Nutrient leaching driven by rainfall on a vermiculite clay soil under altered management and monitored with high-frequency time resolution

Abstract

Nutrient leaching from clay soils can show extreme temporal and spatial variation. Using an optical sensor (hourly data storage), a Swedish field with vermiculite clay was monitored for water flow (Q expressed in mm), turbidity values (TURB), and nitrate-nitrogen concentrations (CNO3N, mg L-1) in four hydrological years representing different cropping/soil management regimes. Mean TURB-Q slope (1300) decreased in the order: ploughed soil > winter wheat > unfertilized fallow > winter wheat after drainage system renovation + structure-liming of topsoil and backfill, estimated in the initial phase from 16 selected autumn events. A similar ranking was found for variability in turbidity relative to that in discharge (CV T/CV Q) in the entire autumn. Mean CNO3N-Q slope (=2) was significantly lower under fallow than in the three cropping systems (7-32), confirming results from adjacent experimental plots. A spring-period had no snow cover or intensive rain, but in situ monitoring revealed that nutrient leaching was still substantial. Particulate- and dissolved reactive phosphorus, and nitrate-nitrogen leaching was estimated reasonably well (less than 8% difference) based on in situ high-frequency resolution measurements, compared with laboratory analysis of weekly composite samples. Accurate assessment of C-Q relationships in agricultural drainage water across temporal and spatial scales is therefore important.