A Protocol for Conducting Rainfall Simulation to Study Soil Runoff

Kibet, Leonard C.; Saporito, Louis S.; Allen, Arthur L.; May, Eric; Kleinman, Peter J. A.; Hashem, Fawzy; Bryant, Ray B.

doi:10.3791/51664

Cited by 21 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(11 reference statements)

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“…Although there is extensive information regarding environmental P risk using indoor rainfall simulations, much less attention has been paid to assessing N losses from different N sources. To date, few studies evaluated the simultaneous risk of N and P transport from soils receiving organic and inorganic fertilizer sources (Hansen et al, 2007; Diaz et al, 2010; Kibet et al, 2014). The lack of research on this topic is largely due to the complexity of the mechanisms controlling N dynamics.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The relatively low solubility of nutrients in heat‐treated biosolids has been reported by others (O'Connor and Sarkar, 1999). Obviously, the proportion of N lost in runoff and leachate depends largely on the interactions among several factors such as the amount of N applied, initial soil moisture conditions (Eghball and Gilley, 1999; Kibet et al, 2014), and the application method (Pote et al, 2003). Although the intrinsic characteristics of packed soil runoff boxes are often not representative of field conditions (i.e., hydrology of disturbed or homogenized soil) (Srinivasan et al, 2007), results from this study were expected to reflect extreme conditions where biosolids and fertilizer are surface applied to wet soils and subjected to intensive rainfall immediately after application.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Runoff and Leachate Phosphorus and Nitrogen Losses from Grass‐Vegetated Soil Boxes Amended with Biosolids and Fertilizer

Silveira

O’Connor

et al. 2019

J of Env Quality

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Recent evidence suggests an upward trend in surface water phosphorus (P) concentrations in many segments of Florida, including the upper basin of the St. Johns River, a region that currently receives about two‐thirds of the state Class B biosolids land application. Concerns about water quality in this area are encouraging reexamination of the regulations governing biosolids programs. The objectives of this study were (i) to identify and thoroughly characterize the main biosolids sources routinely applied in the region, and (ii) to evaluate runoff and leachate N and P losses from a typical Florida Spodosol amended with biosolids or commercial inorganic fertilizer. Biosolids and inorganic fertilizer were surface applied uniformly at a rate equivalent to ∼114 kg P ha−1, which corresponded to a typical P load associated with nitrogen (N)‐based biosolids application. Soluble reactive P (SRP) was the predominant form of P lost in runoff and leachate. Inorganic P fertilizer increased flow‐weighted runoff total P concentrations nearly 60‐fold relative to control treatment (0.4 vs. 22 mg P L−1 for control and fertilizer treatments, respectively). With exception of biological P removal (BPR) biosolids, all other tested biosolids yielded flow‐weighted runoff P concentrations similar to untreated soils. Cumulative P and N losses (as a percentage of P and N applied) were greater from commercial inorganic fertilizer (∼38% of P and 46% of N) than any biosolids source (3% of P and 6% of N). Results demonstrate the value of water‐extractable P (WEP) as an indicator of biosolids P loss potential. Core Ideas Biosolids presented a lower risk of P and N losses than inorganic fertilizer. Nitrogen and P lability varies significantly depending on the biosolids treatment process. Data supported the usefulness of water‐extractable P as an indicator of biosolids P loss potential. More field research is warranted to understand nutrient dynamics in biosolids‐amended soils.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Runoff and Leachate Phosphorus and Nitrogen Losses from Grass‐Vegetated Soil Boxes Amended with Biosolids and Fertilizer

Silveira

O’Connor

et al. 2019

J of Env Quality

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“…Hence, it is critical to assemble comprehensive and long-term datasets to enable robust statistical analysis, facilitate comparisons, and detect long-term trends. There is also a need to standardize rainfall simulators and experimental protocols (Kibet et al, 2014) and provide for a better dissemination of collected information among researchers . This paper presents the results of 272 rainfall simulation experiments on small plots in semiarid rangelands of the southwestern USA.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rainfall simulation experiments in the southwestern USA using the Walnut Gulch Rainfall Simulator

Polyakov

Stone

Collins

et al. 2018

Earth Syst. Sci. Data

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Abstract. This dataset contains hydrological, erosion, vegetation, ground cover, and other supplementary information from 272 rainfall simulation experiments conducted on 23 semiarid rangeland locations in Arizona and Nevada between 2002 and 2013. On 30 % of the plots, simulations were conducted up to five times during the decade of study. The rainfall was generated using the Walnut Gulch Rainfall Simulator on 2 m by 6 m plots. Simulation sites included brush and grassland areas with various degrees of disturbance by grazing, wildfire, or brush removal. This dataset advances our understanding of basic hydrological and biological processes that drive soil erosion on arid rangelands. It can be used to estimate runoff, infiltration, and erosion rates at a variety of ecological sites in the Southwestern USA. The inclusion of wildfire and brush treatment locations combined with long-term observations makes it important for studying vegetation recovery, ecological transitions, and the effect of management. It is also a valuable resource for erosion model parameterization and validation.

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“…However, we did not find any studies that investigated the fate and transport of urea in the Coastal Plain (CP) and Piedmont (PM) regions of Maryland across landscapes that included agricultural soils and neighboring ecosystems. One rainfall simulator study investigated the potential for urea to move with overland flow across agricultural soil surfaces, but the urea runoff values were low, amounting to 0.1 to 0.5% of applied urea‐N (Kibet et al, 2014). In another study done under very high urea‐N loss conditions (13% slope and an application rate of 450 kg urea‐N ha −1 ), Moe et al (1968) found that only 0.5% of the applied urea was lost in surface runoff.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Urea Hydrolysis Rate in Soil Toposequences as Influenced by pH, Carbon, Nitrogen, and Soluble Metals

2016

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A simultaneous increase in the use of urea fertilizer and the incidence of harmful algal blooms worldwide has generated interest in potential loss pathways of urea from agricultural areas. The objective of this research was to study the rate of urea hydrolysis in soil profile toposequences sampled from the Coastal Plain (CP) and Piedmont (PM) regions of Maryland to understand native urea hydrolysis rates (UHRs) as well as the controls governing urea hydrolysis both across a landscape and with depth in the soil profile. A pH-adjustment experiment was conducted to explore the relationship between pH and urea hydrolysis because of the importance of pH to both agronomic productivity and microbial communities. Soils were sampled from both A and B horizons along transects containing an agricultural field (AG), a grassed field border (GB), and a perennially vegetated zone adjacent to surface water. On average, the A-horizon UHRs were eight times greater than corresponding B-horizon rates, and within the CP, the riparian zone (RZ) soils hydrolyzed urea faster than the agricultural soils. The pH adjustment of these soils indicated the importance of organic-matter-related factors (C, N, extractable metals) in determining UHR. These results suggest that organic-matter-rich RZ soils may be valuable in mitigating losses of urea from neighboring fields. Additional field-scale urea hydrolysis studies would be valuable to corroborate the mechanisms described herein and to explore the conditions affecting the fate and transport of urea in agroecosystems.

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A Protocol for Conducting Rainfall Simulation to Study Soil Runoff

Abstract: Rainfall is a driving force for the transport of environmental contaminants from agricultural soils to surficial water bodies via surface runoff.

Cited by 21 publications

References 14 publications

Runoff and Leachate Phosphorus and Nitrogen Losses from Grass‐Vegetated Soil Boxes Amended with Biosolids and Fertilizer

Runoff and Leachate Phosphorus and Nitrogen Losses from Grass‐Vegetated Soil Boxes Amended with Biosolids and Fertilizer

Rainfall simulation experiments in the southwestern USA using the Walnut Gulch Rainfall Simulator

Urea Hydrolysis Rate in Soil Toposequences as Influenced by pH, Carbon, Nitrogen, and Soluble Metals

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