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Increase in soluble phosphorus transported in drainflow from a grassland catchment in response to soil phosphorus accumulation
Author(s) -
Smith R.V.,
Lennox S.D.,
Jordan C.,
Foy R.H.,
McHale E.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
soil use and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.709
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1475-2743
pISSN - 0266-0032
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-2743.1995.tb00957.x
Subject(s) - phosphorus , grassland , soil water , zoology , drainage basin , environmental science , chemistry , hydrology (agriculture) , agronomy , biology , soil science , geology , geography , cartography , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry
. Because of the observed variability in soil available P (Olsen) contents, phosphorus budgets were used to predict changes in the soil P status of an intensively managed 6 ha grassland catchment in Northern Ireland. The P accumulation rate of approximately 24 kg/ha/y suggested an increase of soil available P (Olsen) of 1.0 mg P/kg/y. Soluble reactive phosphorus concentrations in drainflow measured on a daily basis for a two year period (January 1981 — December 1982) were compared with the two year period January 1990 — December 1991. The median concentration had increased by 10.0 μg P/1 in 1990/91 compared with 1981/82. This difference was only apparent in mean concentrations for the two time periods, after data associated with high flow events, which were more frequent in 1981/82, were excluded from the comparison. This rate of increase of 1.1 μg P/1/y, which was interpreted as reflecting an increase in soluble reactive phosphorus concentration in soil solution, is comparable to the increase in background soluble reactive phosphorus of 1.5 ± 0.54 μg P/1/y which was reported recently over a 17 year period from diffuse sources in the much larger (4400 km 2 ) Northern Ireland catchment of Lough Neagh.