Prairie strips reduce fecal indicator bacteria concentrations in simulated runoff

Abstract

Incorporating vegetative filter strips (VFS) in agroecosystems can reduce the downstream dissemination of sediments and manure-borne contaminants, including nutrients and fecal organisms from agricultural runoff. One source of these contaminants is swine manure, a valuable source of nitrogen and phosphorus that is commonly applied at agronomic rates as an organic fertilizer on agricultural land. In addition to nutrients, manure contains complex microbial communities and potentially pathogenic bacteria that could pose a threat to human health.Additionally, its offsite movement of nutrients and fecal contaminants is a substantial threat to surface water quality (Burkholder et al., 1997;

Program Evaluation of a Workshop on Prairie Strips for Farm Advisors: Framing the Co-Occurring Outcomes of Low Knowledge Acquisition and High Confidence

“…Over a four-year period, researchers observed a 96% sediment trapping efficiency among treatments containing some amount of prairie at the original research watershed-scale sites in Iowa [13]. Recent work substantiates filtering of fecal bacteria, such as from applied livestock manure, in a simulated indicator study of prairie strips [17]. Incorporation of prairie near and within row crop fields can positively affect the abundance of native birds [18].…”