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The role of ditch soil formation and redox biogeochemistry in mitigating nutrient and pollutant losses from agriculture

Brian A. Needelman, David E. Ruppert and Robert E. Vaughan
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation July 2007, 62 (4) 207-215;
Brian A. Needelman
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David E. Ruppert
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Robert E. Vaughan
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Abstract:

The mineral and organic materials in drainage ditches, when stable, may form soils as defined as materials that can support rooted vegetation or form horizons through processes of soil formation. Vegetation in ditches increases sediment retention, cycles nutrients, and promotes the development of soil structure. Soil-forming processes such as horizon formation, biogeochemical cycling, structure formation, and faunal activity may affect the environmental quality of a ditch and its role in mediating the quality of overlying waters. In this paper we provide an overview of soil formation and biogeochemical processes that operate in ditches and discuss the role that these processes have in the mitigation of nutrient and pollutant losses from agriculture. We propose that ditch soil formation is a function of climatic temperature regime, organisms, topography (including the topography of the ditch and the surrounding landscape), bathymetry, flow regime, parent material, time, water column attributes, and catastrophic events. Management procedures that encourage ditch vegetation, such as targeted clean-outs and gradual inundation, may increase the stability and ecosystem services of ditch soils. Site assessment and modeling of ditches may be improved by integrating information about ditch soils.

Footnotes

  • Brian A. Needelman is an assistant professor and David E. Ruppert is a graduate research assistant in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology, University of Maryland. Robert E. Vaughan is a research associate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Washington State University.

  • Copyright 2007 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society

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Journal of Soil and Water Conservation: 62 (4)
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Vol. 62, Issue 4
July/August 2007
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The role of ditch soil formation and redox biogeochemistry in mitigating nutrient and pollutant losses from agriculture
Brian A. Needelman, David E. Ruppert, Robert E. Vaughan
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Jul 2007, 62 (4) 207-215;

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The role of ditch soil formation and redox biogeochemistry in mitigating nutrient and pollutant losses from agriculture
Brian A. Needelman, David E. Ruppert, Robert E. Vaughan
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Jul 2007, 62 (4) 207-215;
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