and water residence time) is also quite different. Numerous studies have reported that the low N:P ratio can intensify the nitrogen fixation capacities. However, the effects of temperature and water residence time on the nitrogen fixation remain unclear. Thus, 30 shallows freshwater lakes in the eastern plain of China were selected to measure dissolved N2 and Ar concentrations through N2: Ar method using a membrane inlet mass spectrometer to quantify the nitrogen fixation capacities and investigate whether the temperature and water residence time have a great impact on nitrogen fixation. The results have shown that the short lake water residence time can severely inhibit the nitrogen fixation capacities through inhibiting the growth of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria, changing the N:P ratio and resuspending the solids from sediments. Similarly, lakes with low water temperature also have a low nitrogen fixation capacity, suggesting that controlling nitrogen in such lakes is feasible if the growth of cyanobacteria is limited by nitrogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Xu Zhan
- School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Hai Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
| | - Guangwei Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Wei Zou
- State Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Mengyuan Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Lijuan Kang
- State Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yulong Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Xingchen Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Zicong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Wei Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
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How Effective Are Existing Phosphorus Management Strategies in Mitigating Surface Water Quality Problems in the U.S.? SUSTAINABILITY 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/su13126565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Phosphorus is an essential component of modern agriculture. Long-term land application of phosphorous-enriched fertilizers and animal manure leads to phosphorus accumulation in soil that may become susceptible to mobilization via erosion, surface runoff and subsurface leaching. Globally, highly water-soluble phosphorus fertilizers used in agriculture have contributed to eutrophication and hypoxia in surface waters. This paper provides an overview of the literature relevant to the advances in phosphorous management strategies and surface water quality problems in the U.S. Over the past several decades, significant advances have been made to control phosphorus discharge into surface water bodies of the U.S. However, the current use of phosphorus remains inefficient at various stages of its life cycle, and phosphorus continues to remain a widespread problem in many water bodies, including the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Erie. In particular, the Midwestern Corn Belt region of the U.S. is a hotspot of phosphorous fertilization that has resulted in a net positive soil phosphorous balance. The runoff of phosphorous has resulted in dense blooms of toxic, odor-causing phytoplankton that deteriorate water quality. In the past, considerable attention was focused on improving the water quality of freshwater bodies and estuaries by reducing inputs of phosphorus alone. However, new research suggests that strategies controlling the two main nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, are more effective in the management of eutrophication. There is no specific solution to solving phosphorus pollution of water resources; however, sustainable management of phosphorus requires an integrated approach combining at least a reduction in consumption levels, source management, more specific regime-based nutrient criteria, routine soil fertility evaluation and recommendations, transport management, as well as the development of extensive phosphorus recovery and recycling programs.
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Sandström S, Futter MN, O'Connell DW, Lannergård EE, Rakovic J, Kyllmar K, Gill LW, Djodjic F. Variability in fluvial suspended and streambed sediment phosphorus fractions among small agricultural streams. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2021; 50:612-626. [PMID: 33817794 DOI: 10.1002/jeq2.20210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2020] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Agriculture is a major source of sediment and particulate phosphorus (P) inputs to freshwaters. Distinguishing between P fractions in sediment can aid in understanding its eutrophication risk. Although streams and rivers are important parts of the P cycle in agricultural catchments, streambed sediment and especially fluvial suspended sediment (FSS) and its P fractions are less studied. To address this knowledge gap, seasonal variations in FSS P fractions and their relation to water quality and streambed sediment were examined in three Swedish agricultural headwater catchments over 2 yr. Sequential fractionation was used to characterize P fractions in both streambed sediment and FSS. All catchments had similar annual P losses (0.4-0.8 kg ha-1 ), suspended solids (124-183 mg L-1 ), and FSS total P concentrations (1.15-1.19 mg g-1 ). However, distribution of P fractions and the dominant P fractions in FSS differed among catchments (p < .05), which was most likely dependent on differences in catchment geology, clay content, external P sources, and flow conditions. The most prominent seasonal pattern in all catchments was found for iron-bound P, with high concentrations during low summer flows and low concentrations during winter high flows. Streambed sediment P fractions were in the same concentration ranges as in FSS, and the distribution of the fractions differed between catchments. This study highlights the need to quantify P fractions, not just total P in FSS, to obtain a more complete understanding of the eutrophication risk posed by agricultural sediment losses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Sandström
- Dep. of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7050, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Martyn N Futter
- Dep. of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7050, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - David W O'Connell
- Dep. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Museum Building, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Emma E Lannergård
- Dep. of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7050, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jelena Rakovic
- Dep. of Soil and Environment, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7014, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Katarina Kyllmar
- Dep. of Soil and Environment, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7014, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Laurence W Gill
- Dep. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Museum Building, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Faruk Djodjic
- Dep. of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7050, Uppsala, Sweden
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11
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Djodjic F, Geranmayeh P, Markensten H. Optimizing placement of constructed wetlands at landscape scale in order to reduce phosphorus losses. AMBIO 2020; 49:1797-1807. [PMID: 32918721 PMCID: PMC7502644 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-020-01349-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2019] [Revised: 04/22/2020] [Accepted: 05/15/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Constructed wetlands (CWs) are one of the main countermeasures to reduce diffuse phosphorus (P) losses, but there is still a lack of systematic guidance accounting for spatially variable effects of hydraulic and P load on P retention. We present a three-step modelling approach for determining suitable placement of CWs in four different size groups (0.1-1.0 ha), based on incoming hydraulic and P load. The modelled hypothetical CW area was only 17% of that previously estimated and area of efficient CWs is even lower. The mean area-specific P retention increased with CW size. However, the spatial variation in retention was large for all size groups and largest (6-155 kg ha-1 year-1) for the smallest CWs due to highly variable incoming P loads, showing the possible benefits of targeted placement of CWs. The presented modelling approach has also flexibility to include and account for possible future changes in land cover and management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faruk Djodjic
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Lennart Hjälmsv. 9, P.O. Box 7050, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Pia Geranmayeh
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Lennart Hjälmsv. 9, P.O. Box 7050, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Hampus Markensten
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Lennart Hjälmsv. 9, P.O. Box 7050, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
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12
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Perillo VL, Pan J, La Colla NS, Serra AV, Botté SE, Cuadrado DG. Short-term efficiency of epibenthic microbial mat components on phosphorus sorption. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2020; 157:111350. [PMID: 32658702 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2019] [Revised: 06/02/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Microbial mats may be an alternative tool for phosphorus (P) remediation of eutrophic coastal waters. The main objective of this work was to determine the importance that the living and non-living components of the mats have on P short-term sorption. Microbial mats were collected in the Paso Seco coastal flat, Argentina (40°38'3.32″S; 62°12'24.85″W), and incubated under controlled conditions in the lab. An adsorption curve was performed with the microbial mats. Active mats had a Freundlich constant 8.9-fold higher than underlying sandy sediments. Collected samples were then treated as follows: maintaining and disturbing their structural integrity (natural and autoclaved, respectively), and both conditions were incubated with filtered seawater, without and with phosphate addition (0 and 5 mg P L-1, respectively). Natural mats had a significantly-higher phosphate removal percentage than autoclaved ones, suggesting that living microorganisms increase P short-term sorption efficiency by ~25%, while non-living matter may account for the rest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanesa Liliana Perillo
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, C1425FQB, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (IADO, CONICET/UNS), Camino La Carrindanga Km 7 E1, Bahía Blanca B8000CPB, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional del Sur, San Juan 670 Piso 1, Bahía Blanca B8000ICN, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Jerónimo Pan
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, C1425FQB, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario (IGCyC, UNMdP/CIC), Funes 3350, Nivel 1, Mar del Plata 7600, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Mar del Plata 7600, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Noelia Soledad La Colla
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, C1425FQB, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (IADO, CONICET/UNS), Camino La Carrindanga Km 7 E1, Bahía Blanca B8000CPB, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Analía Verónica Serra
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, C1425FQB, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (IADO, CONICET/UNS), Camino La Carrindanga Km 7 E1, Bahía Blanca B8000CPB, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Sandra Elizabeth Botté
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, C1425FQB, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (IADO, CONICET/UNS), Camino La Carrindanga Km 7 E1, Bahía Blanca B8000CPB, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional del Sur, San Juan 670 Piso 1, Bahía Blanca B8000ICN, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Diana Graciela Cuadrado
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, C1425FQB, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (IADO, CONICET/UNS), Camino La Carrindanga Km 7 E1, Bahía Blanca B8000CPB, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Departamento de Geología, Universidad Nacional del Sur, San Juan 670, Bahía Blanca B8000ICN, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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13
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Conceptual Mini-Catchment Typologies for Testing Dominant Controls of Nutrient Dynamics in Three Nordic Countries. WATER 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/w12061776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Optimal nutrient pollution monitoring and management in catchments requires an in-depth understanding of spatial and temporal factors controlling nutrient dynamics. Such an understanding can potentially be obtained by analysing stream concentration–discharge (C-Q) relationships for hysteresis behaviours and export regimes. Here, a classification scheme including nine different C-Q types was applied to a total of 87 Nordic streams draining mini-catchments (0.1–65 km2). The classification applied is based on a combination of stream export behaviour (dilution, constant, enrichment) and hysteresis rotational pattern (clock-wise, no rotation, anti-clockwise). The scheme has been applied to an 8-year data series (2010–2017) from small streams in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland on daily discharge and discrete nutrient concentrations, including nitrate (NO3−), total organic N (TON), dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP), and particulate phosphorus (PP). The dominant nutrient export regimes were enrichment for NO3− and constant for TON, DRP, and PP. Nutrient hysteresis patterns were primarily clockwise or no hysteresis. Similarities in types of C-Q relationships were investigated using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) considering effects of catchment size, land use, climate, and dominant soil type. The PCA analysis revealed that land use and air temperature were the dominant factors controlling nutrient C-Q types. Therefore, the nutrient export behaviour in streams draining Nordic mini-catchments seems to be dominantly controlled by their land use characteristics and, to a lesser extent, their climate.
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14
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Sandström S, Futter MN, Kyllmar K, Bishop K, O'Connell DW, Djodjic F. Particulate phosphorus and suspended solids losses from small agricultural catchments: Links to stream and catchment characteristics. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 711:134616. [PMID: 31812420 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Revised: 09/18/2019] [Accepted: 09/21/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Excessive phosphorus (P) inputs from agriculture are well established as a contributor to freshwater eutrophication. Decreasing these inputs is an important step in improving the ecological state of impaired waters. Particulate P (PP) is a significant contributor to diffuse P inputs in agricultural catchments. Identifying the main correlates for PP losses is an important step in reducing these inputs. However, there are few studies of long term temporal and spatial dynamics of PP in agricultural streams. Here, we investigate the relative importance of hydrology, catchment characteristics and geochemistry on PP concentrations and fluxes in agricultural headwaters. We evaluate long-term monitoring data from eleven small (<35 km2) Swedish catchments with at least seven years of measured flow and flow proportional water quality sampling. Using parametric and non-parametric regression together with principal components analysis (PCA), we identify in-stream and catchment variables relevant for predicting PP concentrations, e.g., suspended solids concentrations (SS), soil texture and average catchment soil P content, measured as ammonium lactate/acetic acid extractable P (P-AL). We show that PP is primarily correlated to SS concentrations, which in turn are correlated to average clay content and land use. However, the SS:PP relationships differ between catchments. No correlation between PP concentrations in the stream and soil P content was found. An increasing clay content decreases the slope of the relationship between SS and PP, i.e., in catchments with higher clay content, less PP is transported per unit SS. The PP/SS ratio increased significantly (p < 0.05) over time in four catchments, despite limited changes in SS or PP concentrations. Our study highlights the importance of long time series since the enrichment of P on SS in the streams is only detected when using long term monitoring data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Sandström
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7050, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Martyn N Futter
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7050, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Katarina Kyllmar
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7014, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Kevin Bishop
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7050, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - David W O'Connell
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Museum Building, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Faruk Djodjic
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7050, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
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15
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Weissman DS, Tully KL. Saltwater intrusion affects nutrient concentrations in soil porewater and surface waters of coastal habitats. Ecosphere 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Danielle S. Weissman
- Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture University of Maryland College Park Maryland 20742 USA
| | - Katherine L. Tully
- Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture University of Maryland College Park Maryland 20742 USA
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16
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Motew M, Chen X, Carpenter SR, Booth EG, Seifert J, Qiu J, Loheide SP, Turner MG, Zipper SC, Kucharik CJ. Comparing the effects of climate and land use on surface water quality using future watershed scenarios. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 693:133484. [PMID: 31374507 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Revised: 07/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/18/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Eutrophication of freshwaters occurs in watersheds with excessive pollution of phosphorus (P). Factors that affect P cycling and transport, including climate and land use, are changing rapidly and can have legacy effects, making future freshwater quality uncertain. Focusing on the Yahara Watershed (YW) of southern Wisconsin, USA, an intensive agricultural landscape, we explored the relative influence of land use and climate on three indicators of water quality over a span of 57 years (2014-2070). The indicators included watershed-averaged P yield from the land surface, direct drainage P loads to a lake, and average summertime lake P concentration. Using biophysical model simulations of future watershed scenarios, we found that climate exerted a stronger influence than land use on all three indicators, yet land use had an important role in influencing long term outcomes for each. Variations in P yield due to land use exceeded those due to climate in 36 of 57 years, whereas variations in load and lake total P concentration due to climate exceeded those due to land use in 54 of 57 years, and 52 of 57 years, respectively. The effect of land use was thus strongest for P yield off the landscape and attenuated in the stream and lake aquatic systems where the influence of weather variability was greater. Overall these findings underscore the dominant role of climate in driving inter-annual nutrient fluxes within the hydrologic network and suggest a challenge for land use to influence water quality within streams and lakes over timescales less than a decade. Over longer timescales, reducing applications of P throughout the watershed was an effective management strategy under all four climates investigated, even during decades with wetter conditions and more frequent extreme precipitation events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa Motew
- Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA; USDA-ARS, US Dairy Forage Research Center, 1925 Linden Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USA.
| | - Xi Chen
- Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
| | | | - Eric G Booth
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA; Department of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Jenny Seifert
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA
| | - Jiangxiao Qiu
- School of Forest Resources & Conservation, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Davie, FL 33314, USA
| | - Steven P Loheide
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Monica G Turner
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Samuel C Zipper
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA; Department of Civil Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada
| | - Christopher J Kucharik
- Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA; Department of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
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17
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Djodjic F, Markensten H. From single fields to river basins: Identification of critical source areas for erosion and phosphorus losses at high resolution. AMBIO 2019; 48:1129-1142. [PMID: 30569436 PMCID: PMC6722166 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-018-1134-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2018] [Revised: 11/16/2018] [Accepted: 11/30/2018] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Concentrations of phosphorus (P), the main limiting nutrient in freshwater ecosystems, need to be reduced, but this is difficult due to high spatial and temporal variations and limited resources. Reliable targeting of critical source areas, such as erosion-prone fields and parts of fields, is necessary to improve the cost efficiency of mitigation measures. We used high-resolution (2 m × 2 m) distributed modelling to calculate erosion risk for a large area (202 279 km2) covering > 90% of Swedish arable land. Comparison of model results with independent farmers' observations in a pilot catchment showed high spatial agreement. The modelled worst case scenario produced reasonable quantitative results comparable to measured 90th percentile values of suspended sediment (SS) loads at both field and small catchment scale (R2 = 0.81, p < 0.001). Overall, loads of SS, especially during extreme episodes, strongly governed losses of unreactive P and total P at both field and catchment scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faruk Djodjic
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Lennart Hjälmsv. 9, P.O. Box 7050, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Hampus Markensten
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Lennart Hjälmsv. 9, P.O. Box 7050, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
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18
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Villa A, Fölster J, Kyllmar K. Determining suspended solids and total phosphorus from turbidity: comparison of high-frequency sampling with conventional monitoring methods. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2019; 191:605. [PMID: 31485827 PMCID: PMC6726675 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-019-7775-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2018] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Suspended solids (SS) are important carriers of pollutants such as phosphorus (P) in streams, but the sampling frequency in monitoring programs is usually insufficiently frequent to capture episodic SS and total P (TP) peaks. The suitability of turbidity and conductivity as a surrogate for SS and TP was studied using 108 monitoring stations located in catchments of different sizes, land uses, and pollution levels. The use of high-frequency turbidity measurements to estimate SS and TP loads was compared with the use of two sampling methods (grab, flow-proportional sampling) in a case study. When all samples were considered, turbidity was a good predictor of SS (r2 = 0.76) and TP (r2 = 0.75). For single sites, there was a large range in how well turbidity could predict the two variables. The site-specific turbidity-SS relationship was significant at 87% of sites (mean r2 = 0.72). The site turbidity and conductivity-TP relationship was significant at 78% of sites (mean r2 = 0.62). A stronger turbidity-SS relationship was found in catchments with a higher percentage of agricultural land. The turbidity and conductivity-TP relationship was stronger when the TP concentration was high. In the case study, TP loads were smallest when estimated with grab sampling, which missed several discharge peaks. Loads estimated with high-frequency turbidity measurements were 19-51% smaller than with flow-proportional sampling, probably due to differences in sampling points. High-frequency turbidity measurements can be a viable alternative to conventional sampling methods in studies on concentration dynamics and load estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Villa
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7014, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jens Fölster
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7050, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Katarina Kyllmar
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7014, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
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19
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Rothrock MJ, Gibson KE, Micciche AC, Ricke SC. Pastured Poultry Production in the United States: Strategies to Balance System Sustainability and Environmental Impact. FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2019.00074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
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20
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Smith DR, Macrae ML, Kleinman PJA, Jarvie HP, King KW, Bryant RB. The Latitudes, Attitudes, and Platitudes of Watershed Phosphorus Management in North America. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2019; 48:1176-1190. [PMID: 31589709 DOI: 10.2134/jeq2019.03.0136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Phosphorus (P) plays a crucial role in agriculture as a primary fertilizer nutrient-and as a cause of the eutrophication of surface waters. Despite decades of efforts to keep P on agricultural fields and reduce losses to waterways, frequent algal blooms persist, triggering not only ecological disruption but also economic, social, and political consequences. We investigate historical and persistent factors affecting agricultural P mitigation in a transect of major watersheds across North America: Lake Winnipeg, Lake Erie, the Chesapeake Bay, and Lake Okeechobee/Everglades. These water bodies span 26 degrees of latitude, from the cold climate of central Canada to the subtropics of the southeastern United States. These water bodies and their associated watersheds have tracked trajectories of P mitigation that manifest remarkable similarities, and all have faced challenges in the application of science to agricultural management that continue to this day. An evolution of knowledge and experience in watershed P mitigation calls into question uniform solutions as well as efforts to transfer strategies from other arenas. As a result, there is a need to admit to shortcomings of past approaches, plotting a future for watershed P mitigation that accepts the sometimes two-sided nature of Hennig Brandt's "Devil's Element."
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21
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Venkiteswaran JJ, Schiff SL, Ingalls BP. Quantifying the fate of wastewater nitrogen discharged to a Canadian river. Facets (Ott) 2019. [DOI: 10.1139/facets-2018-0028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Addition of nutrients, such as nitrogen, can degrade water quality in lakes, rivers, and estuaries. To predict the fate of nutrient inputs, an understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients is needed. We develop and employ a novel, parsimonious, process-based model of nitrogen concentrations and stable isotopes that quantifies the competing processes of volatilization, biological assimilation, nitrification, and denitrification in nutrient-impacted rivers. Calibration of the model to nitrogen discharges from two wastewater treatment plants in the Grand River, Ontario, Canada, show that ammonia volatilization was negligible relative to biological assimilation, nitrification, and denitrification within 5 km of the discharge points.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason J. Venkiteswaran
- Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5, Canada
| | - Sherry L. Schiff
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Brian P. Ingalls
- Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
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22
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Bolster CH, Baffaut C, Nelson NO, Osmond DL, Cabrera ML, Ramirez-Avila JJ, Sharpley AN, Veith TL, McFarland AMS, Senaviratne AGMMM, Pierzynski GM, Udawatta RP. Development of PLEAD: A Database Containing Event-based Runoff Phosphorus Loadings from Agricultural Fields. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2019; 48:510-517. [PMID: 30951133 DOI: 10.2134/jeq2018.09.0337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Computer models are commonly used for predicting risks of runoff P loss from agricultural fields by enabling simulation of various management practices and climatic scenarios. For P loss models to be useful tools, however, they must accurately predict P loss for a wide range of climatic, physiographic, and land management conditions. A complicating factor in developing and evaluating P loss models is the relative scarcity of available measured field data that adequately capture P losses before and after implementing management practices in a variety of physiographic settings. Here, we describe the development of the P Loss in runoff Events from Agricultural fields Database (PLEAD)-a compilation of event-based, field-scale dissolved and/or total P loss runoff loadings from agricultural fields collected at various research sites located in the US Heartland and southern United States. The database also includes runoff and erosion rates; soil-test P; tillage practices; planting and harvesting rates and practices; fertilizer application rate, method, and timing; manure application rate, method, and timing; and livestock grazing density and timing. In total, >1800 individual runoff events-ranging in duration from 0.4 to 97 h-have been included in the database. Event runoff P losses ranged from <0.05 to 1.3 and 3.0 kg P ha for dissolved and total P, respectively. The data contained in this database have been used in multiple research studies to address important modeling questions relevant to P management planning. We provide these data to encourage additional studies by other researchers. The PLEAD database is available at .
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Perillo VL, Ross DS, Wemple BC, Balling C, Lemieux LE. Stream Corridor Soil Phosphorus Availability in a Forested-Agricultural Mixed Land Use Watershed. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2019; 48:185-192. [PMID: 30640355 DOI: 10.2134/jeq2018.05.0186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Watershed land use affects nutrient and sediment export, particularly through streambank erosion, which can add to P export and contribute to eutrophication in downstream waterbodies. We characterized P of soils from four different land uses (32 sites) along streams in the Missisquoi River basin (Vermont, USA)-silage corn ( L.), hay meadow, emergent wetlands, and forest-and their corresponding streambanks. We measured total P (TP), pH 4.8 NH-acetate P, degree of P saturation (DPS), and soluble P. The latter three measurements were used as predictors of potential P bioavailability. Forest soils were relatively low in TP, whereas soils in corn, hay, and wetland were elevated (>1000 mg kg). With the exception of forests, the TP of the corresponding streambanks of each land use was statistically significantly lower than in the interior of the land use, while still higher than those in forests, suggesting a possible influence of land use on its adjacent streambank. The pH 4.8 NH-acetate P was low in nonagricultural land uses and all streambanks of different land uses, but higher than optimum for soils in cornfields and hayfields. The DPS averaged 36% in the cornfields, but <21% in all of the streambanks. Mean soluble P was 0.14 mg kg for corn- and hay-associated streambanks with a DPS <10% but was as high as 3.2 mg kg in the agricultural fields. The combination of low bioavailable P measurements indicates that most streambank soils are likely low contributors to P enrichment downstream. However, the elevated TP in some agricultural streambank soils suggests an accumulation of legacy P.
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Djodjic F, Elmquist H, Collentine D. Targeting critical source areas for phosphorus losses: Evaluation with soil testing, farmers' assessment and modelling. AMBIO 2018; 47:45-56. [PMID: 28779474 PMCID: PMC5709264 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-017-0935-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2017] [Revised: 07/05/2017] [Accepted: 07/13/2017] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Diffuse phosphorus (P) losses from arable land need to be reduced in a cost-efficient way, taking into account their temporal and spatial variability. This study, based on 16 farms across southern Sweden, examined possibilities for identifying critical source areas for P losses based on the combined results of high-resolution erosion modelling, independent risk assessments by farmers, soil survey and SWOT analysis performed by farmers. Statistically significant differences in dissolved P release were found between soil P test classes in the studied area, whereas soil textural classes and not P content governed potential mobilisation of soil particles and unreactive P. Spatial comparison of problem areas identified by farmers and modelled features showed that the modelled erosion pathways intersected 109 in a total of 128 (85%) observed problem areas. The study demonstrates the value in involving farmers in the identification of critical source areas in order to select and support implementation of effective countermeasures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faruk Djodjic
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7050, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Helena Elmquist
- Farming in Balance, Franzengatan 6, 105 33 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Dennis Collentine
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7014, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
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25
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Fischer P, Pöthig R, Venohr M. The degree of phosphorus saturation of agricultural soils in Germany: Current and future risk of diffuse P loss and implications for soil P management in Europe. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 599-600:1130-1139. [PMID: 28511358 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.03.143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2016] [Revised: 02/24/2017] [Accepted: 03/15/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Decades of intensive agricultural production with excessive application of P fertilizer have resulted in the accumulation of P in soils, threatening water bodies in most industrialized countries with eutrophication. In our study, we elucidated the risk of P loss of German agricultural soils by transforming provided monitoring data of plant-available P determined by the calcium-acetate-lactate (PCAL) and double-lactate method (PDL) into the degree of phosphorus saturation (DPS). As water-soluble phosphorus (WSP) is correlated to DPS, we derived a pedotransfer function (PTF) between PCAL and WSP for different soil types. Considering all soils together resulted in WSP=0.1918×PCAL (R2=0.80, n=54). Subsequently, risk parameters DPS and EPC0 were calculated from PCAL and PDL monitoring data (n>337,000) by using the determined PTF and soil type-independent correlations with WSP, as published in an earlier study. Calculated DPS values from monitoring data indicated high risks of dissolved P loss for >76% of German arable soils. Recent suggestions by the Association of German Agricultural Analytical and Research Institutes (VDLUFA) to reduce recommended PCAL levels are crucial for the reduction of P loss risks in the future. The accuracy of predicted DPS and EPC0 values by CAL and other methods used in Europe to estimate plant-available P is limited by the soil type-dependency of these methods. Consequently, we recommend considering WSP as an agri-environmental soil P test across Europe. Our results indicate that a WSP level in soils can be defined that constitutes a reasonable compromise between the securing of agronomic production and the fulfillment of environmental goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Fischer
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Department of Ecohydrology, Justus von Liebig Straße 7, 12489 Berlin, Germany; Humboldt-University Berlin, Geography Department, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany.
| | - R Pöthig
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Department of Ecohydrology, Justus von Liebig Straße 7, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
| | - M Venohr
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Department of Ecohydrology, Justus von Liebig Straße 7, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
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Oliver SK, Collins SM, Soranno PA, Wagner T, Stanley EH, Jones JR, Stow CA, Lottig NR. Unexpected stasis in a changing world: Lake nutrient and chlorophyll trends since 1990. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2017; 23:5455-5467. [PMID: 28834575 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2017] [Accepted: 05/31/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The United States (U.S.) has faced major environmental changes in recent decades, including agricultural intensification and urban expansion, as well as changes in atmospheric deposition and climate-all of which may influence eutrophication of freshwaters. However, it is unclear whether or how water quality in lakes across diverse ecological settings has responded to environmental change. We quantified water quality trends in 2913 lakes using nutrient and chlorophyll (Chl) observations from the Lake Multi-Scaled Geospatial and Temporal Database of the Northeast U.S. (LAGOS-NE), a collection of preexisting lake data mostly from state agencies. LAGOS-NE was used to quantify whether lake water quality has changed from 1990 to 2013, and whether lake-specific or regional geophysical factors were related to the observed changes. We modeled change through time using hierarchical linear models for total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), stoichiometry (TN:TP), and Chl. Both the slopes (percent change per year) and intercepts (value in 1990) were allowed to vary by lake and region. Across all lakes, TN declined at a rate of 1.1% year-1 , while TP, TN:TP, and Chl did not change. A minority (7%-16%) of individual lakes had changing nutrients, stoichiometry, or Chl. Of those lakes that changed, we found differences in the geospatial variables that were most related to the observed change in the response variables. For example, TN and TN:TP trends were related to region-level drivers associated with atmospheric deposition of N; TP trends were related to both lake and region-level drivers associated with climate and land use; and Chl trends were found in regions with high air temperature at the beginning of the study period. We conclude that despite large environmental change and management efforts over recent decades, water quality of lakes in the Midwest and Northeast U.S. has not overwhelmingly degraded or improved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha K Oliver
- Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Sarah M Collins
- Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Patricia A Soranno
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Tyler Wagner
- U.S. Geological Survey, Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Emily H Stanley
- Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - John R Jones
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - Craig A Stow
- NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Noah R Lottig
- Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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BMP Optimization to Improve the Economic Viability of Farms in the Upper Watershed of Miyun Reservoir, Beijing, China. WATER 2017. [DOI: 10.3390/w9090633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Pearce NJT, Yates AG. Intra-annual variation of the association between agricultural best management practices and stream nutrient concentrations. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 586:1124-1134. [PMID: 28215811 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2016] [Revised: 02/10/2017] [Accepted: 02/11/2017] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Temporal variation may influence the ability of best management practices (BMPs) to mitigate the loss of agricultural pollutants to streams. Our goal was to assess variation in mitigation effects of BMPs by examining the associations between instream nutrient concentrations and the abundance and location of four structural BMPs over a hydrologic year. Water samples were collected monthly (Nov. 2013-Oct. 2014) in 15 headwater streams representing a gradient of BMP use in Southern Ontario, Canada. Partial least squares (PLS) regression models were used to associate two groups of collinear nutrient forms with the abundance and location of BMPs, antecedent precipitation and time of year. BMP metrics in PLS models were associated with instream concentrations of major phosphorus forms and ammonium throughout the year. In contrast, total nitrogen and nitrate-nitrite were only associated with BMPs during snowmelt. BMP metrics associated with reductions of phosphorus and ammonium included greater abundances of riparian buffers and manure storage structures, but not livestock restriction fences. Likewise, the abundance and location riparian vegetation in areas capturing more surface runoff were associated with decreased stream nitrogen concentrations during snowmelt. However, the amount of tile drainage was associated with increased nitrogen concentrations following snowmelt, as well as with greater phosphorus and ammonium concentrations throughout the year. Overall, our findings indicate that increasing the abundance of riparian buffers and manure storage structures may decrease instream nutrient concentrations in agricultural areas. Additionally, the implementation of these structural BMPs appear to be an effective year-round strategy to assist management objectives in reducing phosphorus concentrations in small agricultural streams and thus loadings to downstream tributaries. Further mitigation measures, such as managerial BMPs and controlled tile drainage, may be required to further reduce instream nutrient concentrations during baseflow periods and snowmelt events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nolan J T Pearce
- Department of Geography, Western University and Canadian Rivers Institute, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada.
| | - Adam G Yates
- Department of Geography, Western University and Canadian Rivers Institute, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada.
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Fox GA, Purvis RA, Penn CJ. Streambanks: A net source of sediment and phosphorus to streams and rivers. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2016; 181:602-614. [PMID: 27429360 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.06.071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2016] [Revised: 05/22/2016] [Accepted: 06/30/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Sediment and phosphorus (P) are two primary pollutants of surface waters. Many studies have investigated loadings from upland sources or even streambed sediment, but in many cases, limited to no data exist to determine sediment and P loading from streambanks on a watershed scale. The objectives of this paper are to review the current knowledge base on streambank erosion and failure mechanisms, streambank P concentrations, and streambanks as P loading sources and then also to identify future research needs on this topic. In many watersheds, long-term loading of soil and associated P to stream systems has created a source of eroded soil and P that may interact with streambank sediment and be deposited in floodplains downstream. In many cases streambanks were formed from previously eroded and deposited alluvial material and so the resulting soils possess unique physical and chemical properties from adjacent upland soils. Streambank sediment and P loading rates depend explicitly on the rate of streambank migration and the concentration of P stored within bank materials. From the survey of literature, previous studies report streambank total P concentrations that consistently exceeded 250 mg kg(-1) soil. Only a few studies also reported water soluble or extractable P concentrations. More research should be devoted to understanding the dynamic processes between different P pools (total P versus bioavailable P), and sorption or desorption processes under varying hydraulic and stream chemistry conditions. Furthermore, the literature reported that streambank erosion and failure and gully erosion were reported to account for 7-92% of the suspended sediment load within a channel and 6-93% of total P. However, significant uncertainty can occur in such estimates due to reach-scale variability in streambank migration rates and future estimates should consider the use of uncertainty analysis approaches. Research is also needed on the transport rates of dissolved and sediment-bound P through the entire stream system of a watershed to identify critical upland and/or near-stream conservation practices. Extensive monitoring of the impact of restoration/rehabilitation efforts on reducing sediment and P loading are limited. From an application standpoint, streambank P contributions to streams should be more explicitly accounted for in developing total maximum daily loads in watersheds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Garey A Fox
- Oklahoma State University, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, 245 Agricultural Hall, Stillwater, OK, USA.
| | - Rebecca A Purvis
- Oklahoma State University, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, 245 Agricultural Hall, Stillwater, OK, USA.
| | - Chad J Penn
- Oklahoma State University, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, 268 Agricultural Hall, Stillwater, OK, USA.
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Shore M, Jordan P, Melland AR, Mellander PE, McDonald N, Shortle G. Incidental nutrient transfers: Assessing critical times in agricultural catchments using high-resolution data. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2016; 553:404-415. [PMID: 26933967 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.02.085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2015] [Revised: 02/12/2016] [Accepted: 02/12/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Managing incidental losses associated with liquid slurry applications during closed periods has significant cost and policy implications and the environmental data required to review such a measure are difficult to capture due to storm dependencies. Over four years (2010-2014) in five intensive agricultural catchments, this study used high-resolution total and total reactive phosphorus (TP and TRP), total oxidised nitrogen (TON) and suspended sediment (SS) concentrations with river discharge data to investigate the magnitude and timing of nutrient losses. A large dataset of storm events (defined as 90th percentile discharges), and associated flow-weighted mean (FWM) nutrient concentrations and TP/SS ratios, was used to indicate when losses were indicative of residual or incidental nutrient transfers. The beginning of the slurry closed period was reflective of incidental and residual transfers with high storm FWM P (TP and TRP) concentrations, with some catchments also showing elevated storm TP:SS ratios. This pattern diminished at the end of the closed period in all catchments. Total oxidised N behaved similarly to P during storms in the poorly drained catchments and revealed a long lag time in other catchments. Low storm FWM P concentrations and TP:SS ratios during the weeks following the closed period suggests that nutrients either weren't applied during this time (best times chosen) or that they were applied to less risky areas (best places chosen). For other periods such as late autumn and during wet summers, where storm FWM P concentrations and TP:SS ratios were high, it is recommended that an augmentation of farmer knowledge of soil drainage characteristics with local and detailed current and forecast soil moisture conditions will help to strengthen existing regulatory frameworks to avoid storm driven incidental nutrient transfers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mairead Shore
- Agricultural Catchments Programme, Teagasc, Johnstown Castle Environment Research Centre, Wexford, Co. Wexford, Ireland
| | - Phil Jordan
- School of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Ulster University, Coleraine, N. Ireland, United Kingdom
| | - Alice R Melland
- National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia
| | - Per-Erik Mellander
- Agricultural Catchments Programme, Teagasc, Johnstown Castle Environment Research Centre, Wexford, Co. Wexford, Ireland
| | - Noeleen McDonald
- Agricultural Catchments Programme, Teagasc, Johnstown Castle Environment Research Centre, Wexford, Co. Wexford, Ireland
| | - Ger Shortle
- Agricultural Catchments Programme, Teagasc, Johnstown Castle Environment Research Centre, Wexford, Co. Wexford, Ireland
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31
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Liu X, Tao Y, Wen G, Kong F, Zhang X, Hu Z. Influence of Soil and Irrigation Water pH on the Availability of Phosphorus in Struvite Derived from Urine through a Greenhouse Pot Experiment. JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY 2016; 64:3324-3329. [PMID: 27078189 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.6b00021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
One greenhouse pot experiment was used to investigate the availability of phosphorus in struvite derived from urine affected by soil pH (cinnamon soil, pH 7.3; paddy soil, pH 5.3) and irrigation water (pH 6.0 and 7.5) with bird rapeseed (Brassica campestris L.). The biomass of applied struvite in paddy soil was significantly greater than that of applied calcium superphosphate. However, statistically significant differences were not observed in cinnamon soil. Soil-applied struvite had a higher Olsen P compared to soil-applied calcium superphosphate irrespective of soil type. The biomass of applied struvite and irrigation with pH 6.0 water was greater compared to that with irrigation with pH 7.3 water irrespective of soil type, accompanied with significantly higher leaf chlorophyll concentration. Therefore, struvite has the potential to be an effective P fertilizer, and acidic irrigation water has greater influence on the availability of phosphorus in struvite than does acidic soil.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoning Liu
- College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049, China
| | | | - Guoqi Wen
- College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049, China
| | - Fanxin Kong
- State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, Beijing Key Laboratory of Oil & Gas Pollution Control, China University of Petroleum , Beijing 102249, China
| | | | - Zhengyi Hu
- College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049, China
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100085, China
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32
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Emelko MB, Stone M, Silins U, Allin D, Collins AL, Williams CHS, Martens AM, Bladon KD. Sediment-phosphorus dynamics can shift aquatic ecology and cause downstream legacy effects after wildfire in large river systems. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2016; 22:1168-84. [PMID: 26313547 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2015] [Accepted: 08/03/2015] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Global increases in the occurrence of large, severe wildfires in forested watersheds threaten drinking water supplies and aquatic ecology. Wildfire effects on water quality, particularly nutrient levels and forms, can be significant. The longevity and downstream propagation of these effects as well as the geochemical mechanisms regulating them remain largely undocumented at larger river basin scales. Here, phosphorus (P) speciation and sorption behavior of suspended sediment were examined in two river basins impacted by a severe wildfire in southern Alberta, Canada. Fine-grained suspended sediments (<125 μm) were sampled continuously during ice-free conditions over a two-year period (2009-2010), 6 and 7 years after the wildfire. Suspended sediment samples were collected from upstream reference (unburned) river reaches, multiple tributaries within the burned areas, and from reaches downstream of the burned areas, in the Crowsnest and Castle River basins. Total particulate phosphorus (TPP) and particulate phosphorus forms (nonapatite inorganic P, apatite P, organic P), and the equilibrium phosphorus concentration (EPC0 ) of suspended sediment were assessed. Concentrations of TPP and the EPC0 were significantly higher downstream of wildfire-impacted areas compared to reference (unburned) upstream river reaches. Sediments from the burned tributary inputs contained higher levels of bioavailable particulate P (NAIP) - these effects were also observed downstream at larger river basin scales. The release of bioavailable P from postfire, P-enriched fine sediment is a key mechanism causing these effects in gravel-bed rivers at larger basin scales. Wildfire-associated increases in NAIP and the EPC0 persisted 6 and 7 years after wildfire. Accordingly, this work demonstrated that fine sediment in gravel-bed rivers is a significant, long-term source of in-stream bioavailable P that contributes to a legacy of wildfire impacts on downstream water quality, aquatic ecology, and drinking water treatability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica B Emelko
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Micheal Stone
- Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Uldis Silins
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H1, Canada
| | - Don Allin
- Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Adrian L Collins
- Sustainable Soils and Grassland Systems Department, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, EX20 2SB, UK
| | - Chris H S Williams
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H1, Canada
| | - Amanda M Martens
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H1, Canada
| | - Kevin D Bladon
- Department of Forest Engineering, Resources and Management, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA
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Sharpley AN, Bergström L, Aronsson H, Bechmann M, Bolster CH, Börling K, Djodjic F, Jarvie HP, Schoumans OF, Stamm C, Tonderski KS, Ulén B, Uusitalo R, Withers PJA. Future agriculture with minimized phosphorus losses to waters: Research needs and direction. AMBIO 2015; 44 Suppl 2:S163-79. [PMID: 25681975 PMCID: PMC4329155 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-014-0612-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
The series of papers in this issue of AMBIO represent technical presentations made at the 7th International Phosphorus Workshop (IPW7), held in September, 2013 in Uppsala, Sweden. At that meeting, the 150 delegates were involved in round table discussions on major, predetermined themes facing the management of agricultural phosphorus (P) for optimum production goals with minimal water quality impairment. The six themes were (1) P management in a changing world; (2) transport pathways of P from soil to water; (3) monitoring, modeling, and communication; (4) importance of manure and agricultural production systems for P management; (5) identification of appropriate mitigation measures for reduction of P loss; and (6) implementation of mitigation strategies to reduce P loss. This paper details the major challenges and research needs that were identified for each theme and identifies a future roadmap for catchment management that cost-effectively minimizes P loss from agricultural activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew N. Sharpley
- Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701 USA
| | - Lars Bergström
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7014, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Helena Aronsson
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7014, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Marianne Bechmann
- Department of Soil and Environment, Bioforsk, Fred. A. Dahls vei 20, 1430 Aas, Norway
| | | | - Katarina Börling
- Swedish Board of Agriculture, Dragarbrunnsgatan 35, 75320 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Faruk Djodjic
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7050, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Helen P. Jarvie
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB UK
| | - Oscar F. Schoumans
- Alterra Wageningen UR, Alterra, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Christian Stamm
- Environmental Chemistry, Eawag, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Karin S. Tonderski
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Barbro Ulén
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7014, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - Paul J. A. Withers
- School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography, Bangor University, Bangor, LL57 2DG UK
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Djodjic F, Villa A. Distributed, high-resolution modelling of critical source areas for erosion and phosphorus losses. AMBIO 2015; 44 Suppl 2:S241-51. [PMID: 25681981 PMCID: PMC4329147 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-014-0618-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Phosphorus losses from arable land need to be reduced to prevent eutrophication of surrounding waters. Owing to the high spatial variability of P losses, cost-effective countermeasures need to target parts of the catchment that are most susceptible to P losses. Field surveys identified critical source areas for overland flow and erosion amounting to only 0.4-2.6 % of total arable land in four different catchments in southern Sweden. Distributed modelling using high-resolution digital elevation data identified 72-96 % of these observed erosion and overland flow features. The modelling results were also successfully used to predict occurrence of overland flow and rill and gully erosion in a catchment in central Sweden. Such exact high-resolution modelling allows for accurate placement of planned countermeasures. However, current legislative and environmental subsidy programmes need to change their approach from income-loss compensation to rewarding high cost effectiveness of implemented countermeasures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faruk Djodjic
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Lennart Hjälmsv. 9, P.O. Box 7050, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Ana Villa
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Lennart Hjälmsv. 9, P.O. Box 7050, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
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Williamson TN, Christensen VG, Richardson WB, Frey JW, Gellis AC, Kieta KA, Fitzpatrick FA. Stream Sediment Sources in Midwest Agricultural Basins with Land Retirement along Channel. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2014; 43:1624-1634. [PMID: 25603248 DOI: 10.2134/jeq2013.12.0521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Documenting the effects of agricultural land retirement on stream-sediment sources is critical to identifying management practices that improve water quality and aquatic habitat. Particularly difficult to quantify are the effects from conservation easements that commonly are discontinuous along channelized streams and ditches throughout the agricultural midwestern United States. Our hypotheses were that sediment from cropland, retired land, stream banks, and roads would be discernible using isotopic and elemental concentrations and that source contributions would vary with land retirement distribution along tributaries of West Fork Beaver Creek in Minnesota. Channel-bed and suspended sediment were sampled at nine locations and compared with local source samples by using linear discriminant analysis and a four-source mixing model that evaluated seven tracers: In, P, total C, Be, Tl, Th, and Ti. The proportion of sediment sources differed significantly between suspended and channel-bed sediment. Retired land contributed to channel-bed sediment but was not discernible as a source of suspended sediment, suggesting that retired-land material was not mobilized during high-flow conditions. Stream banks were a large contributor to suspended sediment; however, the percentage of stream-bank sediment in the channel bed was lower in basins with more continuous retired land along the riparian corridor. Cropland sediments had the highest P concentrations; basins with the highest cropland-sediment contributions also had the highest P concentrations. Along stream reaches with retired land, there was a lower proportion of cropland material in suspended sediment relative to sites that had almost no land retirement, indicating less movement of nutrients and sediment from cropland to the channel as a result of land retirement.
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Sharpley A, Wang X. Managing agricultural phosphorus for water quality: lessons from the USA and China. J Environ Sci (China) 2014; 26:1770-1782. [PMID: 25193824 DOI: 10.1016/j.jes.2014.06.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2014] [Revised: 03/20/2014] [Accepted: 05/14/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
The accelerated eutrophication of freshwaters and to a lesser extent some coastal waters is primarily driven by phosphorus (P) inputs. While efforts to identify and limit point source inputs of P to surface waters have seen some success, nonpoint sources remain difficult to identify, target, and remediate. As further improvements in wastewater treatment technologies becomes increasingly costly, attention has focused more on nonpoint source reduction, particularly the role of agriculture. This attention was heightened over the last 10 to 20 years by a number of highly visible cases of nutrient-related water quality degradation; including the Lake Taihu, Baltic Sea, Chesapeake Bay, and Gulf of Mexico. Thus, there has been a shift to targeted management of critical sources of P loss. In both the U.S. and China, there has been an intensification of agricultural production systems in certain areas concentrate large amounts of nutrients in excess of local crop and forage needs, which has increased the potential for P loss from these areas. To address this, innovative technologies are emerging that recycle water P back to land as fertilizer. For example, in the watershed of Lake Taihu, China one of the largest surface fresh waters for drinking water supply in China, local governments have encouraged innovation and various technical trials to harvest harmful algal blooms and use them for bio-gas, agricultural fertilizers, and biofuel production. In any country, however, the economics of remediation will remain a key limitation to substantial changes in agricultural production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Sharpley
- Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences, Division of Agriculture, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA.
| | - Xiaoyan Wang
- College of Resources, Environment & Tourism, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China.
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37
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Jarvie HP, Sharpley AN, Brahana V, Simmons T, Price A, Neal C, Lawlor AJ, Sleep D, Thacker S, Haggard BE. Phosphorus retention and remobilization along hydrological pathways in karst terrain. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2014; 48:4860-4868. [PMID: 24720609 DOI: 10.1021/es405585b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Karst landscapes are often perceived as highly vulnerable to agricultural phosphorus (P) loss, via solution-enlarged conduits that bypass P retention processes. Although attenuation of P concentrations has been widely reported within karst drainage, the extent to which this results from hydrological dilution, rather than P retention, is poorly understood. This is of strategic importance for understanding the resilience of karst landscapes to P inputs, given increasing pressures for intensified agricultural production. Here hydrochemical tracers were used to account for dilution of P, and to quantify net P retention, along transport pathways between agricultural fields and emergent springs, for the karst of the Ozark Plateau, midcontinent USA. Up to ∼ 70% of the annual total P flux and ∼ 90% of the annual soluble reactive P flux was retained, with preferential retention of the most bioavailable (soluble reactive) P fractions. Our results suggest that, in some cases, karst drainage may provide a greater P sink than previously considered. However, the subsequent remobilization and release of the retained P may become a long-term source of slowly released "legacy" P to surface waters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen P Jarvie
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford OX10 8BB, U.K
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38
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Pradhanang SM, Mukundan R, Zion MS, Schneiderman EM, Pierson D, Steenhuis TS. Quantifying In-Stream Processes on Phosphorus Export Using an Empirical Approach. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.4236/jwarp.2014.62017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Sharpley A, Jarvie HP, Buda A, May L, Spears B, Kleinman P. Phosphorus legacy: overcoming the effects of past management practices to mitigate future water quality impairment. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2013; 42:1308-26. [PMID: 24216410 DOI: 10.2134/jeq2013.03.0098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 291] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
The water quality response to implementation of conservation measures across watersheds has been slower and smaller than expected. This has led many to question the efficacy of these measures and to call for stricter land and nutrient management strategies. In many cases, this limited response has been due to the legacies of past management activities, where sinks and stores of P along the land-freshwater continuum mask the effects of reductions in edge-of-field losses of P. Accounting for legacy P along this continuum is important to correctly apportion sources and to develop successful watershed remediation. In this study, we examined the drivers of legacy P at the watershed scale, specifically in relation to the physical cascades and biogeochemical spirals of P along the continuum from soils to rivers and lakes and via surface and subsurface flow pathways. Terrestrial P legacies encompass prior nutrient and land management activities that have built up soil P to levels that exceed crop requirements and modified the connectivity between terrestrial P sources and fluvial transport. River and lake P legacies encompass a range of processes that control retention and remobilization of P, and these are linked to water and sediment residence times. We provide case studies that highlight the major processes and varying timescales across which legacy P continues to contribute P to receiving waters and undermine restoration efforts, and we discuss how these P legacies could be managed in future conservation programs.
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Jarvie HP, Sharpley AN, Withers PJA, Scott JT, Haggard BE, Neal C. Phosphorus mitigation to control river eutrophication: murky waters, inconvenient truths, and "postnormal" science. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2013; 42:295-304. [PMID: 23673821 DOI: 10.2134/jeq2012.0085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
This commentary examines an "inconvenient truth" that phosphorus (P)-based nutrient mitigation, long regarded as the key tool in eutrophication management, in many cases has not yet yielded the desired reductions in water quality and nuisance algal growth in rivers and their associated downstream ecosystems. We examine why the water quality and aquatic ecology have not recovered, in some case after two decades or more of reduced P inputs, including (i) legacies of past land-use management, (ii) decoupling of algal growth responses to river P loading in eutrophically impaired rivers; and (iii) recovery trajectories, which may be nonlinear and characterized by thresholds and alternative stable states. It is possible that baselines have shifted and that some disturbed river environments may never return to predisturbance conditions or may require P reductions below those that originally triggered ecological degradation. We discuss the practical implications of setting P-based nutrient criteria to protect and improve river water quality and ecology, drawing on a case study from the Red River Basin in the United States. We conclude that the challenges facing nutrient management and eutrophication control bear the hallmarks of "postnormal" science, where uncertainties are large, management intervention is urgently required, and decision stakes are high. We argue a case for a more holistic approach to eutrophication management that includes more sophisticated regime-based nutrient criteria and considers other nutrient and pollutant controls and river restoration (e.g., physical habitat and functional food web interactions) to promote more resilient water quality and ecosystem functioning along the land-freshwater continuum.
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Jarvie HP, Sharpley AN, Scott JT, Haggard BE, Bowes MJ, Massey LB. Within-river phosphorus retention: accounting for a missing piece in the watershed phosphorus puzzle. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2012; 46:13284-13292. [PMID: 23106359 DOI: 10.1021/es303562y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
The prevailing "puzzle" in watershed phosphorus (P) management is how to account for the nonconservative behavior (retention and remobilization) of P along the land-freshwater continuum. This often hinders our attempts to directly link watershed P sources with their water quality impacts. Here, we examine aspects of within-river retention of wastewater effluent P and its remobilization under high flows. Most source apportionment methods attribute P loads mobilized under high flows (including retained and remobilized effluent P) as nonpoint agricultural sources. We present a new simple empirical method which uses chloride as a conservative tracer of wastewater effluent, to quantify within-river retention of effluent P, and its contribution to river P loads, when remobilized under high flows. We demonstrate that within-river P retention can effectively mask the presence of effluent P inputs in the water quality record. Moreover, we highlight that by not accounting for the contributions of retained and remobilized effluent P to river storm-flow P loads, existing source apportionment methods may significantly overestimate the nonpoint agricultural sources and underestimate wastewater sources in mixed land-use watersheds. This has important implications for developing effective watershed remediation strategies, where remediation needs to be equitably and accurately apportioned among point and nonpoint P contributors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen P Jarvie
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford OX10 8BB, United Kingdom.
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42
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Sprague LA, Gronberg JAM. Relating management practices and nutrient export in agricultural watersheds of the United States. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2012; 41:1939-1950. [PMID: 23128751 DOI: 10.2134/jeq2012.0073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Relations between riverine export (load) of total nitrogen (N) and total phosphorus (P) from 133 large agricultural watersheds in the United States and factors affecting nutrient transport were evaluated using empirical regression models. After controlling for anthropogenic inputs and other landscape factors affecting nutrient transport-such as runoff, precipitation, slope, number of reservoirs, irrigated area, and area with subsurface tile drains-the relations between export and the area in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) (N) and conservation tillage (P) were positive. Additional interaction terms indicated that the relations between export and the area in conservation tillage (N) and the CRP (P) progressed from being clearly positive when soil erodibility was low or moderate, to being close to zero when soil erodibility was higher, to possibly being slightly negative only at the 90th to 95th percentile of soil erodibility values. Possible explanations for the increase in nutrient export with increased area in management practices include greater transport of soluble nutrients from areas in conservation tillage; lagged response of stream quality to implementation of management practices because of nitrogen transport in groundwater, time for vegetative cover to mature, and/or prior accumulation of P in soils; or limitations in the management practice and stream monitoring data sets. If lags are occurring, current nutrient export from agricultural watersheds may still be reflecting the influence of agricultural land-use practices that were in place before the implementation of these management practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lori A Sprague
- U.S Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO, USA.
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43
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McDowell RW. Minimising phosphorus losses from the soil matrix. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2012; 23:860-5. [PMID: 22464284 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2012.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2012] [Revised: 03/07/2012] [Accepted: 03/10/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Phosphorus loss from land, due to agricultural intensification, can impair water quality. The quantity lost is a function of runoff and availability, which is affected by inputs and the ability of the soil to retain P. Losses are exacerbated if surface runoff or drainage occurs soon after P inputs (e.g. fertiliser and/or manure and dung). Strategies to mitigate P losses depend on the farming system. The first step is to maintain a farm P balance (inputs-outputs) close to zero and the agronomic optimum. The next step is to use mitigation strategies in areas that lose the most P, but occupy little of the farm or catchment's area. Focusing on these areas, termed critical source areas, is more cost-effective than farm or catchment-wide strategies. However, the worry is that mitigation strategies may not keep pace with losses due to increasing intensification. Therefore, a proactive approach is needed that identifies areas resilient to P inputs and unlikely to lose P if land use is intensified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard W McDowell
- AgResearch, Invermay Agricultural Centre, Private Bag 50034, Mosgiel, New Zealand.
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Merem EC, Yerramilli S, Twumasi YA, Wesley JM, Robinson B, Richardson C. The applications of GIS in the analysis of the impacts of human activities on south Texas watersheds. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2011; 8:2418-46. [PMID: 21776238 PMCID: PMC3138033 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph8062418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2010] [Revised: 06/15/2011] [Accepted: 06/20/2011] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
With water resource planning assuming greater importance in environmental protection efforts, analyzing the health of agricultural watersheds using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) becomes essential for decision-makers in Southern Texas. Within the area, there exist numerous threats from conflicting land uses. These include the conversion of land formerly designated for agricultural purposes to other uses. Despite current efforts, anthropogenic factors are greatly contributing to the degradation of watersheds. Additionally, the activities of waste water facilities located in some of the counties, rising populations, and other socioeconomic variables are negatively impacting the quality of water in the agricultural watersheds. To map the location of these stressors spatially and the extent of their impacts across time, the paper adopts a mix scale method of temporal spatial analysis consisting of simple descriptive statistics. In terms of objectives, this research provides geo-spatial analysis of the effects of human activities on agricultural watersheds in Southern Texas and the factors fuelling the concerns under the purview of watershed management. The results point to growing ecosystem decline across time and a geographic cluster of counties experiencing environmental stress. Accordingly, the emergence of stressors such as rising population, increased use of fertilizer treatments on farm land, discharges of atmospheric pollutants and the large presence of municipal and industrial waste treatment facilities emitting pathogens and pesticides directly into the agricultural watersheds pose a growing threat to the quality of the watershed ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edmund C. Merem
- Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Jackson State University, 3825, Ridgewood Road, P.O. Box 23, Jackson, MS 39211, USA; E-Mails: (J.M.W.); (B.R); ; (C.R.)
- Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: ; Tel.: +1-601-432-6856; Fax: +1-601-432-6862
| | - Sudha Yerramilli
- National Center for Bio Defense Communications, Jackson State University, Mississippi e-Center @ JSU, 1230 Raymond Road, Jackson, MS 39204, USA; E-Mail:
| | - Yaw A. Twumasi
- Department of Advanced Technologies, School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences, Alcorn State University, 1000 ASU Drive, Jackson, MS 39096, USA; E-Mail:
| | - Joan M. Wesley
- Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Jackson State University, 3825, Ridgewood Road, P.O. Box 23, Jackson, MS 39211, USA; E-Mails: (J.M.W.); (B.R); ; (C.R.)
| | - Bennetta Robinson
- Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Jackson State University, 3825, Ridgewood Road, P.O. Box 23, Jackson, MS 39211, USA; E-Mails: (J.M.W.); (B.R); ; (C.R.)
| | - Chandra Richardson
- Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Jackson State University, 3825, Ridgewood Road, P.O. Box 23, Jackson, MS 39211, USA; E-Mails: (J.M.W.); (B.R); ; (C.R.)
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Scott JT, Haggard BE, Sharpley AN, Romeis JJ. Change point analysis of phosphorus trends in the Illinois River (Oklahoma) demonstrates the effects of watershed management. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2011; 40:1249-1256. [PMID: 21712594 DOI: 10.2134/jeq2010.0476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Detecting water quality improvements following watershed management changes is complicated by flow-dependent concentrations and nonlinear or threshold responses that are difficult to detect with traditional statistical techniques. In this study, we evaluated the long-term trends (1997-2009) in total P (TP) concentrations in the Illinois River of Oklahoma, and some of its major tributaries, using flow-adjusted TP concentrations and regression tree analysis to identify specific calendar dates in which change points in P trends may have occurred. Phosphorus concentrations at all locations were strongly correlated with stream flow. Flow-adjusted TP concentrations increased at all study locations in the late 1990s, but this trend was related to a change in monitoring practices where storm flow samples were specifically targeted after 1998. Flow-adjusted TP concentrations decreased in the two Illinois River sites after 2003. This change coincided with a significant decrease in effluent TP concentrations originating with one of the largest municipal wastewater treatment facilities in the basin. Conversely, flow-adjusted TP concentrations in one tributary increased, but this stream received treated effluent from a wastewater facility where effluent TP did not decrease significantly over the study period. Results of this study demonstrate how long-term trends in stream TP concentrations are difficult to quantify without consistent long-term monitoring strategies and how flow adjustment is likely mandatory for examining these trends. Furthermore, the study demonstrates how detecting changes in long-term water quality data sets requires statistical methods capable of identifying change point and nonlinear responses.
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Jarvie HPR, Neal C, Withers PJA, Baker DB, Richards RP, Sharpley AN. Quantifying phosphorus retention and release in rivers and watersheds using extended end-member mixing analysis (E-EMMA). JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2011; 40:492-504. [PMID: 21520757 DOI: 10.2134/jeq2010.0298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Extended end-member mixing analysis (E-EMMA) is presented as a novel empirical method for exploring phosphorus (P) retention and release in rivers and watersheds, as an aid to water-quality management. E-EMMA offers a simple and versatile tool that relies solely on routinely measured P concentration and flow data. E-EMMA was applied to two river systems: the Thames (U.K.) and Sandusky River (U.S.), which drain similar watershed areas but have contrasting dominant P sources and hydrology. For both the Thames and Sandusky, P fluxes at the watershed outlets were strongly influenced by processes that retain and cycle P. However, patterns of P retention were markedly different for the two rivers, linked to differences in P sources and speciation, hydrology and land use. On an annual timescale, up to 48% of the P flux was retained for the Sandusky and up to 14% for the Thames. Under ecologically critical low-flow periods, up to 93% of the P flux was retained for the Sandusky and up to 42% for the Thames. In the main River Thames and the Sandusky River, in-stream processes under low flows were capable of regulating the delivery of P and modifying the timing of delivery in a way that may help to reduce ecological impacts to downstream river reaches, by reducing ambient P concentrations at times of greatest river eutrophication risk. The results also suggest that by moving toward cleaner rivers and improved ecosystem health, the efficiency of P retention may actually increase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen P R Jarvie
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK.
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Kronvang B, Rubaek GH, Heckrath G. International phosphorus workshop: diffuse phosphorus loss to surface water bodies--risk assessment, mitigation options, and ecological effects in river basins. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2009; 38:1924-1929. [PMID: 19704136 DOI: 10.2134/jeq2009.0051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Agriculture is a major source of P to the aquatic environment in many countries. Although efforts have been made to improve the P utilization in agricultural production, which is reflected in modestly declining P surpluses in many countries, increasing agricultural P surpluses are still observed in some countries. The IPW5 Special Submission included in this issue addresses and discusses four key topics that emerged from the workshop: (i) managing agricultural P losses-effectiveness, uncertainties, and costs; (ii) P modeling at different scales; (iii) functioning of riparian buffers; (iv) ecological responses to P loadings and impacts of climate change. Each of these four topics interacts with each other as well as with the four tiers of the P Transfer Continuum (Source, Mobilization, Transport, and Ecological Effects). In this review paper we highlight the main outcomes of the workshop and the special collection of eight papers. Moreover, we identify the main gaps in our knowledge and future research directions on P, which are linked to important issues such as addressing scale effects, improved P models with the ability to quantify uncertainty, the linking of P losses with ecological effects, and climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian Kronvang
- National Environmental Research Institute, Dep. of Freshwater Ecology, Aarhus Univ., Vejlsøvej 25, DK-8600 Silkeborg, Denmark
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