Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Online
    • Archive
    • Subject Collections
  • Info For
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Advertisers
  • About
    • About JSWC
    • Editorial Board
    • Permissions
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
    • Contact Us

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Online
    • Archive
    • Subject Collections
  • Info For
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Advertisers
  • About
    • About JSWC
    • Editorial Board
    • Permissions
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
    • Contact Us
  • Follow SWCS on Twitter
  • Visit SWCS on Facebook
OtherSpecial Section

Phosphorus indexing for cropland: Overview and basic concepts of the Iowa phosphorus index

A. P. Mallarino, B. M. Stewart, J. L. Baker, J. D. Downing and J. E. Sawyer
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation November 2002, 57 (6) 440-447;
A. P. Mallarino
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
B. M. Stewart
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
J. L. Baker
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
J. D. Downing
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
J. E. Sawyer
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

ABSTRACT:

Excessive phosphorus (P) loss from soils impairs surface water resources. An assessment tool or index has been proposed to identify fields with high potential risk of P delivery. The P index integrates P source and transport factors into a decision making process that may lead to changes in current P management and soil conservation practices. The index recognizes that a single soil P threshold alone is not an appropriate evaluation factor because of the varying conditions across fields. Although most indices being developed in the United States include similar factors, source and transport characteristics are considered in various ways to best address the variable conditions across regions. The Iowa P index reflects conditions that predominate under grain-crop production systems, considers source factors in a multiplicative manner within three main transport mechanisms, and approximates loads of P likely to enter and become available to aquatic ecosystems. An erosional component considers sheet and rill erosion, P enrichment, total soil P, buffers, sediment delivery, distance to a stream, and the long term biotic availability of particulate P in lake ecosystems. A runoff component considers water runoff based on a modification of the runoff curve number (RCN), soil-test P (STP), rate, time, and method of P application. An internal drainage component considers the presence of tiles, water flow to tile lines, subsurface recharge from subsurface flow, and soil-test P. When the erosion risk is high, the index weighs particulate P loss heavily compared with dissolved P loss, and emphasizes long-term processes comparatively more than short-term processes. This P assessment tool helps identify alternative P and soil conservation management options for reducing total P delivery from fields to surface water resources.

Footnotes

  • Antonio P. Mallarino and John E. Sawyer are associate professors in the Department of Agronomy, James L. Baker is professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, and John D. Downing is professor in the Department of Animal Ecology at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Barbara M. Stewart is state agronomist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service in Des Moines, Iowa.

  • Copyright 2002 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation: 57 (6)
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Vol. 57, Issue 6
November/December 2002
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Soil and Water Conservation.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Phosphorus indexing for cropland: Overview and basic concepts of the Iowa phosphorus index
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
10 + 5 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
Phosphorus indexing for cropland: Overview and basic concepts of the Iowa phosphorus index
A. P. Mallarino, B. M. Stewart, J. L. Baker, J. D. Downing, J. E. Sawyer
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Nov 2002, 57 (6) 440-447;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Phosphorus indexing for cropland: Overview and basic concepts of the Iowa phosphorus index
A. P. Mallarino, B. M. Stewart, J. L. Baker, J. D. Downing, J. E. Sawyer
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Nov 2002, 57 (6) 440-447;
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Assessing edge-of-field nutrient runoff from agricultural lands in the United States: How clean is clean enough?
  • Scale-of-measurement effects on phosphorus in runoff from cropland
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Nitrogen export from Coastal Plain field ditches
  • Phosphorus in agricultural ditch soil and potential implications for water quality
  • Effect of ditch dredging on the fate of nutrients in deep drainage ditches of the Midwestern United States
Show more Special Section

Similar Articles

Content

  • Current Issue
  • Early Online
  • Archive
  • Subject Collections

Info For

  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • Subscribers
  • Advertisers

Customer Service

  • Subscriptions
  • Permissions and Reprints
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy

SWCS

  • Membership
  • Publications
  • Meetings and Events
  • Conservation Career Center

© 2021 Soil and Water Conservation Society