Decay characteristics and erosion-related transport of glyphosate in Chinese loess soil under field conditions

Xiaomei Yang; Fei Wang; Célia P M Bento; Lei Meng; Ruud van Dam; Hans Mol; Guobin Liu; Coen J Ritsema; Violette Geissen

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.082

Decay characteristics and erosion-related transport of glyphosate in Chinese loess soil under field conditions

Sci Total Environ. 2015 Oct 15:530-531:87-95. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.082. Epub 2015 May 28.

Authors

Xiaomei Yang¹, Fei Wang², Célia P M Bento³, Lei Meng⁴, Ruud van Dam⁵, Hans Mol⁵, Guobin Liu⁶, Coen J Ritsema³, Violette Geissen⁷

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, 712100 Yangling, China; Soil Physics and Land Management, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: xiaomei.yang@wur.nl.
² State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, 712100 Yangling, China; Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, 712100 Yangling, China. Electronic address: wafe@ms.iswc.ac.cn.
³ Soil Physics and Land Management, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
⁴ College of Geography and Environment, Baoji University of Arts and Sciences, 712300 Baoji, Shaanxi, China.
⁵ Institute of Food Safety (RIKILT), Wageningen University, P.O. Box 230, 6700 AE Wageningen, The Netherlands.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, 712100 Yangling, China; Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, 712100 Yangling, China.
⁷ Soil Physics and Land Management, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands; Institute of Crop Science and Resources Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany.

PMID: 26026412
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.082

Abstract

The decay characteristics and erosion-related transport of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) were monitored for 35 d at different slope gradients and rates of application in plots with loess soil on the Loess Plateau, China. The initial glyphosate decayed rapidly (half-life of 3.5d) in the upper 2 cm of soil following a first-order rate of decay. AMPA content in the 0-2 cm soil layer correspondingly peaked 3d after glyphosate application and then gradually decreased. The residues of glyphosate and AMPA decreased significantly with soil depth (p<0.05) independently of the slope inclination and application rate. About 0.36% of the glyphosate initially applied was transported from plots after one erosive rain 2d after the application. Glyphosate and AMPA concentrations in runoff were low while the contents in the sediment were much higher than in the upper 2 cm of the soil.

Capsule: Although the rate of glyphosate decay is rapid in Chinese loess soil, the risks of glyphosate and AMPA need to be taken into account especially in the area with highly erosive rainfall.

Keywords: Decay; Erosion; Glyphosate; Loess soil; Particulate-facilitated transport.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't