Influence of Slope Position and Hog Manure Injection on Fall Soil P and N Distribution in an Undulating Landscape

Investigation of how soil nutrients are distributed over the landscape in the fall is a prerequisite to identify critical source areas (CSA), which contribute soil nutrients to surface waters through snowmelt runoff. The objectives of this study are to investigate: (1) the distribution of soil nutrients in the landscape before soil freeze-up, and (2) how manure application in the fall affects this distribution. The study site, located in an undulating landscape in the Canadian prairies, is a closed drainage basin with moderate to fine textured soil. The basin received hog manure in fall 2001 and fall 2003. The landscape was classified into the shoulder, backslope, and footslope using a digital elevation model (DEM). Soil samples, collected from each landform segment in fall 2003 and fall 2004, were analyzed for available soil phosphorus (ASP), nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+). In the undulating landscape, ASP levels had a distribution pattern of backslope < shoulder < footslope in fall 2003. The NO3- levels increased from the shoulder to the footslope. The NH4+ levels did not vary between the shoulder and the backslope, while the footslope had significantly higher NH4+ than the other two landform segments. Manure application appeared to change these distribution patterns of ASP, NO3-, and NH4+ temporally. However, one year after manure application, the manure effect was only seen for ASP. The soil moisture level at the footslope was significantly different from that of the other landform segments in fall 2004. The shoulder and backslope were homogeneous in terms of soil moisture for both fall seasons.

[1]  Dan Pennock,et al.  Development and application of landform segmentation procedures , 2001 .

[2]  A. Jones,et al.  Regression Models for Estimating Soil Properties by Landscape Position , 1994 .

[3]  J. L. Richardson,et al.  Vegetation and soil-landscape relationships in the North Dakota Badlands. , 1986 .

[4]  Dan Pennock,et al.  The Feasibility of Variable Rate N Fertilization in Saskatchewan , 1996 .

[5]  A. Sharpley,et al.  Hydrologic Controls on Phosphorus Loss from Upland Agricultural Watersheds , 1998 .

[6]  F. Nachtergaele.  Soil taxonomy—a basic system of soil classification for making and interpreting soil surveys: Second edition, by Soil Survey Staff, 1999, USDA–NRCS, Agriculture Handbook number 436, Hardbound , 2001 .

[7]  D. Malo,et al.  Soil Fertility and Crop Responses at Selected Landscape Positions1 , 1975 .

[8]  J. Schoenau,et al.  Assessing nitrogen mineralization from soil organic matter using anion exchange membranes , 2004, Fertilizer research.

[9]  A. Landi,et al.  Carbon Distribution in a Hummocky Landscape from Saskatchewan, Canada , 2004 .

[10]  Dunling Wang,et al.  Direct measurement of organic carbon content in soils by the Leco CR-12 carbon analyzer , 1998 .

[11]  Dwayne R. Edwards,et al.  Minimizing surface water eutrophication from agriculture by phosphorus management , 1994 .

[12]  I. Burke,et al.  Biogeochemistry in a shortgrass landscape: control by topography, soil texture, and microclimate. , 2000 .

[13]  E. Gregorich,et al.  Effects of cultivation and erosion on soils of four toposequences in the Canadian prairies , 1985 .

[14]  R. W. Sheard,et al.  Comparison of Conventional and Automated Procedures for Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium Analysis of Plant Material Using a Single Digestion1 , 1967 .

[15]  Dan Pennock,et al.  Landscape-scale changes in indicators of soil quality due to cultivation in Saskatchewan, Canada , 1994 .

[16]  D. K. Cassel,et al.  Effect of Landscape Position on Soil Water and Corn Silage Yield , 1993 .

[17]  Pierre Goovaerts,et al.  Temporal persistence of spatial patterns for mineralizable nitrogen and selected soil properties , 1993 .

[18]  D. R. Nielsen,et al.  Spatial variability of wheat yield and soil properties on complex hills , 1988 .

[19]  J. Hummel,et al.  Spatial Analysis of Soil Fertility for Site-Specific Crop Management , 1994 .

[20]  J. Schoenau,et al.  Nitrogen dynamics in manured Saskatchewan soils , 2000 .

[21]  F. Hole.  Geomorphology: Geomorphic Processes and Surficial Geology , 1975 .

[22]  W. Pan,et al.  Winter Wheat Yield and Grain Protein across Varied Landscape Positions , 1994 .

[23]  Dan Pennock,et al.  Landform classification and soil distribution in hummocky terrain , 1987 .

[24]  William L. Pan,et al.  Nitrogen use efficiency of winter wheat among landscape positions , 1995 .

[25]  J. Schoenau,et al.  Impact of tillage and landscape position on nitrogen availability and yield of spring wheat in the Brown soil zone in southwestern Saskatchewan , 1998 .

[26]  B. Kay,et al.  Factors contributing to changes in plant available nitrogen across a variable landscape , 2005 .

[27]  C. Kessel,et al.  Seasonal Variations in Denitrification and Nitrous Oxide Evolution at the Landscape Scale , 1993 .

[28]  A. N. Sharpley,et al.  Depth of Surface Soil‐runoff Interaction as Affected by Rainfall, Soil Slope, and Management , 1985 .

[29]  E. C. Doll,et al.  Topographic Effects on Spring Wheat Yields and Water Use , 1991 .

[30]  Dan Pennock,et al.  Terrain attributes, landform segmentation, and soil redistribution , 2003 .

[31]  D. Schimel,et al.  Biogeochemistry of C, N, and P in a Soil Catena of the Shortgrass Steppe , 1985 .

[32]  C. Cole,et al.  Climatic and Topographic Relations of Three Great Plains Soils: II. Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus , 1990 .

[33]  P. Qian,et al.  Simultaneous extraction of available phosphorus and potassium with a new soil test: A modification of Kelowna extraction , 1994 .

[34]  D. F. Grigal,et al.  Topographic variation in soil water and nitrogen for two forested landforms in Minnesota, USA , 1994 .

[35]  L. Martz,et al.  CATCH: a FORTRAN program for measuring catchment area from digital elevation models , 1988 .

[36]  Masaki Hayashi,et al.  Water and solute transfer between a prairie wetland and adjacent uplands, 1. Water balance , 1998 .