Impact of two centuries of intensive agriculture on soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in the UK.

This paper describes an agricultural model (Roth-CNP) that estimates carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pools, pool changes, their balance and the nutrient fluxes exported from arable and grassland systems in the UK during 1800-2010. The Roth-CNP model was developed as part of an Integrated Model (IM) to simulate C, N and P cycling for the whole of UK, by loosely coupling terrestrial, hydrological and hydro-chemical models. The model was calibrated and tested using long term experiment (LTE) data from Broadbalk (1843) and Park Grass (1856) at Rothamsted. We estimated C, N and P balance and their fluxes exported from arable and grassland systems on a 5km×5km grid across the whole of UK by using the area of arable of crops and livestock numbers in each grid and their management. The model estimated crop and grass yields, soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and nutrient fluxes in the form of NH4-N, NO3-N and PO4-P. The simulated crop yields were compared to that reported by national agricultural statistics for the historical to the current period. Overall, arable land in the UK have lost SOC by -0.18, -0.25 and -0.08MgCha-1y-1 whereas land under improved grassland SOC stock has increased by 0.20, 0.47 and 0.24MgCha-1y-1 during 1800-1950, 1950-1970 and 1970-2010 simulated in this study. Simulated N loss (by leaching, runoff, soil erosion and denitrification) increased both under arable (-15, -18 and -53kgNha-1y-1) and grass (-18, -22 and -36kgNha-1y-1) during different time periods. Simulated P surplus increased from 2.6, 10.8 and 18.1kgPha-1y-1 under arable and 2.8, 11.3 and 3.6kgPha-1y-1 under grass lands 1800-1950, 1950-1970 and 1970-2010.

Nutrient fluxes from domestic wastewater: A national-scale historical perspective for the UK 1800-2010.

Nutrient emissions in human waste and wastewater effluent fluxes from domestic sources are quantified for the UK over the period 1800-2010 based on population data from UK Census returns. The most important drivers of change have been the introduction of the water closet (flush toilet) along with population growth, urbanization, connection to sewer, improvements in wastewater treatment and use of phosphorus in detergents. In 1800, the population of the UK was about 12 million and estimated emissions in human waste were 37kt N, 6.2kt P and 205ktorganicC/year. This would have been recycled to land with little or no sewage going directly to rivers or coastal waters. By 1900, population had increased to 35.6 million and some 145kt N were emitted in human waste but, with only the major urban areas connected to sewers, only about 19kt N were discharged in sewage effluent. With the use of phosphorus in detergents, estimated phosphorus emissions peaked at around 63.5ktP/year in the 1980s, with about 28ktP/year being discharged in sewage effluent. By 2010, population had increased to 63 million with estimated emissions of 263kt N, 43.6kt P and 1460ktorganicC/year, and an estimated effluent flux of 104kt N, 14.8kt P and 63kt organic C. Despite improvements in wastewater treatment, current levels of nutrient fluxes in sewage effluent are substantially higher than those in the early 20th century.

Application of a regional procedure to assess the risk to fish from high sediment concentrations.

Periods of high suspended sediment concentration in rivers can affect the behaviour, health and habitat of freshwater fish. A simple regional model relating daily mean suspended sediment concentration in rivers to flow and percentage of cropped and urban land has been applied to the Lower Swale, UK. The model uses a GIS catchment coverage of hydrological response units (HRUs) of area 5-8 km2, each of which is assumed hydrologically independent and drains to an identified river reach. The sediment delivery properties of each HRU are a function of its land use characteristics determined from existing databases, and hydrological conditions determined from effective rainfall measurements. Daily mean suspended sediment concentrations for each river reach were derived by cumulating simulated HRU flows and sediment loads down successive reaches. A map of the modelled 10% quantile sediment concentrations is presented for both HRUs and river reaches. The map is substantially different from existing erosion risk maps because the delivery model is driven by flow in addition to land use, rather than by soil type. Frequency curves showing the exceedance probability of mean simulated sediment concentrations over 1-6-day durations have been derived using peaks-over-threshold techniques. Maps of the risk of harm to fish, based on the probability of 1- and 4-day sediment concentrations exceeding 80 mg l(-1), are presented. Such maps can be used to assess the impact of sediment on fish and for setting appropriate river water quality objectives.

Using artificial fluorescent particles as tracers of livestock wastes within an agricultural catchment.

Evidence for the movement of agricultural slurry and associated pollutants into surface waters is often anecdotal, particularly with relation to its 'particulate' components which receive less attention than 'bio-available' soluble phases. To assess the extent of movement of slurry particles artificial fluorescent particles were mixed with slurry and applied to a field sub-catchment within a headwater catchment. Particles were 2-60 µm in diameter and two different densities, 2.7 and 1.2 g cm(-3) representing 'inorganic' and 'organic' material. Water samples from the field and catchment outlet were collected during two storm events following slurry application and analysed for particle and suspended sediment concentrations (SSC). SSC from the field and catchment outlet always formed clockwise hysteresis loops indicating sediment exhaustion and particles of the two densities were always found to be positively correlated. Particles from the field formed clockwise hysteresis loops during the first discharge event after slurry application, but anti-clockwise hysteresis loops during the second monitored event which indicated a depletion of readily mobilisable particles. Particles from the catchment outlet always formed anticlockwise hysteresis loops. Particle size became finer spatially, between field and catchment outlet, and temporally, between successive storm events. The results indicate that slurry particles may be readily transported within catchments but that different areas may contribute to pollutant loads long after the main peak in SSC has passed. The density of the particles did not appear to have any effect on particle transport however the size of the particles may play a more important role in the 2-60 µm range.

Assessment of natural fluorescence as a tracer of diffuse agricultural pollution from slurry spreading on intensely-farmed grasslands.

The value of natural fluorescence in tracing diffuse pollution, in liquid phase, following slurry application to land was assessed by field experiment using twelve one hectare lysimeters on a heavy clay soil in Devon, UK, during autumn 2007. A strong linear relationship was found between natural fluorescence intensity and slurry concentration. The ratio of indices of tryptophan-like and fulvic/humic-like fluorescence (TI:FI) varied between 2 and 5 for a range of slurries sampled from Devon farms and allowed slurry to be distinguished from uncontaminated drainage waters (TI:FI<1). Incidental losses of slurry, indicated by significantly enhanced TI:FI ratios, high TI and high ammonium levels, occurred via the drain flow pathway of the drained lysimeters during the first small event following slurry-spreading. The maximum estimated loss from a single lysimeter was 2-8kg or 0.004-0.016% of the applied slurry. In the second larger storm event, some five weeks later, significantly enhanced TI:FI ratios in the drain flows were not associated with high TI but with high nitrate levels and, compared to the earlier storm, an increase in the humification index. This implies the loss of slurry decomposition products during this event but further work is needed to validate this. There was no significant enhancement of TI:FI in the surface/throughflow pathways of the drained or undrained lysimeters in either of the events. The observed change over a period of weeks in the strength and nature of the fluorescence signal from spread slurry restricts quantification of slurry losses to those immediately after slurry spreading. Nonetheless, this study demonstrates the utility of fluorescence as an indicator of slurry in drainage waters and the importance of field drains in diffuse agricultural pollution.