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Research ArticleResearch Section

Soil Vulnerability Index assessment as a tool to explain annual constituent loads in a nested watershed

S. Lohani, C. Baffaut, A.L. Thompson and E.J. Sadler
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation January 2020, 75 (1) 42-52; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.75.1.42
S. Lohani
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C. Baffaut
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A.L. Thompson
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E.J. Sadler
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Abstract

The Soil Vulnerability Index (SVI) was developed by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to identify inherent vulnerability of cropland to runoff and leaching. It is a simple index that relies on the SSURGO database and can be used with basic knowledge of ArcGIS. The goal of this study was to investigate a relationship between constituent (sediment and nutrient) loadings and fraction of the watershed in each SVI class. The SVI maps were developed for each of the seven subwatersheds of the Mark Twain Lake watershed in Missouri, which were similar in soil conditions and climatic variability. The SVI assessment was performed by investigating if the distribution of the SVI for cropland in each subwatershed could help explain measured 2006 to 2010 sediment and nutrient loads better than crop distribution alone. Regression analyses were performed between annual loads of sediment and nutrients exported from the watersheds and a composite number that included either cropland distribution alone, or cropland distribution combined with the SVI. Coefficients of determination and p-values were compared to assess the ability of land use and SVI distributions to explain stream loads. Integrating the SVI in the land cover variable improved the ability to explain constituent loads in the watersheds for sediment, total nutrients, and dissolved nitrogen (N). Regression results with and without the SVI were identical for dissolved phosphorus (P), potentially indicating that SVI was not indicative of dissolved P transport at the current site. Overall, the application of the SVI at watershed scale was not perfect, but acceptable at correctly identifying cropland of greatest vulnerability and linking with transported constituent loads.

    Key words
  • nutrient load
  • sediment load
  • soil vulnerability index
  • SVI
  • © 2020 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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Journal of Soil and Water Conservation: 75 (1)
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Vol. 75, Issue 1
January/February 2020
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Soil Vulnerability Index assessment as a tool to explain annual constituent loads in a nested watershed
S. Lohani, C. Baffaut, A.L. Thompson, E.J. Sadler
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Jan 2020, 75 (1) 42-52; DOI: 10.2489/jswc.75.1.42

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Soil Vulnerability Index assessment as a tool to explain annual constituent loads in a nested watershed
S. Lohani, C. Baffaut, A.L. Thompson, E.J. Sadler
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Jan 2020, 75 (1) 42-52; DOI: 10.2489/jswc.75.1.42
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Cited By...

  • Mapping the Soil Vulnerability Index across broad spatial extents to guide conservation efforts
  • Purpose, development, and synthesis of the Soil Vulnerability Index for inherent vulnerability classification of cropland soils
  • Assessing cultivated cropland inherent vulnerability to sediment and nutrient losses with the Soil Vulnerability Index
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Research Section

  • Assessing the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework toolbox in a Southern Piedmont landscape of the United States
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Special Research Section: Soil Vulnerability Index

  • Evaluation of the Soil Vulnerability Index for artificially drained cropland across eight Conservation Effects Assessment Project watersheds
  • Purpose, development, and synthesis of the Soil Vulnerability Index for inherent vulnerability classification of cropland soils
  • Performance of the Soil Vulnerability Index with respect to slope, digital elevation model resolution, and hydrologic soil group
Show more Special Research Section: Soil Vulnerability Index

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Keywords

  • nutrient load
  • sediment load
  • Soil Vulnerability Index
  • SVI

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