Quantifying nutrient and sediment erosion at riverbank cattle access points using fine-scale geo-spatial data

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dc.contributor.authorScott, Alison
dc.contributor.authorCassidy, Rachel
dc.contributor.authorArnscheidt, Joerg
dc.contributor.authorRogers, David
dc.contributor.authorJordan, Phil
dc.contributor.departmentEnvironmental Protection
dc.date.accessioned2023-11-01T15:16:38Z
dc.date.available2023-11-01T15:16:38Z
dc.date.issued2023-10-14
dc.descriptionPublication history: Accepted - 8 October 2023; Published - 14 October 2023.
dc.description.abstractUnrestricted cattle access to the riparian zone can exacerbate riverbank erosion in grazed grassland catchments. Knowledge gaps include the magnitude of erosion and other environmental pressures at cattle access points. This study aimed to address this by using two high resolution geo-spatial methods; 1) aerial photogrammetry and 2) terrestrial laser scanning to measure cumulative, seasonal, and annual erosion rates at nine unmitigated cattle access points in Northern Ireland. Total, fine sediment and total phosphorus exports were determined through bulk density and deep soil core sampling campaigns of exposed bank faces. Accumulated erosion was estimated using method 1) at 1.0 – 49.5 t and 0.51 – 16.64 kg for total sediment and total phosphorus, respectively. Using method 2) median annual export coefficients of 0.19 – 0.21 t m−1 and 0.065 – 0.087 kg m−1 (normalised to streambank length) were determined for total sediment and total phosphorus transfers respectively and these mostly occurred during the grazing season (median 84% for both sediment and total phosphorus). In terms of livestock pressures, these annual exports equate to 0.34 – 0.40 t LU-1 yr−1 and 0.103 – 0.111 kg LU-1 yr−1 for total sediment and total phosphorus, respectively (1.19–1.89 LU ha−1). The conventional measure of protective fencing is likely to prevent such transfers to rivers. Scaling a nationwide agri-environment scheme over six years which installed 2,493 km of riparian fencing (and assuming from this study that 1.9 % of all riparian field boundaries had cattle access impact), this measure potentially saved 9,047–9,999 t yr−1 and 3,095 – 4,143 kg yr−1 of total sediment and total phosphorus, respectively, from entering water courses.
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work was funded by a DAERA PhD Scholarship (A. Scott) with additional resources from DAERA Evidence and Innovation project 16/4/03.
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12518/591
dc.identifier.citationScott, A., Cassidy, R., Arnscheidt, J., Rogers, D. and Jordan, P. (2023) ‘Quantifying nutrient and sediment erosion at riverbank cattle access points using fine-scale geo-spatial data’, Ecological Indicators. Elsevier BV. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.111067.
dc.identifier.issn1470-160X
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.111067
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.rights© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
dc.subjectCattle access point
dc.subjectPhotogrammetry
dc.subjectTerrestrial laser scanning
dc.subjectTotal phosphorus
dc.subjectSediment
dc.subjectErosion
dc.titleQuantifying nutrient and sediment erosion at riverbank cattle access points using fine-scale geo-spatial data
dc.typeArticle
dcterms.dateAccepted2023-10-08
dcterms.dateSubmitted2023-08-02
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