Abstract
Best management practices (BMPs) are site-specific and their implementation, long-term management, and maintenance are important for successful reduction of phosphorus (P) loss into headwater streams. This paper reviews published research on managing P loss from agricultural cropping systems in the Midwestern United States and classified the available research based on BMPs and their efficacy in reducing P loss. This review paper also identifies the areas where additional research could provide insight for managing P losses. Our literature review shows that cover crops, reduced tillage, saturated buffers, and constructed wetlands are the most evaluated areas of current research. However, additional research is necessary on the site-specific area to measure the effectiveness of BMPs in managing P loss. The BMPs that serve as a sink of P need further evaluation in long-term field-scale trials. Studies evaluating adsorption and desorption mechanisms of P in surface and subsurface soils with materials or amendments that bind P in the soil are needed. The time required and pathways, where the flush of available P is lost or fixed in the soil matrix, need further investigation. Measured P loss from BMPs like bioreactors and saturated buffers supplemented with P adsorption materials or filters need to be simulated with models for their prediction and validation. Field evaluations of P index and critical source area concepts should be investigated for identifying problematic areas in the watersheds. Identification of overlapping areas of high P source and transport can help in strategic planning and layout, thereby resulting in reducing the cost of implementing BMPs at field and watershed scales.
Highlights
IntroductionCereal crops have only 16% P fertilizer use efficiency globally as estimated by Dhillon et al [1]
Phosphorus is one of the most limiting nutrients for crop production after nitrogen
Phosphorus application rate recommendations for corn–soybean are typically based on yield response to soil test P (STP) levels and no component of the environmental threshold for P loss is included in this recommendation
Summary
Cereal crops have only 16% P fertilizer use efficiency globally as estimated by Dhillon et al [1]. Over application of P fertilizer to crops has resulted in an estimated loss of about 10.5 million metric tons of P each year from agricultural fields that are equal to half of the P mined every year [2]. Sharpley et al [3] highlighted some important areas for potential P research including identification of soil P levels that have a high risk of P loss into water bodies, targeting critical source areas for managing P loss at watershed scales and balancing economically and environmentally sustainable use of P fertilizer.
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