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Phosphorus dynamics and export in streams draining micro‐catchments: Development of empirical models
Author(s) -
Kronvang Brian,
Bechmann Marianne,
Pedersen Morten L.,
Flynn Nicola
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.200321164
Subject(s) - surface runoff , environmental science , manure , drainage basin , hydrology (agriculture) , soil water , streams , agriculture , phosphorus , sediment , empirical modelling , fertilizer , land use , watershed , agronomy , soil science , geography , ecology , biology , chemistry , geology , computer network , paleontology , cartography , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , machine learning , computer science , programming language
Annual total phosphorus (TP) export data from 108 European micro‐catchments were analyzed against descriptive catchment data on climate (runoff), soil types, catchment size, and land use. The best possible empirical model developed included runoff, proportion of agricultural land and catchment size as explanatory variables but with a low explanation of the variance in the dataset (R 2 = 0.37). Improved country specific empirical models could be developed in some cases. The best example was from Norway where an analysis of TP‐export data from 12 predominantly agricultural micro‐catchments revealed a relationship explaining 96 % of the variance in TP‐export. The explanatory variables were in this case soil‐P status (P‐AL), proportion of organic soil, and the export of suspended sediment. Another example is from Denmark where an empirical model was established for the basic annual average TP‐export from 24 catchments with percentage sandy soils, percentage organic soils, runoff, and application of phosphorus in fertilizer and animal manure as explanatory variables (R 2 = 0.97).