%0 Journal Article
%T Modeling Phosphorus Capture by Plants Growing in a Multispecies Riparian Buffer
%A J. M. Kelly
%A J. L. Kovar
%J Applied and Environmental Soil Science
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/838254
%X The NST 3.0 mechanistic nutrient uptake model was used to explore P uptake to a depth of 120£¿cm over a 126£¿d growing season in simulated buffer communities composed of mixtures of cottonwood (Populus deltoids Bartr.), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), and smooth brome (Bromus inermis Leyss). Model estimates of P uptake from pure stands of smooth brome and cottonwood were 18.9 and 24.5£¿kg£¿ha£¿1, respectively. Uptake estimates for mixed stands of trees and grasses were intermediate to pure stands. A single factor sensitivity analysis of parameters used to calculate P uptake for each cover type indicated that , k, , and were consistently the most responsive to changes ranging from £¿50% to +100%. Model exploration of P uptake as a function of soil depth interval indicated that uptake was highest in the 0¨C30£¿cm intervals, with values ranging from 85% of total for cottonwood to 56% for switchgrass. 1. Introduction The loss of P from agricultural lands has been a subject of growing interest in the environmental community for the past two decades. The shift in regulatory focus in the latter half of the 1990s from point sources to diffuse sources and the associated requirement that total maximum daily load (TMDL) estimates be developed has led to the extensive use of a variety of P transport models to describe both particulate and solution phase movement of P [1, 2]. Paralleling the evolution of P transport models has been the development and implementation of various types of riparian buffers intended to retard the movement of P to surface waters [3, 4]. Buffers can significantly reduce particulate P entering surface waters [5]. Control of dissolved P inputs is more challenging [6]. Given that plant roots remove P from soil solution, it follows that plant uptake (mining) can reduce losses of dissolved P to some extent as noted by van der Salm et al. [7]. In an earlier study, Kelly et al. [8] investigated the ability of various plant cover types to capture P from a loess soil in Western Iowa over a four-year period. By the end of the study period the four vegetation cover types exhibited differences in the amount of P incorporated into standing biomass. Given that there are likely differences in plant uptake of P as a result of cover type and soil conditions, it could prove useful to the TMDL process to have a means of mechanistically projecting vegetative uptake of P under a variety of conditions. As noted by Claassen and Steingrobe [9], a validated mechanistic nutrient uptake model provides a means to extrapolate plant response beyond currently available data,
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aess/2012/838254/