Nutrient losses under simulated rainfall from pasture plots in the Great Lakes District, New South Wales
Michael G. Jones A , R. Willem Vervoort A C and Julie Cattle BA Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
B Ecotoxicology and Environmental Contaminants Section, Department of Environment and Climate Change, New South Wales, Goulburn St, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: w.vervoort@usyd.edu.au
Australian Journal of Soil Research 47(6) 555-564 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR08116
Submitted: 5 May 2008 Accepted: 5 June 2009 Published: 30 September 2009
Abstract
Understanding the process by which nutrients and solids enter waterways from pastures in the Great Lakes district, New South Wales, Australia, may assist in maintaining water quality to ensure ongoing environmental and economic sustainability of the region. Rainfall simulations, using a 100-year return storm event, were conducted to determine nutrient and suspended solid concentrations in the runoff of 8 pasture sites in 3 of the catchments in the district. On 5 of the 8 sites, considerable concentrations of N or P were mobilised during the simulated rainfall event, but average nutrient concentrations and total loads across all sites were relatively low and similar to other studies of nutrient runoff from pastures. In addition, low runoff coefficients indicated that runoff is probably not the major pathway for nutrient losses from pasture in this area. Overall, rainfall runoff responses at the sites were similar in the 3 catchments. In contrast, the results suggest that, despite generating more runoff, the sites in the Wang Wauk catchment generated less nutrients in runoff than the sites in the Wallamba and Myall catchments. There was no difference in total suspended solids loads for the sites analysed by catchment. Relationships between soil physical and chemical characteristics and total nutrients loads or cumulative runoff were not strong.
Additional keywords: rainfall simulation, grazing, diffuse pollution, water quality.
Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) as part of the Federal Government’s Coastal Catchments Initiative (CCI) administered by the Department of Environment and Heritage (DEH). The authors thank the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries for the provision of the rainfall simulation equipment, Great Lakes Council for site coordination, and landholders for allowing use of their pastures. Particular thanks to Murray Hart (University of Western Sydney) for instruction on the rainfall simulator operation, Richard Gardiner (DECC), Brendan Haine (DECC) and Max Carpenter (DECC) for assistance during the simulation experiment, Jocelyn Dela-Cruz (DECC) for assistance post field experiment, Yi Lu (DECC) for GIS assistance, Ian Robertson (Bureau of Meteorology) for collation of rainfall data, and Ed Czobik (DECC) for advice on chemical analysis and methods.
Aase JK,
Bjorneberg DL, Westermann DT
(2001) Phosphorus run off from two water sources on a calcareous soil. Journal of Environmental Quality 30, 1315–1323.
|
CAS |
PubMed |
Carpenter SR,
Caraco NF,
Correll DL,
Howarth RW,
Sharpley AN, Smith VH
(1998) Nonpoint pollution of surface waters with phosphorus and nitrogen. Ecological Applications 8, 559–568.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cornish PS,
Hallissey R, Hollinger E
(2002) Is a rainfall simulator useful for estimating phosphorus runoff from pastures—a question of scale-dependency? Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 42, 953–959.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cox JW, Ashley R
(2000) Water quality of gully drainage from texture-contrast soils in the Adelaide Hills in low rainfall years. Australian Journal of Soil Research 38, 959–972.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
Dougherty WJ,
Nicholls PJ,
Milham PJ,
Havilah EJ, Lawrie RA
(2008) Phosphorus fertilizer and grazing management effects on phosphorus in runoff from dairy pastures. Journal of Environmental Quality 37, 417–428.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
PubMed |
Drewry JJ,
Newham LTH,
Greene RSB,
Jakeman AJ, Croke BFW
(2006) A review of nitrogen and phosphorus export to waterways: context for catchment modelling. Marine and Freshwater Research 57, 757–774.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
Fleming NK, Cox JW
(2001) Carbon and phosphorus losses from dairy pasture in South Australia. Australian Journal of Soil Research 39, 969–978.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
Gelberg KH,
Church L,
Casey G,
London M,
Roerig DS,
Boyd J, Hill M
(1999) Nitrate levels in drinking water in rural New York State. Environmental Research 80, 34–40.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
PubMed |
Harris GP
(2001) Biogeochemistry of nitrogen and phosphorus in Australian catchments, rivers and estuaries: effects of land use and flow regulation and comparisons with global patterns. Marine and Freshwater Research 52, 139–149.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
Heathwaite L,
Sharpley A, Gburek W
(2000) A conceptual approach for integrating phosphorus and nitrogen management at watershed scales. Journal of Environmental Quality 29, 158–166.
|
CAS |
Hodgkin EP, Hamilton BH
(1993) Fertilizers and eutrophication in southwestern Australia: setting the scene. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 36, 95–103.
Hofmann L, Ries RE
(1991) Relationship of soil and plant characteristics to erosion and runoff on pasture and range. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 46, 143–147.
Howarth RW
(1998) An assessment of human influences on fluxes of nitrogen from the terrestrial landscape to the estuaries and continental shelves of the North Atlantic Ocean. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 52, 213–223.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hughes JD,
Packer IJ,
Michalk DL,
Dowling PM,
Mc G King W,
Brisbane S,
Millar GD,
Priest SM,
Kemp DR, Koen TB
(2006) Sustainable grazing systems for the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. 4. Soil water dynamics and runoff events for differently-managed pasture types. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46, 483–494.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Line DE,
Harman WA,
Jennings GD,
Thompson EJ, Osmond DL
(2000) Nonpoint-source pollutant load reductions associated with livestock exclusion. Journal of Environmental Quality 29, 1882–1890.
|
CAS |
Loch R,
Robotham BG,
Zeller L,
Masterman N,
Orange DN,
Bridge B,
Sheridan G, Bourke JJ
(2001) A multi-purpose rainfall simulator for field infiltration and erosion studies. Australian Journal of Soil Research 39, 599–610.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
McDowell RW,
Nash DM, Robertson F
(2007) Sources of phosphorus lost from a grazed pasture receiving simulated rainfall. Journal of Environmental Quality 36, 1281–1288.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
PubMed |
McDowell RW,
Sharpley AN, Folmar G
(2001) Phosphorus export from an agricultural watershed: linking source and transport mechanisms. Journal of Environmental Quality 30, 1587–1595.
|
CAS |
PubMed |
McKergow LA,
Weaver DM,
Prosser IP,
Grayson RB, Reed AEG
(2003) Before and after riparian management: sediment and nutrient exports from a small agricultural catchment, Western Australia. Journal of Hydrology 270, 253–272.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
Nash D,
Clemow L,
Hannah M,
Barlow K, Gangaiya P
(2005) Modelling phosphorus exports from rain-fed and irrigated pastures in southern Australia. Australian Journal of Soil Research 43, 745–755.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
Nash D, Murdoch C
(1997) Phosphorus in runoff from a fertile dairy pasture. Australian Journal of Soil Research 35, 419–429.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Nash DM, Halliwell DJ
(1999) Fertilisers and phosphorus loss from productive grazing systems. Australian Journal of Soil Research 37, 403–430.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Nelson PN,
Cotsaris E, Oades JM
(1996) Nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic carbon in streams draining two grazed catchments. Journal of Environmental Quality 25, 1221–1229.
|
CAS |
Pote DH,
Daniel TC,
Nichols DJ,
Sharpley AN,
Moore PA,
Miller DM, Edwards DR
(1999) Relationship between phosphorus levels in three ultisols and phosphorus concentrations in runoff. Journal of Environmental Quality 28, 170–175.
|
CAS |
Rhoton FE,
Shipitalo MJ, Lindbo DL
(2002) Runoff and soil loss from midwestern and southeastern US silt loam soils as affected by tillage practice and soil organic matter content. Soil & Tillage Research 66, 1–11.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sharpley AN
(1995) Soil phosphorus dynamics: agronomic and environmental impacts. Ecological Engineering 5, 261–279.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sharpley AN,
Gburek WJ,
Folmar G, Pionke HB
(1999) Sources of phosphorus exported from an agricultural watershed in Pennsylvania. Agricultural Water Management 41, 77–89.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Vadas PA,
Kleinman PJA,
Sharpley AN, Turner BL
(2005) Relating soil phosphorus to dissolved phosphorus in runoff: a single extraction coefficient for water quality modeling. Journal of Environmental Quality 34, 572–580.
|
CAS |
Crossref |
PubMed |
Vitousek PM,
Aber JD,
Howarth RW,
Likens GE,
Matson PA,
Schindler DW,
Schlesinger WH, Tilman DG
(1997) Human alteration of the global nitrogen cycle: sources and consequences. Ecological Applications 7, 737–750.
Young WJ,
Marston FM, Davis RJ
(1996) Nutrient exports and land use in Australian catchments. Journal of Environmental Management 47, 165–183.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
