Deep soil nitrogen storage slows nitrate leaching through the vadose zone

Julie N Weitzman; J Renée Brooks; Jana E Compton; Barton R Faulkner; Paul M Mayer; Ronald E Peachey; William D Rugh; Robert A Coulombe; Blake Hatteberg; Stephen R Hutchins

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2022.107949

Deep soil nitrogen storage slows nitrate leaching through the vadose zone

Agric Ecosyst Environ. 2022 Jul 1:332:1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.agee.2022.107949.

Affiliations

¹ ORISE Fellow at Pacific Ecological Systems Division, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, 200 SW 35 Street, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA.
² Pacific Ecological Systems Division, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, 200 SW 35 Street, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA.
³ Groundwater Characterization and Remediation Division, Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response, Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, 919 Kerr Research Drive, Ada, OK, 74820, USA.
⁴ Department of Horticulture, College of Agricultural Sciences, Oregon State University, 4045 Agriculture and Life Sciences Building, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA.
⁵ CSS, 200 SW 35 Street, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA.

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer applications are important for agricultural yield, yet not all the applied N is taken up by crops, leading to surplus N storage in soil or leaching to groundwater and surface water. Leaching loss of fertilizer N represents a cost for farmers and has consequences for human health and the environment, especially in the southern Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA, where groundwater nitrate contamination is prevalent. While improved nutrient management and conservation practices have been implemented to minimize leaching, nitrate levels in groundwater continue to increase in many long-term monitoring wells. To elucidate controls on leaching rates and N dynamics in agricultural soils across soil depths, and in response to seasonal and annual variation in management (e.g., fertilizer input amount and summer irrigation), we intensively monitored the transport of water and nitrate every two weeks for four years through the vadose zone at three depths (0.8, 1.5, and 3.0 m) in a sweet corn (maize) field. Though nitrate leaching was highly variable among lysimeters at the same depth and across years, a strong pattern emerged: annual nitrate leaching significantly decreased with depth across the study, averaging ~104 kg N ha^-1 yr^-1 near the surface (0.8 m) versus ~56 kg N ha^-1 yr^-1 in the deep soil (3.0 m), a 54% reduction in leaching between the soil layers. Even though crops were irrigated in summer, most leaching (~72% below 3.0 m) occurred during the wet fall and winter. Based on steady state assumptions, a net equivalent of ~29% of surface N inputs leached below 3.0 m into the deeper soil and groundwater, while ~44% was removed in crop harvest, indicating considerable N retention in the soil (~27% of inputs or approximately 58 kg N ha^-1 yr^-1). The accumulation and long-term dynamics of deep soil N is a legacy of agricultural management that should be further studied to better manage and reduce nitrate loss to groundwater.

Keywords: groundwater; legacy storage; nitrate leaching; nitrogen budget; vadose zone.

Grants and funding

EPA999999/ImEPA/Intramural EPA/United States