UMD research coming out of ENST urges long-term research and innovative tools in small agricultural catchments to preserve water quality
Image Credit: Edwin Remsberg
A team of UMD researchers found that climate change will alter the amount of phosphorus entering waterways from agricultural lands, and more work needs to be done to understand the implications. They concluded that a combination of conservation practices tailored to specific regions and circumstances are needed to prevent water quality impairment. Their review was published in the journal Current Pollution Reports.
Phosphorus from agricultural land is a significant contributor to water pollution and excess nutrients that can lead to an overgrowth of algae, reducing ecosystem health and leading to significant economic losses. But the issues surrounding phosphorus loss are complex, with many interdependent elements, which makes predicting impacts of climate change difficult. For example, some phosphorus mitigation strategies may increase the loss of nitrogen from farm fields, another nutrient that impacts water quality.
“Phosphorus has not been a major part of the climate change conversation, but we hope our review will lead to targeted research to reduce water quality problems in the future, said Emileigh Rosso Lucas, Environmental Science and Technology Ph.D. student and lead author of the study. “Living in Maryland, where many agricultural soils have high phosphorus, and seeing climate change in action led us to explore this important topic.”
In their comprehensive analysis, the team explored the scientific literature about phosphorus sources and how it moves from soil to water in order to predict phosphorus losses under different climate change scenarios. They reviewed factors affecting phosphorus losses such as extreme precipitation, rising temperatures, increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, and sea level rise.
