Water and nitrate loss from dryland agricultural soils is controlled by management, soils, and weather

W. Adam Sigler; Stephanie A. Ewing; Clain A. Jones; Robert A. Payn; Perry Miller; Marco Maneta

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2020.107158

Water and nitrate loss from dryland agricultural soils is controlled by management, soils, and weather

W. Adam Sigler
, Stephanie A. Ewing
, Clain A. Jones
, Robert A. Payn
, Perry Miller
, Marco Maneta

Geosciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

53 Scopus citations

Abstract

The vast majority (82 %) of the earth's cultivated area is not irrigated, and half is in semi-arid regions where water tends to limit crop growth. In dryland semi-arid agroecosystems, any precipitation not transpired indicates crop yield that is below potential. Precipitation that is partitioned to deep percolation can transport nitrate out of the root zone, reducing nitrogen use efficiency and potentially contaminating groundwater. To mitigate loss of crop yield to drought, the practice of chemical summer-fallow (suppressing plant growth for a full growing season with herbicide) has been common in semi-arid regions to store water for the following growing season. However, precipitation losses during fallow tend to exceed the amount of precipitation stored, and fallow tends to increase nitrate leaching. We present model simulations informed by field observations that explore the interaction of crop rotation, weather, and soils as controls on precipitation partitioning and nitrate leaching. Simulations reveal that high intensity precipitation periods produce hot moments of deep percolation and nitrate leaching such that 54 % of deep percolation and 56 % of leaching occurs in two of 14 model years. Simulations indicate that thin soils (having limited water storage capacity) produce hot spots for deep percolation and nitrate leaching such that thinner soils (<25 cm) experience water and nitrate loss rates five to 16 times higher than thicker soils (>100 cm). The practice of fallow facilitates mineralization of soil organic nitrogen to nitrate and increases deep percolation, magnifying the interaction of hot moments and hot spots. Simulations suggest that a field with fallow in rotation once every three years experiences 55 % of its deep percolation and 43 % of its leaching losses during fallow years.

Original language	English
Article number	107158
Journal	Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
Volume	304
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.107158
State	Published - Dec 1 2020

Funding

The authors would like to thank cooperating farmers, local partners, and the MSU Central Agricultural Research Center (CARC). Thank you to field technicians Kyle Mehrens, Robby Robertson, Mike Bestwick, Joe Capella and a special thank you to Simon Fordyce who was the lead field technician for the majority of the field campaign. Venice Bayrd provided meticulous assistance with data curation and archiving. This work was funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture [grant number 2011-51130-31121, 2011] and USDA NIFA grant number 2016-67026-25067. Additional funding was provided by MSU Extension, Montana Fertilizer Advisory Committee, the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station and the Montana Institute on Ecosystems. This material is based upon work supported in part by the Consortium for Research on Environmental Water Systems (CREWS) National Science Foundation EPSCoR Cooperative AgreementOIA-1757351, as well as NSF EPSCoR Track 1 award numbers OIA-1443108 and EPS-1101342. The authors would like to thank cooperating farmers, local partners, and the MSU Central Agricultural Research Center (CARC). Thank you to field technicians Kyle Mehrens, Robby Robertson, Mike Bestwick, Joe Capella and a special thank you to Simon Fordyce who was the lead field technician for the majority of the field campaign. Venice Bayrd provided meticulous assistance with data curation and archiving. This work was funded by the United States Department of Agriculture , National Institute of Food and Agriculture [grant number 2011-51130-31121 , 2011] and USDA NIFA grant number 2016-67026-25067 . Additional funding was provided by MSU Extension , Montana Fertilizer Advisory Committee , the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station and the Montana Institute on Ecosystems . This material is based upon work supported in part by the Consortium for Research on Environmental Water Systems (CREWS) National Science Foundation EPSCoR Cooperative Agreement OIA-1757351 , as well as NSF EPSCoR Track 1 award numbers OIA-1443108 and EPS-1101342.

Funder number
OIA-1757351
2016-67026-25067
1757351, AgreementOIA-1757351, OIA-1443108, EPS-1101342
2011-51130-31121

Keywords

Deep percolation
Hydrus
Leach
Rainfed
Soil moisture

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10.1016/j.agee.2020.107158

Cite this

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title = "Water and nitrate loss from dryland agricultural soils is controlled by management, soils, and weather",

abstract = "The vast majority (82 \%) of the earth's cultivated area is not irrigated, and half is in semi-arid regions where water tends to limit crop growth. In dryland semi-arid agroecosystems, any precipitation not transpired indicates crop yield that is below potential. Precipitation that is partitioned to deep percolation can transport nitrate out of the root zone, reducing nitrogen use efficiency and potentially contaminating groundwater. To mitigate loss of crop yield to drought, the practice of chemical summer-fallow (suppressing plant growth for a full growing season with herbicide) has been common in semi-arid regions to store water for the following growing season. However, precipitation losses during fallow tend to exceed the amount of precipitation stored, and fallow tends to increase nitrate leaching. We present model simulations informed by field observations that explore the interaction of crop rotation, weather, and soils as controls on precipitation partitioning and nitrate leaching. Simulations reveal that high intensity precipitation periods produce hot moments of deep percolation and nitrate leaching such that 54 \% of deep percolation and 56 \% of leaching occurs in two of 14 model years. Simulations indicate that thin soils (having limited water storage capacity) produce hot spots for deep percolation and nitrate leaching such that thinner soils (<25 cm) experience water and nitrate loss rates five to 16 times higher than thicker soils (>100 cm). The practice of fallow facilitates mineralization of soil organic nitrogen to nitrate and increases deep percolation, magnifying the interaction of hot moments and hot spots. Simulations suggest that a field with fallow in rotation once every three years experiences 55 \% of its deep percolation and 43 \% of its leaching losses during fallow years.",

keywords = "Deep percolation, Hydrus, Leach, Rainfed, Soil moisture",

author = "Sigler, \{W. Adam\} and Ewing, \{Stephanie A.\} and Jones, \{Clain A.\} and Payn, \{Robert A.\} and Perry Miller and Marco Maneta",

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doi = "10.1016/j.agee.2020.107158",

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T1 - Water and nitrate loss from dryland agricultural soils is controlled by management, soils, and weather

AU - Sigler, W. Adam

AU - Ewing, Stephanie A.

AU - Jones, Clain A.

AU - Payn, Robert A.

AU - Miller, Perry

AU - Maneta, Marco

PY - 2020/12/1

Y1 - 2020/12/1

N2 - The vast majority (82 %) of the earth's cultivated area is not irrigated, and half is in semi-arid regions where water tends to limit crop growth. In dryland semi-arid agroecosystems, any precipitation not transpired indicates crop yield that is below potential. Precipitation that is partitioned to deep percolation can transport nitrate out of the root zone, reducing nitrogen use efficiency and potentially contaminating groundwater. To mitigate loss of crop yield to drought, the practice of chemical summer-fallow (suppressing plant growth for a full growing season with herbicide) has been common in semi-arid regions to store water for the following growing season. However, precipitation losses during fallow tend to exceed the amount of precipitation stored, and fallow tends to increase nitrate leaching. We present model simulations informed by field observations that explore the interaction of crop rotation, weather, and soils as controls on precipitation partitioning and nitrate leaching. Simulations reveal that high intensity precipitation periods produce hot moments of deep percolation and nitrate leaching such that 54 % of deep percolation and 56 % of leaching occurs in two of 14 model years. Simulations indicate that thin soils (having limited water storage capacity) produce hot spots for deep percolation and nitrate leaching such that thinner soils (<25 cm) experience water and nitrate loss rates five to 16 times higher than thicker soils (>100 cm). The practice of fallow facilitates mineralization of soil organic nitrogen to nitrate and increases deep percolation, magnifying the interaction of hot moments and hot spots. Simulations suggest that a field with fallow in rotation once every three years experiences 55 % of its deep percolation and 43 % of its leaching losses during fallow years.

AB - The vast majority (82 %) of the earth's cultivated area is not irrigated, and half is in semi-arid regions where water tends to limit crop growth. In dryland semi-arid agroecosystems, any precipitation not transpired indicates crop yield that is below potential. Precipitation that is partitioned to deep percolation can transport nitrate out of the root zone, reducing nitrogen use efficiency and potentially contaminating groundwater. To mitigate loss of crop yield to drought, the practice of chemical summer-fallow (suppressing plant growth for a full growing season with herbicide) has been common in semi-arid regions to store water for the following growing season. However, precipitation losses during fallow tend to exceed the amount of precipitation stored, and fallow tends to increase nitrate leaching. We present model simulations informed by field observations that explore the interaction of crop rotation, weather, and soils as controls on precipitation partitioning and nitrate leaching. Simulations reveal that high intensity precipitation periods produce hot moments of deep percolation and nitrate leaching such that 54 % of deep percolation and 56 % of leaching occurs in two of 14 model years. Simulations indicate that thin soils (having limited water storage capacity) produce hot spots for deep percolation and nitrate leaching such that thinner soils (<25 cm) experience water and nitrate loss rates five to 16 times higher than thicker soils (>100 cm). The practice of fallow facilitates mineralization of soil organic nitrogen to nitrate and increases deep percolation, magnifying the interaction of hot moments and hot spots. Simulations suggest that a field with fallow in rotation once every three years experiences 55 % of its deep percolation and 43 % of its leaching losses during fallow years.

KW - Deep percolation

KW - Hydrus

KW - Leach

KW - Rainfed

KW - Soil moisture

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85090705311

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DO - 10.1016/j.agee.2020.107158

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85090705311

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VL - 304

JO - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment

JF - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment

M1 - 107158

ER -

Water and nitrate loss from dryland agricultural soils is controlled by management, soils, and weather

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Keywords

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