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Processes and mechanisms controlling nitrate dynamics in an artificially drained field: Insights from high-frequency water quality measurements

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  • Liu, Wenlong
  • Youssef, Mohamed A.
  • Birgand, François P.
  • Chescheir, George M.
  • Tian, Shiying
  • Maxwell, Bryan M.

Abstract

Intensive agricultural activities, especially in artificially drained agricultural landscapes, generate a considerable amount of nutrient export, which has been identified as a primary cause of water quality impairment. Several management practices have been developed and installed in agricultural watersheds to reduce nutrient export, e.g. nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N). Although published research reported considerable water quality benefits of these practices, there exist many unanswered questions regarding the inherent processes and mechanisms that control nitrate fate and transport from drained agricultural landscape. To advance our understanding of processes and mechanisms, we deployed two high-frequency sampling systems in a drained agricultural field to investigate the relationship between agricultural drainage and nitrate concentrations (C-Q relationship). Results indicated that the high-frequency measuring system was able to capture the rapidly changing C-Q relationships at the experimental site, e.g. hysteresis patterns. The 22 identified storm events exhibited anti-clockwise behavior with high variability of flushing/dilution effects. In addition, high drainage flows contributed far more nitrate loading compared with lower flows. For instance, the top 10 % of drainage flow exported more than 50 % of the nitrate lost via subsurface drainage during the monitoring period. Additionally, we observed that animal waste application was the most influential practice to change the C-Q relationship by increasing the size of soil nitrogen pools. The insights obtained from the high-frequency water quality measurements could help provide practical suggestions regarding the design and management of conservation practices, such as controlled drainage, bioreactors, and saturated buffers, to improve their nitrogen removal efficiencies. This subsequently leads to better nutrient management in drained agricultural lands.

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  • Liu, Wenlong & Youssef, Mohamed A. & Birgand, François P. & Chescheir, George M. & Tian, Shiying & Maxwell, Bryan M., 2020. "Processes and mechanisms controlling nitrate dynamics in an artificially drained field: Insights from high-frequency water quality measurements," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:232:y:2020:i:c:s0378377419315744
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106032
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Liu, Yu & Youssef, Mohamed A. & Chescheir, George M. & Appelboom, Timothy W. & Poole, Chad A. & Arellano, Consuelo & Skaggs, R. Wayne, 2019. "Effect of controlled drainage on nitrogen fate and transport for a subsurface drained grass field receiving liquid swine lagoon effluent," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 440-451.
    2. Christianson, L.E. & Harmel, R.D., 2015. "The MANAGE Drain Load database: Review and compilation of more than fifty years of North American drainage nutrient studies," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 277-289.
    3. Youssef, Mohamed A. & Abdelbaki, Ahmed M. & Negm, Lamyaa M. & Skaggs, R.Wayne & Thorp, Kelly R. & Jaynes, Dan B., 2018. "DRAINMOD-simulated performance of controlled drainage across the U.S. Midwest," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 54-66.
    4. Zhao, Zhanqing & Qin, Wei & Bai, Zhaohai & Ma, Lin, 2019. "Agricultural nitrogen and phosphorus emissions to water and their mitigation options in the Haihe Basin, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 262-272.
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    1. Chelil, Samy & Henine, Hocine & Chaumont, Cedric & Tournebize, Julien, 2022. "NIT-DRAIN model to simulate nitrate concentrations and leaching in a tile-drained agricultural field," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    2. Shannon Pace & James M. Hood & Heather Raymond & Brigitte Moneymaker & Steve W. Lyon, 2022. "High-Frequency Monitoring to Estimate Loads and Identify Nutrient Transport Dynamics in the Little Auglaize River, Ohio," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-17, December.

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