Quantifying phosphorus levels in soils, plants, surface water, and shallow groundwater associated with bahiagrass-based pastures |
| |
Authors: | Gilbert C Sigua Robert K Hubbard and Samuel W Coleman |
| |
Institution: | (1) United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Subtropical Agricultural Research Station, Brooksville, FL 34601, USA;(2) United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southeast Watershed Research Laboratory, Tifton, GA 31793, USA |
| |
Abstract: | Background, aim, and scope Recent assessments of water quality status have identified eutrophication as one of the major causes of water quality ‘impairment’
not only in the USA but also around the world. In most cases, eutrophication has accelerated by increased inputs of phosphorus
due to intensification of crop and animal production systems since the early 1990s. Despite substantial measurements using
both laboratory and field techniques, little is known about the spatial and temporal variability of phosphorus dynamics across
landscapes, especially in agricultural landscapes with cow-calf operations. Critical to determining environmental balance
and accountability is an understanding of phosphorus excreted by animals, phosphorus removal by plants, acceptable losses
of phosphorus within the manure management and crop production systems into soil and waters, and export of phosphorus off-farm.
Further research effort on optimizing forage-based cow-calf operations to improve pasture sustainability and protect water
quality is therefore warranted. We hypothesized that properly managed cow-calf operations in subtropical agroecosystem would
not be major contributors to excess loads of phosphorus in surface and ground water. To verify our hypothesis, we examined
the comparative concentrations of total phosphorus among soils, forage, surface water, and groundwater beneath bahiagrass-based
pastures with cow-calf operations in central Florida, USA. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|