scholarly journals Soil P Storage Capacity in Agricultural Treatment Wetlands: Can a System Designed for N Reduction Also Retain P?

Wetlands ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 503-514
Author(s):  
Christine M. VanZomeren ◽  
Jacob F. Berkowitz ◽  
A. Maria Lemke ◽  
Krista G. Kirkham

Abstract Increasing interest focuses on utilizing wetlands to reduce nutrient loading to surface waters. The current study examines soil P storage capacity in three treatment wetlands designed to decrease N loading from an agricultural tile drainage system in Illinois. Adjacent farm field and restored floodplain wetland soils were also evaluated. Results demonstrate that wetland soils sequestered P; however, the magnitude of P retention varied significantly across treatment systems and floodplain wetlands related to differences in soil properties. Soil P storage capacity increased in the direction of water flow, but varied across treatment wetlands; soils ranged from P sinks (5.8 ± 1.5 mg P kg−1) to potential P sources (−17.2 ± 2.0 mg P kg−1). Farm fields displayed the highest water soluble P levels (11.3 ± 1.5 mg P kg−1) and represented the largest potential source of P with a mean storage capacity of −48.6 ± 6.8 mg P kg−1. A phosphorus saturation ratio threshold value of 0.10 differentiated between potential P sources and sinks. Findings suggest wetlands receiving P loadings from tile drainage accumulate soil P over time, but maintaining P removal efficiency in treatment wetlands may require periodic management to decrease soil P concentrations via nutrient removal and/or soil amendments.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Berkowitz ◽  
Christine VanZomeren ◽  
Nia Hurst ◽  
Kristina Sebastian

Historical loss of wetlands coupled with excess phosphorus (P) loading at watershed scales have degraded water quality in portions of the western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB). In response, efforts are underway to restore wetlands and decrease P loading to surface waters. Because wetlands have a finite capacity to retain P, researchers have developed techniques to determine whether wetlands function as P sources or sinks. The following technical report evaluates the soil P storage capacity (SPSC) at locations under consideration for wetland restoration in collaboration with the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and the H2Ohio initiative. Results indicate that the examined soils display a range of P retention capacities, reflecting historic land-use patterns and management regimes. However, the majority of study locations exhibited some capacity to sequester additional P. The analysis supports development of rankings and comparative analyses of areas within a specific land parcel, informing management through design, avoidance, removal, or remediation of potential legacy P sources. Additionally, the approaches described herein support relative comparisons between multiple potential wetland development properties. These results, in conjunction with other data sources, can be used to target, prioritize, justify, and improve decision-making for wetland management activities in the WLEB.


2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luís Ignácio Prochnow ◽  
José Francisco da Cunha ◽  
Ariel Francisco Candiotti Ventimiglia

Ten P fertilizers were collected (commercial fertilizers) or synthesized (experimental sources) in order to obtain single superphosphates varying in water and citrate solubility. A standard source of P was also produced by crystallization of the water-soluble fraction of a triple superphosphate. Eleven P sources were band applied to a medium textured Xanthic Hapludox, in Bahia, Brazil (low content of resin-extractable P) at a rate of 80 kg ha-1 of NAC + H2O (neutral ammonium citrate plus water) soluble P2O5, with soybean as the crop which was grown to maturity. A check plot (control) was included in the study. Three of the P sources [single superphosphate produced from Araxa phosphate rock (PR), low-grade single superphosphate produced from Lagamar PR and the standard source of P] were also applied at rates to provide 40 and 120 kg ha-1 of NAC + H2O soluble P2O5. Yield of soybean was evaluated by analysis of variance with mean comparison performed utilizing LSD lines, considering the P sources applied at a rate of 80 kg ha-1 of P2O5 + control. Regression procedures were used to study the relation between yield of soybean and rates of P2O5. The fertilizers tested performed equally well as a source of P for soybean. The level of water-soluble P did not influence fertilizer performance.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 1487-1495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ciro Antonio Rosolem ◽  
Alexandre Merlin

Phosphorus fixation in tropical soils may decrease under no-till. In this case, P fertilizer could be surface-spread, which would improve farm operations by decreasing the time spend in reloading the planter with fertilizers. In the long term, less soluble P sources could be viable. In this experiment, the effect of surface-broadcast P fertilization with both soluble and reactive phosphates on soil P forms and availability to soybean was studied with or without fertilization with soluble P in the planting furrow in a long-term experiment in which soybean was grown in rotation with Ruzigrass (Brachiaria ruziziensis). No P or 80 kg ha-1 of P2O5 in the form of triple superphosphate or Arad reactive rock phosphate was applied on the surface of a soil with variable P fertilization history. Soil samples were taken to a depth of 60 cm and soil P was fractionated. Soybean was grown with 0, 30, and 60 kg ha-1 of P2O5 in the form of triple phosphate applied in the seed furrow. Both fertilizers applied increased available P in the uppermost soil layers and the moderately labile organic and inorganic forms of P in the soil profile, probably as result of root decay. Soybean responded to phosphates applied on the soil surface or in the seed furrow; however, application of soluble P in the seed furrow should not be discarded. In tropical soils with a history of P fertilization, soluble P sources may be substituted for natural reactive phosphates broadcast on the surface. The planting operation may be facilitated through reduction in the rate of P applied in the planting furrow in relation to the rates currently applied.


2008 ◽  
Vol 53 (No. 9) ◽  
pp. 375-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Balík ◽  
D. Pavlíková ◽  
V. Vaněk ◽  
M. Kulhánek ◽  
B. Kotková

Model experiments using rhizoboxes were carried out in order to evaluate the influence of different plants (wheat, rape) on the changes in water extractable contents of P, the pH/H2O value and the activity of acidic and alkaline phosphatase in soil of plant rhizosphere. For this experiment, a Cambisol with different long-term fertilizing systems was used: (i) control (with no fertilizer application), (ii) sewage sludge, and (iii) manure. A lower content of water-soluble P was observed in close vicinities of root surfaces (up to 2 mm) at all the studied variants. The control (non-treated) variant reflected a significantly lower content of water-soluble P in the rhizosphere compared to the fertilized ones. The activities of the acidic and alkaline phosphatases were significantly higher in the rhizosphere compared to the bulk soil (soil outside the rhizosphere). The long-term application of organic fertilizers significantly increased phosphatase activity; the activity of the acidic phosphatase was significantly higher in the rhizosphere of rape plants compared to wheat. The variant treated with manure exhibited an increased activity of both the acidic and alkaline phosphatases compared to the variant treated with sewage sludge. In the case of the variant treated long-term with sewage sludge, the portion of inorganic P to total soil P content proportionally increased compared to the manure-treated variant. Soil of the rape rhizosphere showed a trend of lower pH/H<sub>2</sub>O value of all variants, whereas the wheat rhizosphere showed an opposite pH tendency.


1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Tan ◽  
C. F. Drury ◽  
M. Soultani ◽  
I. J. van Wesenbeeck ◽  
H. Y. F. Ng ◽  
...  

Conservation tillage has become an attractive form of agricultural management practices for corn and soybean production on heavy textured soil in southern Ontario because of the potential for improving soil quality. A controlled drainage system combined with conservation tillage practices has also been reported to improve water quality. In Southwestern Ontario, field scale on farm demonstration sites were established in a paired watershed (no-tillage vs. conventional tillage) on clay loam soil to study the effect of tillage system on soil structure and water quality. The sites included controlled drainage and free drainage systems to monitor their effect on nitrate loss in the tile drainage water. Soil structure, organic matter content and water storage in the soil profile were improved with no-tillage (NT) compared to conventional tillage (CT). No-tillage also increased earthworm populations. No-tillage was found to have higher tile drainage volume and nitrate loss which were attributed to an increase in soil macropores from earthworm activity. The controlled drainage system (CD) reduced nitrate loss in tile drainage water by 14% on CT site and 25.5% on NT site compared to the corresponding free drainage system (DR) from May, 1995 to April 30, 1997. No-tillage farming practices are definitely enhanced by using a controlled drainage system for preventing excessive nitrate leaching through tile drainage. Average soybean yields for CT site were about 12 to 14% greater than the NT site in 1995 and 1996. However, drainage systems had very little effect on soybean yields in 1995 and 1996 due to extremely dry growing seasons.


1991 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 201-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amar Khelil ◽  
Stefan Schneider

In recent years, the population and authorities in West Germany have become very concerned with water pollution. In this respect, combined sewage discharges have been pointed out as a major source. Various measures can be considered, which can be ordered into three categories: a redefinition of the objectives of the Urban Drainage System (UDS), the reshaping of the UDS (e.g. extension of the storage capacity) or the modification of its operation. Among the latter measures, Real-Time Control (RTC) constitutes the main option. It aims at a better exploitation of the existing storage potential. As the city of Bremen (Germany) decided, several years ago, to renew the on-line survey and monitoring system of its UDS, the determination of on-line strategies to operate the pumps came to the fore. Methods and tools to investigate the possibility to reduce the pollution loads through improved control strategies have been developed. Some results are presented.


2003 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Beauchemin ◽  
R. R. Simard ◽  
M. A. Bolinder ◽  
M. C. Nolin ◽  
D. Cluis

Subsurface drainage systems can be a significant pathway for P transfer from some soils to surface waters. The objective of the study was to determine P concentration in tile-drainage water and its relationship to P status in surface soils (A horizons) from an intensively cultivated area in the Montreal Lowlands. The profiles of 43 soil units were characterized for their P contents and pedogenic properties. Tile-drainage water P concentrations were monitored over a 3-y r period on a weekly basis on 10 soil units, and four times during each growing season for the other 33 units. The soil units were grouped into lower and higher P sorbing soils using multiple discriminant equations developed in an earlier related study. The A horizons of the lower P sorbing soils had an elevated P saturation degree [mean Mehlich(III) P/Al = 17%] associated with total P concentrations in tile-drainage water consistently greater than the surface water quality standard of 0.03 mg total P L-1. Conversely, low P concentrations in tile-drainage waters (< 0.03 mg L-1) and a moderate mean Mehlich(III) P/Al ratio of 8% were observed in the higher P sorbing soil group. Total P concentrations in drainage systems were significantly related to soil P status in surface soils. Grouping soils according to their P sorption capacities increased the power of prediction based on only one soil variable. However, accurate predictions in terms of drain P concentration can hardly be obtained unless large dataset and other factors related to field management practices and hydrology of the sites are also considered. Therefore, a better alternative to predict the risk of P leaching is to work in terms of risk classes and rely on a multiple factor index. Key words: Tile-drainage water, phosphorus, P transfer, P loss, degree of soil P saturation, phosphorus index


1991 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bationo ◽  
W. E. Baethgen ◽  
C. B. Christianson ◽  
A. U. Mokwunye

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