Phosphorus losses from monitored fields with conservation practices in the Lake Erie Basin, USA

Conservation practices are implemented on farm fields in the USA through Farm Bill programs; however, there is a need for greater verification that these practices provide environmental benefits (e.g., water quality). This study was conducted to assess the impact of Farm Bill eligible conservation p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ambio 2015-03, Vol.44 (Suppl 2), p.S319-S331
Main Authors: Smith, Douglas R., Francesconi, Wendy, Livingston, Stan J., Huang, Chi-hua
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
agricultural land
Agricultural management
Agricultural practices
agricultural runoff
Agriculture
Atmospheric Sciences
Avena sativa
Basins
Conservation
Conservation practices
Corn
Crop rotation
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
ecosystem services
Electronic records
Environment
Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology
Environmental Management
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Expenditures
Farm Bill
Farms
Glycine max
Grassed waterways
Lake basins
Lake Erie
losses from soil
no-tillage
oats
Phosphorus
Phosphorus - analysis
Physical Geography
planting
pollution load
Sediments
Soybeans
Tillage
Triticum aestivum
United States
vegetated waterways
Water Movements
Water quality
Water quality standards
Watersheds
Waterways
wheat
Zea mays
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Summary:Conservation practices are implemented on farm fields in the USA through Farm Bill programs; however, there is a need for greater verification that these practices provide environmental benefits (e.g., water quality). This study was conducted to assess the impact of Farm Bill eligible conservation practices on soluble P (SP) and total P (TP) losses from four fields that were monitored between 2004 and 2013. No-tillage doubled SP loading compared to rotational tillage (e.g., tilled only before planting corn); however, no-tillage decreased TP loading by 69 % compared to rotational tillage. Similarly, grassed waterways were shown to increase SP loads, but not TP loads. A corn–soybean–wheat–oat rotation reduced SP loads by 85 % and TP loads by 83 % compared to the standard corn–soybean rotation in the region. We can potentially attain TP water quality goals using these Farm Bill practices; however, additional strategies must be employed to meet these goals for SP.
ISSN:0044-7447
1654-7209
DOI:10.1007/s13280-014-0624-6