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Abstract Phosphorus (P) budgets for cropping systems provide insights for keeping soil P at optimal levels for crops while avoiding excess inputs. We quantified 12 years of P inputs (fertilizer and atmospheric deposition) and outputs (harvest and leaching losses) for replicated maize (Zea maysL.)—soybean (Glycine maxL.)—wheat (Triticum aestivum) crop rotations under conventional, no‐till, reduced input, and biologically based (organic without compost or manure) management systems at the Kellogg Biological Station LTAR site in southwest Michigan. Conventional, no‐till, and reduced input systems were fertilized between 13 and 50 kg P ha−1depending on year. Soil test phosphorus (STP) was measured at 0‐ to 25‐cm depth every autumn. Leached P was measured as dissolved P in the soil solution sampled beneath the rooting depth and combined with modeled percolation. Fertilization and harvest were the predominant P fluxes in the fertilized systems, whereas only harvest dominated P flux in the unfertilized organic system. Leaching losses were minor terms in the budgets, but leachate concentrations were nevertheless close to the range of concern for downstream eutrophication. Over the 12‐year study period, the organic system exhibited a negative P balance (−82.0 kg P ha−1), coinciding with suboptimal STP levels, suggesting a need for P supplementation. In contrast, the fertilized systems showed positive P balances (mean: 70.1 kg P ha−1) with STP levels well above agronomic optima. Results underscore the importance of tailored P management strategies to sustain crop productivity while mitigating environmental impacts.
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Relationships between soil test phosphorus and county‐level agricultural surplus phosphorus
Abstract National nutrient inventories provide surplus phosphorus (P) estimates derived from county‐scale mass balance calculations using P inputs from manure and fertilizer sales and P outputs from crop yield data. Although bioavailable P and surplus P are often correlated at the field scale, few studies have investigated the relationship between measured soil P concentrations of large‐scale soil testing programs and inventory‐based surplus P estimates. In this study, we assessed the relationship between national surplus P data from the NuGIS dataset and laboratory‐measured soil test phosphorus (STP) at the county scale for Arkansas, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. For optimal periods of surplus P aggregation, surplus P was positively correlated with STP based on both Pearson (Arkansas:r = 0.65, North Carolina:r = 0.45, Oklahoma:r = 0.52) and Spearman correlation coefficients (Arkansas:ρ = 0.57, North Carolina:ρ = 0.28, and Oklahoma:ρ = 0.66). Based on Pearson correlations, the optimal surplus P aggregation periods were 10, 30, and 4 years for AR, NC, and OK, respectively. On average, STP was more strongly correlated with surplus P than with individual P inventory components (fertilizer, manure, and crop removal), except in North Carolina. In Arkansas and North Carolina, manure P was positively correlated with STP, and fertilizer P was negatively correlated with STP. Altogether, results suggest that surplus P moderately correlates with STP concentrations, but aggregation period and location‐specific factors influence the strength of the relationship.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2019435
- PAR ID:
- 10608803
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Periodicals LLC
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Environmental Quality
- Volume:
- 53
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 0047-2425
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1127 to 1139
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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