Sensitivity analysis, calibration and validation of EPIC for modelling soil phosphorus dynamics in Swiss agro-ecosystems

Proper management of soil phosphorus (P) is essential to ensure sustainability in agriculture. To avoid excessive P accumulation in soil, a methodology for predicting long-term variations in soil P content is required. Using the Swiss Soil Monitoring Network (NABO) database, we tested the efficiency of the model EPIC to predict soil P temporal changes for typical Swiss arable and grassland sites. After performing a sensitivity analysis to identify the most influential model parameters for which calibration was needed, we calibrated the influential parameters on the available topsoil P data of 4 selected NABO sites and then we tested the calibrated model by comparison of predictions with data from a second set of 14 sites. We found that the model performance for grassland sites improved significantly when site-specific estimates of bioturbation depth were used. These site-specific estimates showed a close relationship to independently assessed subsoil hydromorphy. We modelled long term phosphorus (P) change in agricultural soils with EPIC.The model was calibrated and validated for eighteen Swiss soil monitoring sites.Soil P sorption and bioturbation were the most influential processes.Bioturbation depth estimates were related to subsoil water-logging.

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