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TECHNICAL REPORTS

Landscape and Watershed Processes

Nitrogen Dynamics among Cropland and Riparian Buffers

Soil-Landscape Influences

^a Dep. of Plant and Soil Science, Univ. of Vermont, Hills Agricultural Building, 105 Carrigan Dr., Burlington, VT 05405
^b Dep. of Forest and Natural Resources Management, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Dr., Syracuse, NY 13210

^* Corresponding author (eoyoung{at}uvm.edu)

Received for publication July 11, 2006. Nitrate (NO₃^–) leaching to ground water poses water quality concerns in some settings. Riparian buffers have been advocated to reduce excess ground water NO₃^– concentrations. We characterized inorganic N in soil solution and shallow ground water for 16 paired cropland-riparian plots from 2003 to 2005. The sites were located at two private dairy farms in Central New York on silt and gravelly silt loam soils (Aeric Endoaqualfs, Fluvaquentic Endoaquepts, Fluvaquentic Eutrudepts, Glossaquic Hapludalfs, and Glossic Hapludalfs). It was hypothesized that cropland N inputs and soil-landscape variability would jointly affect NO₃^– leaching and transformations in ground water. Results showed that well and moderately well drained fields had consistently higher ground water NO₃^– compared to more imperfectly drained fields receiving comparable N inputs. Average 50-cm depth soil solution NO₃^– and ground water dissolved oxygen (DO) explained 64% of average cropland ground water NO₃^– variability. Cropland ground water with an average DO of <3 mg L^–1 tended to have <4 mg L^–1 of NO₃^– with a water table depth (WTD) of 1 m. Water table depth and DO explained 83% of ground water NO₃^– variability among buffers. More poorly drained buffers had low ground water NO₃^– and DO, a shallow WTD, and higher ground water ammonium and soil organic matter. Chloride patterns indicated that dilution was minor in most buffers, suggesting that denitrification losses were important. Soil-landscape factors strongly influenced NO₃^– behavior and suggest the importance of accurately characterizing soil variability along cropland-riparian zones.

Abbreviations: DO, dissolved oxygen • MWD, moderately well drained • NH₄⁺, ammonium • NO₃^–, nitrate • OC, organic carbon • OM, organic matter • PD, poorly drained • SPD, somewhat poorly drained • VPD, very poorly drained • WTD, water table depth

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. O. Young and R. D. Briggs Phosphorus Concentrations in Soil and Subsurface Water: A Field Study among Cropland and Riparian Buffers J. Environ. Qual., January 4, 2008; 37(1): 69 - 78. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]