Leaching losses of dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen from agricultural soils in the upper US Midwest

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Hussain, Mir Zaman
Robertson, G Philip
Basso, Bruno
Hamilton, Stephen K
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2020
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Abstract

Leaching losses of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) from agricultural systems are important to water quality and carbon and nutrient balances but are rarely reported; the few available studies suggest linkages to litter production (DOC) and nitrogen fertilization (DON). In this study we examine the leaching of DOC, DON, NO3−, and NH4+ from no-till corn (maize) and perennial bioenergy crops (switchgrass, miscanthus, native grasses, restored prairie, and poplar) grown between 2009 and 2016 in a replicated field experiment in the upper Midwest U.S. Leaching was estimated from concentrations in soil water and modeled drainage (percolation) rates. DOC leaching rates (kg ha−1 yr−1) and volume-weighted mean concentrations (mg L−1) among cropping systems averaged 15.4 and 4.6, respectively; N fertilization had no effect and poplar lost the most DOC (21.8 and 6.9, respectively). DON leaching rates (kg ha−1 yr−1) and volume-weighted mean concentrations (mg L−1) under corn (the most heavily N-fertilized crop) averaged 4.5 and 1.0, respectively, which was higher than perennial grasses (mean: 1.5 and 0.5, respectively) and poplar (1.6 and 0.5, respectively). NO3− comprised the majority of total N leaching in all systems (59–92%). Average NO3− leaching (kg N ha−1 yr−1) under corn (35.3) was higher than perennial grasses (5.9) and poplar (7.2). NH4+ concentrations in soil water from all cropping systems were relatively low (<0.07 mg N L−1). Perennial crops leached more NO3− in the first few years after planting, and markedly less after. Among the fertilized crops, the leached N represented 14–38% of the added N over the study period; poplar lost the greatest proportion (38%) and corn was intermediate (23%). Requiring only one third or less of the N fertilization compared to corn, perennial bioenergy crops can substantially reduce N leaching and consequent movement into aquifers and surface waters.

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Science of The Total Environment

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734

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© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License, which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited.

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Environmental sciences

Science & Technology

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Dissolved organic matter

Ecology

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Hussain, MZ; Robertson, GP; Basso, B; Hamilton, SK, Leaching losses of dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen from agricultural soils in the upper US Midwest, Science of The Total Environment, 2020, 734, pp. 139379

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