HYDROLOGIC CONTROLS ON PHOSPHORUS LOSS FROM UPLAND AGRICULTURAL WATERSHEDS

Citation
Wj. Gburek et An. Sharpley, HYDROLOGIC CONTROLS ON PHOSPHORUS LOSS FROM UPLAND AGRICULTURAL WATERSHEDS, Journal of environmental quality, 27(2), 1998, pp. 267-277
Citations number
35
Categorie Soggetti
Environmental Sciences
ISSN journal
00472425
Volume
27
Issue
2
Year of publication
1998
Pages
267 - 277
Database
ISI
SICI code
0047-2425(1998)27:2<267:HCOPLF>2.0.ZU;2-V
Abstract
Development of strategies for controlling P loss from upland agricultu ral watersheds requires an ability to identify specific source areas o f P at field and farm scales, and to predict their resultant effects a t the watershed scale. Key to identification of P source areas is defi ning the interaction between P availability over the landscape and its potential for movement to the watershed outlet by runoff and erosion, A current weakness in quantifying this interaction is determining spe cific zones of runoff and erosion within a watershed, that is, source areas for the P transport mechanisms. Research results from a series o f studies within a small, upland agricultural watershed in fast-centra l Pennsylvania show that the zones of runoff production, and consequen tly the areas ultimately controlling most P transport, are often a lim ited and identifiable portion of the landscape. Quantifying the hydrol ogic controls on P transport within and from a watershed in this way a llows us to focus management options on small and definable portions o f the total watershed that contribute most P export.