Efficacy of Vegetated Buffers in Preventing Transport of Fecal Coliform Bacteria from Pasturelands |
| |
Authors: | Timothy J Sullivan James A Moore David R Thomas Eric Mallery Kai U Snyder Mark Wustenberg Judith Wustenberg Sam D Mackey Deian L Moore |
| |
Institution: | (1) E&S Environmental Chemistry, Inc., P.O. Box 609, Corvallis, OR 97339, USA;(2) Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;(3) Oregon Streamside Services, Tillamook, OR 97141, USA;(4) Kilchis Dairy Herd Services, Bay City, OR 97141, USA |
| |
Abstract: | An experimental study was conducted in Tillamook, Oregon, USA, to quantify the effectiveness of edge-of-field vegetated buffers
for reducing transport of fecal coliform bacteria (FCB) from agricultural fields amended with dairy cow manure. Installation
of vegetated buffers on loamy soils dramatically reduced the bacterial contamination of runoff water from manure-treated pasturelands,
but the size of the vegetated buffer was not an important determinant of bacterial removal efficiency. Only 10% of the runoff
samples collected from treatment cells having vegetated buffers exhibited FCB concentrations >200 colony forming units (cfu)/100
mL (a common water quality standard value), and the median concentration for all cells containing vegetated buffers was only
6 cfu/100 mL. The presence of a vegetated buffer of any size, from 1 to 25 m, generally reduced the median FCB concentration
in runoff by more than 99%. Results for FCB load calculations were similar. Our results suggest that where substantial FCB
contamination of runoff occurs from manure-treated pasturelands, it might be disproportionately associated with specific field
or management conditions, such as the presence of soils that exhibit low water infiltration and generate larger volumes of
runoff or the absence of a vegetated buffer. Buffer size regulations that do not consider such differences might not be efficient
or effective in reducing bacterial contamination of runoff. |
| |
Keywords: | Fecal coliform bacteria Vegetated buffer strip Best management practice Runoff Manure |
本文献已被 PubMed SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|