Filter strips are widely prescribed to reduce contaminants in surface runoff from agricultural fields. This study compared performance of different filter strip designs on several contaminants and evaluated the contributing processes. Different vegetation types and widths were investigated using simulated runoff event on large plots (3 m × 7.5 or 15 m) having fine‐textured soil and a 6 to 7% slope. Filter strips 7.5 and 15 m wide downslope greatly reduced concentrations of sediment in runoff (76–93%) and contaminants strongly associated with sediment (total P, 55–79%; permethrin, 27–83% [(3‐phenoxyphenyl) methyl (±)‐cis, trans‐3‐(2,2‐dichloroethenyl)‐2,2‐dimethyicyclopropanecarboxylate]). They had less effect on concentrations of primarily dissolved contaminants [atrazine, −5–43% (2‐chloro‐4‐ethylamino‐6‐isopropylamino‐s‐triazine); alachlor, 10–61% [2‐chloro‐2′6′‐diethyl‐N‐(methoxymethyl) acetanilide]; nitrate, 24–48%; dissolved P, 19–43%; bromide, 13–31%]. Dilution of runoff by rainfall accounted for most of the reduction of concentration of dissolved contaminants. Infiltration (36–82% of runoff volume) substantially reduced the mass of contaminants exiting the filter strips. Doubling filter strip width from 7.5 to 15 m doubled infiltration and dilution, but did not improve sediment settling. Young trees and shrubs planted in the lower one‐half of otherwise grass strips had no impact on filter performance. Compared with cultivated sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] grass clearly reduced concentrations of sediment and associated contaminants in runoff, but not volume of runoff and concentration of dissolved contaminants. Settling, infiltration, and dilution processes can explain performance differences among pollutant types and filter strip designs.

Dosskey, Michael G., Philippe Vidon, Noel P. Gurwick, Craig J. Allan, Tim P. Duval, and Richard Lowrance, 2010. The Role of Riparian Vegetation in Protecting and Improving Chemical Water Quality in Streams. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(2):261‐277. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2010.00419.x Abstract:  We review the research literature and summarize the major processes by which riparian vegetation influences chemical water quality in streams, as well as how these processes vary among vegetation types, and discuss how these processes respond to removal and restoration of riparian vegetation and thereby determine the timing and level of response in stream water quality. Our emphasis is on the role that riparian vegetation plays in protecting streams from nonpoint source pollutants and in improving the quality of degraded stream water. Riparian vegetation influences stream water chemistry through diverse processes including direct chemical uptake and indirect influences such as by supply of organic matter to soils and channels, modification of water movement, and stabilization of soil. Some processes are more strongly expressed under certain site conditions, such as denitrification where groundwater is shallow, and by certain kinds of vegetation, such as channel stabilization by large wood and nutrient uptake by faster‐growing species. Whether stream chemistry can be managed effectively through deliberate selection and management of vegetation type, however, remains uncertain because few studies have been conducted on broad suites of processes that may include compensating or reinforcing interactions. Scant research has focused directly on the response of stream water chemistry to the loss of riparian vegetation or its restoration. Our analysis suggests that the level and time frame of a response to restoration depends strongly on the degree and time frame of vegetation loss. Legacy effects of past vegetation can continue to influence water quality for many years or decades and control the potential level and timing of water quality improvement after vegetation is restored. Through the collective action of many processes, vegetation exerts substantial influence over the well‐documented effect that riparian zones have on stream water quality. However, the degree to which stream water quality can be managed through the management of riparian vegetation remains to be clarified. An understanding of the underlying processes is important for effectively using vegetation condition as an indicator of water quality protection and for accurately gauging prospects for water quality improvement through restoration of permanent vegetation.

The scientific research literature is reviewed (i) for evidence of how much reduction in nonpoint source pollution can be achieved by installing buffers on crop land, (ii) to summarize important factors that can affect this response, and (iii) to identify remaining major information gaps that limit our ability to make probable estimates. This review is intended to clarify the current scientific foundation of the USDA and similar buffer programs designed in part for water pollution abatement and to highlight important research needs. At this time, research reports are lacking that quantify a change in pollutant amounts (concentration and/or load) in streams or lakes in response to converting portions of cropped land to buffers. Most evidence that such a change should occur is indirect, coming from site-scale studies of individual functions of buffers that act to retain pollutants from runoff: (1) reduce surface runoff from fields, (2) filter surface runoff from fields, (3) filter groundwater runoff from fields, (4) reduce bank erosion, and (5) filter stream water. The term filter is used here to encompass the range of specific processes that act to reduce pollutant amounts in runoff flow. A consensus of experimental research on functions of buffers clearly shows that they can substantially limit sediment runoff from fields, retain sediment and sediment-bound pollutants from surface runoff, and remove nitrate N from groundwater runoff. Less certain is the magnitude of these functions compared to the cultivated crop condition that buffers would replace within the context of buffer installation programs. Other evidence suggests that buffer installation can substantially reduce bank erosion sources of sediment under certain circumstances. Studies have yet to address the degree to which buffer installation can enhance channel processes that remove pollutants from stream flow. Mathematical models offer an alternative way to develop estimates for water quality changes in response to buffer installation. Numerous site conditions and buffer design factors have been identified that can determine the magnitude of each buffer function. Accurate models must be able to account for and integrate these functions and factors over whole watersheds. At this time, only pollutant runoff and surface filtration functions have been modeled to this extent. Capability is increasing as research data is produced, models become more comprehensive, and new techniques provide means to describe variable conditions across watersheds. A great deal of professional judgment is still required to extrapolate current knowledge of buffer functions into broadly accurate estimates of water pollution abatement in response to buffer installation on crop land. Much important research remains to be done to improve this capability. The greatest need is to produce direct quantitative evidence of this response. Such data would confirm the hypothesis and enable direct testing of watershed-scale prediction models as they become available. Further study of individu...

Abstract.Quantitative information regarding landscape sources and pathways of organic matter transport to streams is important for assessing impacts of terrestrial processes on aquatic ecosystems. We quantified organic C, a measure of organic matter, flowing from a blackwater stream draining a 12.6 km' watershed on the upper Atlantic Coastal Plain in South Carolina, and utilized a hydrologic approach to partition this out!Jow between its various pathways from upland and wetland forest sources. Results of this study indicate that 28.9 tonnes C yr-' were exported in stream flow, which was estimated to be 0.5% of the annual C input from forest detritus to the watershed. Upland forest, which covers 94% of the watershed area, contributed only 2.0 tonnes C yr-' to stream flow, which amounted to 0.04% of detritus annually produced by the upland forest. Organic matter was transported from uplands to the stream almost entirely through groundwater. Apparently, upland soils are too sandy to support overland flow, and the sloping topography insufficiently extensive or steep enough to drive important quantities of interflow. Riparian wetland forest, which covers only 6% of the watershed area, contributed 26.9 tonnes C yr-' to stream flow, amounting to about 10.2% of detritus annually produced by the wetland forest. Dissolved organic C leached from wetland soil accounted for 63% of all organic C entering the stream, and was transported chiefly in baseflow. These results indicate that upland detritus sources are effectively decoupled from the stream despite the sandy soils and quantitatively confirm that even small riparian wetland areas can have a dominant effect on the overall organic matter budget of a blackwater stream. In view of the recognized importance of dissolved organic matter in facilitating transport of other substances (e.g., cation nutrients, metals, and insoluble organic compounds), our results suggest that the potential for movement of these substances through wetland soils to streams in this region is high.

SUMMARY Douglas fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] seedlings responded differently regarding rate of photosynthesis when inoculated with three different ectomycorrhizal fungi. Rhizopogon vinicolor FSL788-5 caused a significant increase in net photosynthesis rate compared to non-mycorrhizal controls, while Hebeloma crustuliniforme HeCr2 and Laccaria laccata S238-A had no effect. Colonization by Rhizopogon and Hebeloma caused increased osmotic potential in the leaf symplast compared to controls, while Laccaria did not. Colonization levels for Rhizopogon, Hebeloma and Laccaria were 36, 93 and 73 % of root tips, respectively. Rhizopogon and Hebeloma produced abundant extramatrical hyphae and/or rhizomorphs, while Laccaria was smooth-mantled. Hebeloma-co\on\zed seedlings were significantly smaller than non-mycorrhizal controls; Rhizopogon seedlings were smaller, but significantly so only at P < 010. Laccaria did not affect seedling size. Only smaller Hebeloma seedlings exhibited elevated concentrations of N, P, K, and Ca over non-mycorrhizal controls. These data demonstrate a non-nutritional basis for increased rate of photosynthesis caused by some ectomycorrhizal fungi that can be explained by the increased photosynthate sink generated by extensive fungal growth associated with the mycorrhizas.

Nonuniform field runoff can reduce the effectiveness of filter strips that are a uniform size along a field margin. Effectiveness can be improved by placing more filter strip where the runoff load is greater and less where the load is smaller. A modeling analysis was conducted of the relationship between pollutant trapping efficiency and the ratio of filter strip area to upslope contributing area, i.e., buffer area ratio. The results were used to produce an aid for designing filter strips having consistent effectiveness along field margins where runoff load is nonuniform. Simulations using the process-based Vegetative Filter Strip Model show that sediment and water trapping efficiencies of a filter strip increase nonlinearly as the buffer area ratio gets larger. Site characteristics, including slope, soil texture, and upslope soil cover management practices, help to define this relationship more accurately. Using the Vegetative Filter Strip Model simulation results, a graphical design aid was developed for estimating the buffer area ratio required to achieve specific trapping efficiencies for different pollutants under a broad range of agricultural site conditions. A single graph was produced showing simulation results for seven scenarios as a family of lines that divide the full range of possible relationships between trapping efficiency and buffer area ratio and into fairly even increments. Simple rules guide the selection of one line that best describes a given field situation by considering slope, soil texture, and field cover management practices. Relationships for sediment-bound and dissolved pollutants are interpreted from the Vegetative Filter Strip Model results for sediment and water. The design aid is easy to use, accounts for several major variables that determine filter strip performance, and is based on a validated, process-based, mathematical model. The use of this design aid will enable a more precise fit between filter size and runoff load where runoff from agricultural fields is nonuniform.Key words: models-nonpoint source pollution-precision conservation-surface runoffvariable-width buffers-vegetative buffers-water quality-watershed planning Filter strips are commonly installed for improving and protecting water quality in agricultural watersheds. Filter strips (Code 393) reduce the load of sediment, nutrients, and other pollutants in overland runoff from fields by promoting infiltration and sediment deposition (Haan et al. 1994;USDA 1997). Typically, they are designed to have a constant width (parallel to flow) along a field margin, and maximum pollutant trapping efficiency is achieved when field runoff is uniformly dispersed across the entire filter strip (USDA 1997). Several design methods have been developed for determining the appropriate width for a filter strip treating spatially uniform runoff (see review in Dosskey et al. 2008). However, researchers have observed that surface runoff commonly concentrates in fields and flows mainly through only small portions of filter strips...

SUMMARY Douglas fir [Pseudotsuga memiesH (Mirb.) Franco] seedlings were inoculated with difFerent species of ectomycorrhizal fungi, Rhizopogon vinicolor FSL788-5, Laccaria laccata S238-A, or Hebeloma crustuliniforme HeCr2, to determine how different fungi affect the response of photosynthesis and water relations of seedlings to drying soil. Potted seedlings were grown in a greenhouse for 6 months under well-watered conditions, then transferred to a growth chamber where measurements were made as the soil dried.Rhizopogon enhanced both net photosynthesis rate and stomatal conductance compared to non-mycorrhizal controls (P < 0-01) over the soil water potential range of -0-05 to -0-50 MPa, despite 0-2 to 0-3 MPa lower leaf water potential. Hebeloma tended to enhance, while Laccaria decreased net photosynthesis rate and stomatal conductance of host seedlings over this range of soil water potential, but neither fungus affected leaf potential. Our observations for Rhizopogon and Laccaria could not be explained by existing hypotheses based on mycorrhizal effects on plant size, nutrition, osmotic adjustment, or water uptake characteristics. Nutrition may have been a factor for Hebeloma.We propose that in the absence of nutritional and water uptake effects, net photosynthesis rate and stomatal conductance are correlated with rate of export of photosynthate to the mycorrhizal fungus. Strong mycorrhizal demand for photosynthate stimulates photosynthesis, to which stomata respond by opening, notwithstanding water stress. Our results for Rhizopogon are consistent with this hypothesis.

No abstract