Modeling the effects of agricultural BMPs on sediments, nutrients, and water quality of the Beaurivage River watershed (Quebec, Canada)

Rousseau, Alain N.; Savary, Stéphane; Hallema, Dennis W.; Gumière, Silvio José; Foulon, Étienne

doi:10.1080/07011784.2013.780792

Cited by 42 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…In the Beaurivage sub-watershed (Des Appalaches river watershed, southern Qu ebec), where agricultural land cover is composed of 60% of pastures and hayfields, 23% of cereal fields and 17% of corn fields, nutrient losses to streams were estimated at 27 kg N/ha/yr and 3.2 kg P/ha/yr (Rousseau et al, 2013), or 243 kg N/ha and 28.8 kg P/ha over 9 years. These numbers highlight that low ratios of agricultural area/buffer area will be required to balance N and P losses to streams with N and P exportation in the woody biomass of buffers.…”

Section: Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus stocks in hybrid poplar buffers, herbaceous buffers and natural woodlots in the riparian zone on agricultural land

Fortier

Truax

Gagnon

et al. 2015

Journal of Environmental Management

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In many temperate agricultural areas, riparian forests have been converted to cultivated land, and only narrow strips of herbaceous vegetation now buffer many farm streams. The afforestation of these riparian zones has the potential to increase carbon (C) storage in agricultural landscapes by creating a new biomass sink for atmospheric CO2. Occurring at the same time, the storage of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in plant biomass, is an important water quality function that may greatly vary with types of riparian vegetation. The objectives of this study were (1) to compare C, N and P storage in aboveground, belowground and detrital biomass for three types of riparian vegetation cover (9-year-old hybrid poplar buffers, herbaceous buffers and natural woodlots) across four agricultural sites and (2) to determine potential vegetation cover effects on soil nutrient supply rate in the riparian zone. Site level comparisons suggest that 9-year-old poplar buffers have stored 9-31 times more biomass C, 4-10 times more biomass N, and 3-7 times more biomass P than adjacent non managed herbaceous buffers, with the largest differences observed on the more fertile sites. The conversion of these herbaceous buffers to poplar buffers could respectively increase C, N and P storage in biomass by 3.2-11.9 t/ha/yr, 32-124 kg/ha/yr and 3.2-15.6 kg/ha/yr, over 9 years. Soil NO3 and P supply rates during the summer were respectively 57% and 66% lower in poplar buffers than in adjacent herbaceous buffers, potentially reflecting differences in nutrient storage and cycling between the two buffer types. Biomass C ranged 49-160 t/ha in woodlots, 33-110 t/ha in poplar buffers and 3-4 t/ha in herbaceous buffers. Similar biomass C stocks were found in the most productive poplar buffer and three of the four woodlots studied. Given their large and varied biomass C stocks, conservation of older riparian woodlots is equally important for C balance management in farmland. In addition, the establishment of poplar buffers, in replacement of non managed herbaceous buffers, could rapidly increase biomass C, N and P storage along farm streams, which would be beneficial for water quality protection and global change mitigation.

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Section: Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus stocks in hybrid poplar buffers, herbaceous buffers and natural woodlots in the riparian zone on agricultural land

Fortier

Truax

Gagnon

et al. 2015

Journal of Environmental Management

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“…Several process‐oriented and physically based erosion and hydrological models have been developed to assess soil and water conservation BMPs for watershed managers, planners and policy‐makers. The Chemical Runoff and Erosion from Agricultural Management Systems (CREAMS) model (Knisel, ), the Kinematic Erosion Simulation model (KINEROS) (Woolhiser et al ., ), the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) (Neitsch et al ., ), the Limburg Soil Erosion Model (LISEM) (De Roo et al ., ), the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) (Ascough et al ., ), the European Soil Erosion Model (EUROSEM) (Morgan and Quinton, ) and GIBSI (Rousseau et al ., , Rousseau et al ., ), to name a few, have been used to estimate overland soil erosion rates and in‐stream sediment concentrations at the plot, field and watershed scales. These models are mostly raster‐based and not ideal for accurately representing flow paths even with a high‐resolution gridded data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beneficial management practices (BMPs) such as vegetated filters, terraces and small dams (Callow and Smettem, 2009) that retain water and trap sediment particles have been implemented in sensitive watersheds to break the sedimentological connectivity, that is, the hydrological pathways of agricultural soil and water contaminants (e.g. Quilbé et al, 2008;Rousseau et al, 2013;Gumiere et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the sediment yield and the impact of vegetated filters using an event-based soil erosion model-a case study of a small Canadian watershed

et al. 2016

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This paper presents the first application of the event‐based MHYDAS‐Erosion model to a small agricultural watershed under temperate climate conditions (Quebec, Canada). Simulation results based on observed and synthetic rainfall events revealed a bimodal behaviour of sediment yield. During high‐intensity rainfall events, most of the sediments reaching the watershed outlet originate from cropland. Meanwhile, during low‐intensity events, most of the sediments come from the drainage network. Furthermore, simulation results show that implementation of 5‐m and 20‐m wide vegetated filters throughout the watershed or at the edge of the most problematic fields (4% of the total fields) could reduce soil loss by 52% and 31%, respectively. The modeling framework could be used for the design and location of beneficial management practices such as grass strips and riparian zones Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…Thus, an increase in biomass P storage of 55.6 t associated to poplar buffer implementation would be equivalent to P losses from 15,800 ha of hayfield or pasture, or from 2500 ha of cornfields over 9 years. Nitrogen losses from agricultural land have been established at 27 kg N/ha/year or 243 kg N/ha over 9 years in the nearby Beaurivage watershed (40% annual row crops, 60% pasture/hayfield) in southern Québec [81]. Based on these values, increasing N storage by 442 t N with poplar buffers in the Pike River watershed would be equivalent to the N losses from 1800 ha of cultivated land over nine years.…”

Section: Potential For Hybrid Poplar Riparian Buffers To Provide Ecosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential for Hybrid Poplar Riparian Buffers to Provide Ecosystem Services in Three Watersheds with Contrasting Agricultural Land Use

Fortier¹,

Truax²,

Gagnon³

2016

Forests

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Abstract:In temperate agricultural watersheds, the rehabilitation of tree vegetation in degraded riparian zones can provide many ecosystem services. This study evaluated ecosystem service provision potential following the conversion of non-managed herbaceous buffers to hybrid poplar (Populus spp.) buffers in three watersheds (555-771 km 2 ) of southern Québec (Canada), with contrasting agricultural land uses. To extrapolate services at the watershed level, total stream length where hybrid poplars could be established was calculated using GIS data from hydrological and land cover maps. After nine years, a 100% replacement of herbaceous buffers by hybrid poplar buffers along farm streams could lead to the production of 5280-76,151 tons of whole tree (stems + branches) biomass, which could heat 0.5-6.5 ha of greenhouses for nine years, with the potential of displacing 2-29 million litres of fuel oil. Alternatively, the production of 3887-56,135 tons of stem biomass (fuelwood) could heat 55-794 new farmhouses or 40-577 old farmhouses for nine years. Producing fuelwood in buffers rather than in farm woodlots could create forest conservation opportunities on 300-4553 ha. Replacing all herbaceous buffers by poplar buffers could provide potential storage of 2984-42,132 t C, 29-442 t N and 3-56 t P in plant biomass, if woody biomass is not harvested. The greatest potential for services provision was in the Pike River watershed where agriculture is the dominant land use. A review of the potential services of poplar buffers is made, and guidelines for managing services and disservices are provided.

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Modeling the effects of agricultural BMPs on sediments, nutrients, and water quality of the Beaurivage River watershed (Quebec, Canada)

Cited by 42 publications

References 49 publications

Biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus stocks in hybrid poplar buffers, herbaceous buffers and natural woodlots in the riparian zone on agricultural land

Biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus stocks in hybrid poplar buffers, herbaceous buffers and natural woodlots in the riparian zone on agricultural land

Modeling the sediment yield and the impact of vegetated filters using an event-based soil erosion model-a case study of a small Canadian watershed

Potential for Hybrid Poplar Riparian Buffers to Provide Ecosystem Services in Three Watersheds with Contrasting Agricultural Land Use

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