Effectiveness of Nutrient Management for Reducing Phosphorus Losses from Agricultural Areas

Dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) export from agricultural areas is a leading cause of nutrient pollution in freshwater systems (e.g., the North American Great Lakes). A potential solution to mitigate the excessive release of DRP is the use of nutrient management. To evaluate the effectiveness of nutrient management for phosphorus (P) in the United States, we conducted a review to synthesize P management and DRP export data from peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 to 2022. We identified 15 publications and extracted 113 and 90 observations from plot- and field-scale studies, respectively. At the plot scale, mean DRP concentrations were approximately 60% lower when P application rates were below the maximum recommended rate. In addition to the lower mean value, more extreme DRP export events occurred when the P fertilization rate was greater than the maximum recommended rate. In terms of application method, subsurface placement reduced mean DRP concentrations during rainfall simulations by 88% relative to surface placement (i.e., broadcasting). For fertilizer sources, mean DRP concentrations were similar between inorganic and organic fertilizers. However, at high application rates, organic fertilizers had a greater potential to produce extreme DRP export events. At the field-scale, organic fertilizers applied at high rates had the potential to produce extreme DRP export events. However, field-scale results for the other nutrient management techniques were generally inconclusive due to a limited number of studies and confounding factors. Overall, these results displayed the potential adverse impacts of overfertilization and the surface application of P fertilizers and highlighted the need for further research into the influence of nutrient management on P losses.