An integrated tool for cost-effectively applying nutrient management practices for corn, soybeans, and wheat.

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) problem in Lake Erie has become critical recently-primarily triggered by phosphorus losses from cropland in the Maumee River watershed (major crops of corn/soybeans/wheat). Implementing agricultural best management practices (BMPs) is crucial to reduce excess nutrient loadings. Nutrient management is the management of nutrient applications for crop production that maximizes nutrient use efficiencies and minimizes nutrient losses.

Gypsum, crop rotation, and cover crop impacts on soil organic carbon and biological dynamics in rainfed transitional no-till corn-soybean systems.

Soil organic carbon (SOC), a core soil quality indicator, is influenced by management practices. The objective of our 2012-2016 study was to elucidate the impact of gypsum, crop rotation, and cover crop on SOC and several of its biological indicators under no-till in Alabama (Shorter), Indiana (Farmland), and Ohio (Hoytville and Piketon) in the USA. A randomized complete block design in factorial arrangement with gypsum (at 0, 1.

Improving and calibrating channel erosion simulation in the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model.

The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model has been widely used to assess the impacts of management practices and climate change on runoff and soil loss at both hillslope and watershed scales. However, the representation of channel erosion processes in WEPP has not been changed significantly since it was released. The current (WEPP v2012.

Effects of soil-incorporated plant litter morphological characteristics on the soil detachment process in grassland on the Loess Plateau of China.

The Loess Plateau of China is one of the most eroded areas in the world. In the past 20 years, effective vegetation restoration measures have significantly changed the near-surface characteristics of soil. In natural conditions, plant litter is widespread in the topsoil.

Assessment of hydrology and nutrient losses in a changing climate in a subsurface-drained watershed.

Studies assessing the impact of subsurface drains on hydrology and nutrient yield in a changing climate are limited, specifically for Western Lake Erie Basin. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of changing climate on hydro-climatology and nutrient loadings in agricultural subsurface-drained areas on a watershed in northeastern Indiana. The study was conducted using a hydrologic model - the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) - under two different greenhouse gas emission scenarios (RCP 4.

A SWAT-based optimization tool for obtaining cost-effective strategies for agricultural conservation practice implementation at watershed scales.

To address the harmful algal blooms problem in Lake Erie, one solution is to determine the most cost-effective strategies for implementing agricultural best management practices (BMPs) in the Maumee River watershed. An optimization tool, which combines multi-objective optimization algorithms, SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool), and a computational efficient framework, was created to optimally identify agricultural BMPs at watershed scales. The optimization tool was demonstrated in the Matson Ditch watershed, an agricultural watershed in the Maumee River basin considering critical areas (25% of the watershed with the greatest pollutant loadings per area) and the entire watershed.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of green infrastructure on hydrology and water quality in a combined sewer overflow community.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of green infrastructure (GI) practices on improving site hydrology and water quality and their associated cost could provide valuable information for decision makers when creating development/re-development strategies. In this study, a watershed scale rainfall-runoff model (the Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Analysis - Low Impact Development model, the L-THIA-LID 2.1 model) was enhanced to improve its simulation of urban water management practices including GI practices.

Land use and climate change impacts on runoff and soil erosion at the hillslope scale in the Brazilian Cerrado.

Land use and climate change can influence runoff and soil erosion, threatening soil and water conservation in the Cerrado biome in Brazil. The adoption of a process-based model was necessary due to the lack of long-term observed data. Our goals were to calibrate the WEPP (Water Erosion Prediction Project) model for different land uses under subtropical conditions in the Cerrado biome; predict runoff and soil erosion for these different land uses; and simulate runoff and soil erosion considering climate change.

A review on effectiveness of best management practices in improving hydrology and water quality: Needs and opportunities.

Best management practices (BMPs) have been widely used to address hydrology and water quality issues in both agricultural and urban areas. Increasing numbers of BMPs have been studied in research projects and implemented in watershed management projects, but a gap remains in quantifying their effectiveness through time. In this paper, we review the current knowledge about BMP efficiencies, which indicates that most empirical studies have focused on short-term efficiencies, while few have explored long-term efficiencies.

Application of polyacrylamide to reduce phosphorus losses from a Chinese purple soil: a laboratory and field investigation.

Use of anionic polyacrylamide (PAM) to control phosphorus (P) losses from a Chinese purple soil was studied in both a laboratory soil column experiment and a field plot experiment on a steep slope (27%). Treatments in the column study were a control, and PAM mixed uniformly into the soil at rates of 0.02, 0.