Can multi-strategy management stabilize nitrate leaching under increasing rainfall?
The increased spring rainfall intensity and amounts observed recently in the US Midwest poses additional risk of nitrate (NO _3 ) leaching from cropland, and contamination of surface and subsurface freshwater bodies. Several individual strategies can reduce NO _3 loading to freshwater ecosystems (i....
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab5ca8 |
| _version_ | 1797747613078913024 |
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| author | Rafael Martinez-Feria Virginia Nichols Bruno Basso Sotirios Archontoulis |
| author_facet | Rafael Martinez-Feria Virginia Nichols Bruno Basso Sotirios Archontoulis |
| author_sort | Rafael Martinez-Feria |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The increased spring rainfall intensity and amounts observed recently in the US Midwest poses additional risk of nitrate (NO _3 ) leaching from cropland, and contamination of surface and subsurface freshwater bodies. Several individual strategies can reduce NO _3 loading to freshwater ecosystems (i.e. optimize N fertilizer applications, planting cover crops, retention of active cycling N), but the potential for synergistic interactions among N management practices has not been fully examined. We applied portfolio effect (PE) theory, a concept originally developed for financial asset management, to test whether implementing multiple N management practices simultaneously produces more stable NO _3 leaching mitigation outcomes than what would be predicted from implementing each practice independently. We analyzed simulated data generated using a validated process-based cropping system model (APSIM) that covers a range of soils, weather conditions, and management practices. Results indicated that individual management practices alone explained little of the variation in drainage NO _3 loads but were more influential in the amount of residual soil NO _3 at crop harvest. Despite this, we observed a general stabilizing effect from adopting well-designed multi-strategy approaches for both NO _3 loads and soil NO _3 at harvest, which became more pronounced in years with high spring rainfall. We use the PE principle to design multi-strategy management to reduce and stabilize NO _3 leaching, which resulted in 9.6% greater yields, 15% less NO _3 load, and 61% less soil NO _3 at harvest than the baseline typical management. Our results make the case for applying the PE to adapt NO _3 leaching mitigation to increased climate variability and change, and guide policy action and on-the-ground implementation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:53:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b4af612282ec4bacb7e535bfbf2a38f7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:53:59Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-b4af612282ec4bacb7e535bfbf2a38f72023-08-09T15:01:54ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262019-01-01141212407910.1088/1748-9326/ab5ca8Can multi-strategy management stabilize nitrate leaching under increasing rainfall?Rafael Martinez-Feria0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4230-5684Virginia Nichols1Bruno Basso2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2090-4616Sotirios Archontoulis3Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, United States of AmericaDepartment of Agronomy, Iowa State University , Ames, IA, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth and Environmental Science, Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, United States of AmericaDepartment of Agronomy, Iowa State University , Ames, IA, United States of AmericaThe increased spring rainfall intensity and amounts observed recently in the US Midwest poses additional risk of nitrate (NO _3 ) leaching from cropland, and contamination of surface and subsurface freshwater bodies. Several individual strategies can reduce NO _3 loading to freshwater ecosystems (i.e. optimize N fertilizer applications, planting cover crops, retention of active cycling N), but the potential for synergistic interactions among N management practices has not been fully examined. We applied portfolio effect (PE) theory, a concept originally developed for financial asset management, to test whether implementing multiple N management practices simultaneously produces more stable NO _3 leaching mitigation outcomes than what would be predicted from implementing each practice independently. We analyzed simulated data generated using a validated process-based cropping system model (APSIM) that covers a range of soils, weather conditions, and management practices. Results indicated that individual management practices alone explained little of the variation in drainage NO _3 loads but were more influential in the amount of residual soil NO _3 at crop harvest. Despite this, we observed a general stabilizing effect from adopting well-designed multi-strategy approaches for both NO _3 loads and soil NO _3 at harvest, which became more pronounced in years with high spring rainfall. We use the PE principle to design multi-strategy management to reduce and stabilize NO _3 leaching, which resulted in 9.6% greater yields, 15% less NO _3 load, and 61% less soil NO _3 at harvest than the baseline typical management. Our results make the case for applying the PE to adapt NO _3 leaching mitigation to increased climate variability and change, and guide policy action and on-the-ground implementation.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab5ca8nitrate leachingAPSIMagricultural managementclimate change adaptioncrop production |
| spellingShingle | Rafael Martinez-Feria Virginia Nichols Bruno Basso Sotirios Archontoulis Can multi-strategy management stabilize nitrate leaching under increasing rainfall? Environmental Research Letters nitrate leaching APSIM agricultural management climate change adaption crop production |
| title | Can multi-strategy management stabilize nitrate leaching under increasing rainfall? |
| title_full | Can multi-strategy management stabilize nitrate leaching under increasing rainfall? |
| title_fullStr | Can multi-strategy management stabilize nitrate leaching under increasing rainfall? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can multi-strategy management stabilize nitrate leaching under increasing rainfall? |
| title_short | Can multi-strategy management stabilize nitrate leaching under increasing rainfall? |
| title_sort | can multi strategy management stabilize nitrate leaching under increasing rainfall |
| topic | nitrate leaching APSIM agricultural management climate change adaption crop production |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab5ca8 |
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