Journal article
Groundwater conditions under a reconstructed prairie chronosequence
Agriculture, ecosystems & environment, Vol.135(1), pp.81-89
2010
DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2009.08.013
Abstract
Chronosequences are useful to evaluate long-term changes in ecosystem services but assessing groundwater quality changes using this approach has rarely been done. In this study, groundwater level and quality comparisons were made in a watershed-scale reconstructed prairie chronosequence that extended back in time approximately 13 years at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge (NSNWR) near Prairie City, Iowa. Our objectives were to determine whether groundwater conditions varied significantly across the chronosequence and quantify the rate of nitrate concentration reduction when row crop fields are replaced by prairie. We installed 19 groundwater wells at upland locations selected to provide similar soil type, landscape position and slope. Water samples were collected on five occasions in 2006 and 2007 and analyzed for field parameters, anions and NO
3-N, NH
4-N and PO
4-P. Significant groundwater changes were primarily associated with groundwater levels, and groundwater nitrate and chloride concentrations. The groundwater was deeper under the older prairie plantings but fluctuated similarly among all well sites. Groundwater nitrate and chloride concentrations decreased 0.58 and 0.52
mg/l per year over the 13-year chronosequence, respectively. Results are seen to provide some guidance to land managers regarding possible nitrate concentration reductions achievable from converting cropland to perennial land cover in similar geomorphic settings.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Groundwater conditions under a reconstructed prairie chronosequence
- Creators
- Keith E. Schilling - United States Geological SurveyPeter Jacobson - Grinnell College
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Agriculture, ecosystems & environment, Vol.135(1), pp.81-89
- Publisher
- Elsevier B.V
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.agee.2009.08.013
- ISSN
- 0167-8809
- eISSN
- 1873-2305
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2010
- Academic Unit
- Earth and Environmental Sciences; IIHR--Hydroscience and Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9984383900502771
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