Modelling of water balance and nitrogen cycle in vegetative filter strips

The retention of nutrients by 10-m-wide grass buffers and buffers under natural vegetation has been studied over 10 years in Jokioinen in southwestern Finland. The results have been compared with those from 70-m-long plots without buffers. Grass was sown on the adjacent field and plots without buffers in 2002, and the field plots and these were grazed for 12 and 24 days in summer 2003 and 2004, respectively.