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Quality of Runoff from Fescuegrass Plots Treated with Poultry Litter and Inorganic Fertilizer
Author(s) -
Edwards D. R.,
Daniel T. C.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1994.00472425002300030025x
Subject(s) - surface runoff , poultry litter , kjeldahl method , fertilizer , environmental science , total suspended solids , water quality , nutrient , litter , hydrology (agriculture) , festuca arundinacea , agronomy , zoology , chemical oxygen demand , nitrogen , chemistry , environmental engineering , ecology , poaceae , biology , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , wastewater , engineering
Recent application of either organic or inorganic fertilizers can promote increased runoff concentrations of nutrients, organic matter, and/or suspended sofids. This experiment assessed the impacts of fertilizer treatment (control, poultry litter, and inorganic fertilizer) and simulated rainfalls (four events, one each at 7, 14, 36, and 68 d after application) on quality of runoff from fescuegrass ( Festuca arundinacea Schreber) plots. Runoff was produced by simulated rainfall (50 mm h −1 ) and sampled at 0.08‐h intervals during runoff. Composite runoff samples from each plot were analyzed for NO 3 ‐N, NH 3 ‐N, total Kjeldahl (TKN), ortho‐P (PO 4 ‐P), total P, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total suspended solids (TSS). For the first simulated rainfall event, runoff concentrations of NO 3 ‐N, NH 3 ‐N, TKN, PO 4 ‐P, and total P were highest from the plots that received inorganic fertilizer, while the highest concentrations of COD and TSS occurred in runoff from plots treated with poultry litter. Mean concentrations of NO 3 ‐N, NH 3 ‐N, TKN, PO 4 ‐P, and total P in runoff from the litter‐treated plots during the second simulated rainfall were not significantly different than observed in runoff from the control plots. Runoff quality from the plots receiving poultry litter and inorganic fertilizer did not significantly differ from background (control) levels during the third simulated rainfall (with natural runoff occurring twice between the second and third simulated rainfalls). Runoff losses of parameters investigated were generally highest for the first simulated rainfall. Losses of N and P from the treated plots summed over all four simulated rainfalls were very small proportions of amounts applied (≈1.4 and 2.7%, respectively).