Twenty years of catchment monitoring highlights the predominant role of long-term phosphorus balances and soil phosphorus status in affecting phosphorus loss in livestock-intensive regions.

Livestock husbandry has raised enormous environmental concerns around the world, including water quality issues. Yet there is a need to document long-term water quality trends in livestock-intensive regions and reveal the drivers for the trends based on detailed catchment monitoring. Here, we assessed the concentration and load trends of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) in streamwater of a livestock-intensive catchment in southwestern Norway, based on continuous flow measurements and flow-proportional composite water sampling. Precipitation and catchment-level soil P balance were monitored to examine the drivers. At the field level, moreover, the relationship between soil P balance and soil test P (measured using the ammonium lactate extraction method, P-AL) was assessed. Results showed that on average of 20 years 95 % of the P was applied to the catchment during March-August, when 40 % of annual precipitation and 25 % of annual discharge occurred. The low runoff helped reduce P loss following P applications. However, flow-weighted annual mean DRP concentration significantly increased with increasingly cumulative soil P surplus (R2 = 0.55, p = 0.0002). With a mean annual P surplus of 8.8 kg ha-1, the annual mean DRP concentration (range: 49-140 µg L-1; mean: 80 µg L-1) and annual DRP load (range: 0.35-1.46 kg ha-1; mean: 0.65 kg ha-1) significantly increased over the 20-year monitoring period (p = 0.001 and 0.0003, respectively). At the field level, P-AL concentrations were positively correlated with soil P balances (R2 = 0.48, p < 0.0001), confirming the long-term impact of P balances on the risks of P loss. The study highlights the predominant role of long-term P balances in affecting DRP loss in livestock-intensive regions through the effect on soil test P.

Considering inorganic P binding in bio-based products improves prediction of their P fertiliser value.

Prediction of the relative phosphorus (P) fertiliser value of bio-based fertiliser products is agronomically important, but previous attempts to develop prediction models have often failed due to the high chemical complexity of bio-based fertilisers and the limited number of products included in analyses. In this study, regression models for prediction were developed using independently produced data from 10 different studies on crop growth responses to P applied with bio-based fertiliser products, resulting in a dataset with 69 products. The 69 fertiliser products were organised into four sub-groups, based on the inorganic P compounds most likely to be present in each product. Within each product group, multiple regression was conducted using mineral fertiliser equivalents (MFE) as response variable and three potential explanatory variables derived from chemical analysis, all reflecting inorganic P binding in the fertiliser products: i) NaHCO3-soluble P, ii) molar ratio of calcium (Ca):P and iii) molar ratio of aluminium + iron (Al + Fe):P. The best regression model fit was achieved for sewage sludges with Al-/Fe-bound P (n = 20; R2 = 79.2%), followed by sewage sludges with Ca-bound P (n = 11; R2 = 71.1%); fertiliser products with Ca-bound P (n = 29; R2 = 58.2%); and thermally treated sewage sludge products (n = 9; R2 = 44.9%). Even though external factors influencing P fertiliser values (e.g. fertiliser shape, application form, soil characteristics) differed between the underlying studies and were not considered, the suggested prediction models provide potential for more efficient P recycling in practice.

Closing global P cycles: The effect of dewatered fish sludge and manure solids as P fertiliser.

The aim of this study was to contribute to closing global phosphorus (P) cycles by investigating and explaining the effect of fish sludge (feed residues and faeces of farmed fish) and manure solids as P fertiliser. Phosphorus quality in 14 filtered and/or dried, composted, separated or pyrolysed products based on fish sludge or cattle or swine manure was studied by sequential chemical fractionation and in two two-year growth trials, a pot experiment with barley (Hordeum vulgare) and a field experiment with spring wheat (Triticum aestivum). In fish sludge, P was mainly solubilised in the HCl fraction (66 ± 10%), commonly being associated with slowly soluble calcium phosphates, and mean relative agronomic efficiency (RAE) of fish sludge products during the first year of the pot experiment was only 47 ± 24%. Low immediate P availability was not compensated for during the second year. Thus efforts are needed to optimise the P effects if fish sludge is to be transformed from a waste into a valuable fertiliser. In manure solids, P was mainly soluble in H2O and 0.5 M NaHCO3 (72 ± 14%), commonly being associated with plant-available P, and mean RAE during the first year of the pot experiment was 77 ± 19%. Biochars based on fish sludge or manure had low concentrations of soluble P and low P fertilisation effects, confirming that treatment processes other than pyrolysis should be chosen for P-rich waste resources to allow efficient P recycling. The field experiment supported the results of the pot experiment, but provided little additional information.

Prediction of available phosphorus in soil: Combined use for crop production and water quality protection.

Optimizing phosphorus (P) application to agricultural soils is fundamental to crop production and water quality protection. We sought to relate soil P tests and P sorption characteristics to both crop yield response to P application and environmentally critical soil P status. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was grown in pot experiments with 45 soils of different P status. Half the pots were fertilized at 20 kg P ha-1 , and half received no P. Soils were extracted with ammonium lactate, sodium bicarbonate (Olsen P), dilute salt (0.0025 M CaCl2 ), and diffusive gradient in thin films. Soil adsorption coefficients were determined using the Freundlich isotherm equation, and the degree of P saturation was determined from both oxalate and ammonium lactate extracted Fe, Al, and P. All soil P analyses showed a nonlinear and significant relationship with yield response to P application, and all analyses manifested a threshold value above which no P response was observed. For the commonly used ammonium lactate test, inclusion of Al and Fe improved prediction of plant-available soil P. The threshold for yield response coincided with the environmentally critical values determined from the degree of P saturation. Results support the conclusion that soil P levels for which no P application is needed also have elevated risk of P loss to runoff.

Choice of mineral fertilizer substitution principle strongly influences LCA environmental benefits of nutrient cycling in the agri-food system.

Increased nutrient cycling in the agri-food system is a way to achieve a healthier nutrient stewardship and more sustainable food production. In life cycle assessment (LCA) studies, use of recycled fertilizer products is often credited by the substitution method, which subtracts the environmental burdens associated with avoided production of mineral fertilizer from the system under study. The environmental benefits from avoided fertilizer production can make an important contribution to the results, but different calculation principles and often implicit assumptions are used to estimate the amount of avoided mineral fertilizer. This may hinder comparisons between studies. The present study therefore examines how the choice of substitution principles influences LCA results. Three different substitution principles, called one-to-one, maintenance, and adjusted maintenance, are identified, and we test the importance of these in a case study on cattle slurry management. We show that the inventory of avoided mineral fertilizer varies greatly when the different principles are applied, with strong influences on two-thirds of LCA impact categories. With the one-to-one principle, there is a risk of systematically over-estimating the environmental benefits from nutrient cycling. In a sensitivity analysis we show that the difference between the principles is closely related to the application rate and levels of residual nutrients in the soil. We recommend that LCA practitioners first and foremost state and justify the substitution method they use, in order to increase transparency and comparability with other studies.

Effect of anaerobic digestion and liming on plant availability of phosphorus in iron- and aluminium-precipitated sewage sludge from primary wastewater treatment plants.

More efficient plant utilisation of the phosphorus (P) in sewage sludge is required because rock phosphate is a limited resource. To meet environmental legislation thresholds for P removal from wastewater (WW), primary treatment with iron (Fe) or aluminium (Al) coagulants is effective. There is also a growing trend for WW treatment plants (WWTPs) to be coupled to a biogas process, in order to co-generate energy. The sludge produced, when stabilised, is used as a soil amendment in many countries. This study examined the effects of anaerobic digestion (AD), with or without liming as a post-treatment, on P release from Fe- and Al-precipitated sludges originating from primary WWTPs. Plant uptake of P from Fe- and Al-precipitated sludge after lime treatment but without AD was also compared. Chemical characterisation with sequential extraction of P and a greenhouse experiment with barley (Hordeum vulgare) were performed to assess the treatment effects on plant-available P. Liming increased the P-labile fraction in all cases. Plant P uptake increased from 18.5 mg pot-1 to 53 mg P pot-1 with liming of Fe-precipitated sludge and to 35 mg P pot-1 with liming of the digestate, while it increased from 18.7 mg pot-1 to 39 and 29 mg P pot-1 for the Al-precipitated substrate and digestate, respectively. Thus, liming of untreated Fe-precipitated sludge and its digestate resulted in higher P uptake than liming its Al-precipitated counterparts. AD had a negative impact on P mobility for both sludges.

Drivers of Phosphorus Uptake by Barley Following Secondary Resource Application.

Minable rock phosphate is a finite resource. Replacing mineral phosphorus (P) fertilizer with P-rich secondary resources is one way to manage P more efficiently, but the importance of physicochemical and microbial soil processes induced by secondary resources for plant P uptake is still poorly understood. Using radioactive-labeling techniques, the fertilization effects of dairy manure, fish sludge, meat bone meal, and wood ash were studied as P uptake by barley after 44 days and compared with those of water-soluble mineral P (MinP) and an unfertilized control (NoP) in a pot experiment with an agricultural soil containing little available P at two soil pH levels, approximately pH 5.3 (unlimed soil) and pH 6.2 (limed soil). In a parallel incubation experiment, the effects of the secondary resources on physicochemical and microbial soil processes were studied. The results showed that the relative agronomic efficiency compared with MinP decreased in the order: manure ≥fish sludge ≥wood ash ≥meat bone meal. The solubility of inorganic P in secondary resources was the main driver for P uptake by barley (Hordeum vulgare). The effects of secondary resources on physicochemical and microbial soil processes were of little overall importance. Application of organic carbon with manure resulted in microbial P immobilization and decreased uptake by barley of P derived from the soil. On both soils, P uptake by barley was best explained by a positive linear relationship with the H2O + NaHCO3-soluble inorganic P fraction in fertilizers or by a linear negative relationship with the HCl-soluble inorganic P fraction in fertilizers.

Contrasting responses of root morphology and root-exuded organic acids to low phosphorus availability in three important food crops with divergent root traits.

Phosphorus (P) is an important element for crop productivity and is widely applied in fertilizers. Most P fertilizers applied to land are sorbed onto soil particles, so research on improving plant uptake of less easily available P is important. In the current study, we investigated the responses in root morphology and root-exuded organic acids (OAs) to low available P (1 µM P) and sufficient P (50 µM P) in barley, canola and micropropagated seedlings of potato-three important food crops with divergent root traits, using a hydroponic plant growth system. We hypothesized that the dicots canola and tuber-producing potato and the monocot barley would respond differently under various P availabilities. WinRHIZO and liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry results suggested that under low P availability, canola developed longer roots and exhibited the fastest root exudation rate for citric acid. Barley showed a reduction in root length and root surface area and an increase in root-exuded malic acid under low-P conditions. Potato exuded relatively small amounts of OAs under low P, while there was a marked increase in root tips. Based on the results, we conclude that different crops show divergent morphological and physiological responses to low P availability, having evolved specific traits of root morphology and root exudation that enhance their P-uptake capacity under low-P conditions. These results could underpin future efforts to improve P uptake of the three crops that are of importance for future sustainable crop production.