{"id":829,"date":"2021-03-17T14:40:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T14:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/sustainable-soils\/?p=829"},"modified":"2021-03-18T10:12:19","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T10:12:19","slug":"taking-a-long-look-at-the-flow-of-nutrients-from-soils-to-water-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/sustainable-soils\/2021\/03\/17\/taking-a-long-look-at-the-flow-of-nutrients-from-soils-to-water-in-the-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking a long look at the flow of nutrients from soils to water in the UK\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Our recent\u00a0<\/span><\/span>research<\/a>\u00a0has\u00a0explored how long-term changes in land use, agriculture, atmospheric pollution and human waste generation and management has changed the flows of nutrients through our waterways.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Centuries of nutrient change<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The past two centuries have seen huge changes in our landscapes and ways of life\u00a0that have\u00a0driven\u00a0big changes\u00a0in\u00a0the flows of macronutrients,\u00a0carbon nitrogen and phosphorus,\u00a0in our environment.\u00a0Agricultural expansion has changed plant cover, disrupting plant-soil nutrient cycles, and with the Green Revolution and the widespread adoption of inorganic fertilizer use came large additions of nitrogen and phosphorus\u00a0to the environment. Natural ecosystems too have been affected by large additions of nitrogen from atmospheric pollution, driven by rising fertilizer use and fossil fuel burning.\u00a0Rising\u00a0populations, the introduction of the toilet,\u00a0and the use of new products in the home such as detergents,\u00a0have\u00a0also\u00a0meant that\u00a0wastewater has changed the flow of nutrients around our environment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A nutrient puzzle<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All this\u00a0simultaneous,\u00a0long-term,\u00a0widespread\u00a0change presents us with puzzle\u00a0\u2013 how can we understand how these various drivers have contributed to nutrient\u00a0cycle\u00a0change\u00a0and\u00a0the consequences for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and what can we learn that helps us manage nutrient flows and the negative knock-on effects in future? Computer modelling offers us a way to unpick this puzzle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Long-Term Large-Scale project, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council\u2019s Macronutrient Research\u00a0Programme,\u00a0brought together\u00a0a diverse set of\u00a0researchers\u00a0to build an integrated model that interconnects\u00a0nutrient processes\u00a0from atmosphere to plants and soils to waterways.\u00a0John Quinton and Jess Davies were part of this modelling effort contributing key components in plant-soil biogeochemical and soil erosion modelling.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Modelling the past to understand the\u00a0future<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0paper<\/a>, published in Science of the Total Environment, communicates some of our findings from a freshwater perspective. Our modelling analysis indicates\u00a0that the rapid increase in the use of agricultural\u00a0fertilisers\u00a0after the second world war, and the rising human population, led to a rapid rise in\u00a0nitrogen\u00a0and phosphorus\u00a0fluxes to rivers, with nitrogen export to rivers quadrupling\u00a0and phosphorus increasing by a factor of 10\u00a0(see figure exert below).\u00a0During this period, the modelling shows that the dominant source of\u00a0nitrogen\u00a0to\u00a0rivers\u00a0switched\u00a0from\u00a0intense\u00a0grasslands\u00a0to arable, the dissolved N export to rivers quadrupled, and P from human waste\u00a0entering our waterways\u00a0increased by ~600%, despite\u00a0waste water\u00a0treatment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This work highlights the extent to which we as humans have modified our nutrient world\u00a0in the past, but it can also help us make a better future. This research and the modelling tools produced\u00a0can\u00a0help\u00a0inform national nutrient budgets and targeting of water quality\u00a0measures, and\u00a0help us set realistic targets for nutrient export and water quality status.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Exert from figure in Bell et al 2021: Export of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus to UK waterways from soils 1800\u20132010.<\/p><\/div>\n

If you are interested in other findings form the Long-Term Large Scale Macronutrient Change project, more outputs from the project are listed below:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n