Watershed-Scale Phosphorus Balances to Establish Reasonable Water Quality Expectations
Integrating watershed P balances into conventional conservation planning provides a holistic approach to understanding the nutrient cycling across the landscape, critical for meeting load reduction goals for water quality improvement.
To maintain high P use efficiency while ensuring successful crop yields, soil sampling should be encouraged to utilize the available P in areas where additional inputs are not necessary, while ensuring that STP remains above the crop’s critical concentration.
Keywords
- phosphorus balance
- phosphorus use efficiency
- watershed
- Minnesota
IPNI Webinar Series: Meeting Water Quality Nutrient Reduction Goals
Addressing a watershed’s nutrient impairment by reducing losses at the nutrient’s source is an economical and long-term best management approach. Dr. Peterson will discuss how compiling a watershed-scale nutrient P balance helps identify areas where strategies could be incorporated into conservation planning.
Heidi Peterson and Lawrence Baker. 2018. Watershed-Scale Phosphorus Balances to Establish Reasonable Water Quality Expectations. Better Crops 102(1): 25-28. doi.org/10.24047/BC102125