A carrying capacity framework for soil phosphorus and hydrological sensitivity from farm to catchment scales
Date
2019-06-04
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Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Agricultural fieldswith above optimumsoil phosphorus (P) are considered to pose risks to water quality and especially
when those areas are coincident with hydrologically sensitive areas (HSAs) that focus surface runoff
pathways. This is a challenge tomanage in areas of agricultural intensity in surfacewater dominated catchments
where water quality targets have to be met. In this study, a soil P survey of 13 sub-catchments and 7693 fields
was undertaken in a 220 km2 catchment. HSAs were also determined as the top 25th percentile risk froma runoff
routingmodel that used a LiDAR digital elevation model and soil hydraulic conductivity properties. Distributions
of these spatial data were compared with river soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentration measured fortnightly
over one year. The results showed that 41% of fields exceeded the agronomic optimumfor soil P across the
sub-catchments.When compared with the available water quality data, the results indicated that the high soil P
carrying capacity area of the sub-catchmentswas 15%. Combining high soil P and HSA, the carrying capacity area
of the sub-catchmentswas 1.5%. The opportunities to redistribute these riskswere analysed on fields with below
optimum soil P and where HSA risk was also minimal. These ranged from 0.4% to 13.8% of sub-catchment areas
and this limited potential, unlikely to fully reduce the P pressure to over-supplied fields, would need to be considered
alongside addressing this over-supply and also with targeted HSA interception measures.
Description
Publication history: Accepted - 30 May 2019; Published online - 4 June 2019.
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Keywords
Soil phosphorus, Runoff, Hydrologically sensitive areas, Agronomic optimum, Nutrient management, Water quality
Citation
Cassidy, R., Thomas, I. A., Higgins, A., Bailey, J. S. and Jordan, P. (2019) ‘A carrying capacity framework for soil phosphorus and hydrological sensitivity from farm to catchment scales’, Science of The Total Environment. Elsevier BV, 687, pp. 277–286. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.453.