Assessing the impacts of recent crop expansion on water quality in the Missouri River basin using the soil and water assessment tool
Chen, P; Yuan, YP; Li, WH; Leduc, SD; Lark, TJ; Zhang, XS; Clark, C
HERO ID
7975816
Reference Type
Journal Article
Year
2021
Language
English
PMID
| HERO ID | 7975816 |
|---|---|
| In Press | No |
| Year | 2021 |
| Title | Assessing the impacts of recent crop expansion on water quality in the Missouri River basin using the soil and water assessment tool |
| Authors | Chen, P; Yuan, YP; Li, WH; Leduc, SD; Lark, TJ; Zhang, XS; Clark, C |
| Journal | Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Page Numbers | e2020MS002284 |
| Abstract | The Missouri River Basin (MORB) has experienced a resurgence of grassland conversion to crop production, which raised concerns on water quality. We applied the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to address how this conversion would impact water quality. We designed three crop production scenarios representing conversion of grassland to: (a) continuous corn; (b) corn/soybean rotation; and (c) corn/wheat rotation to assess the impact. The SWAT model results showed: (a) the lower MORB produced high total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) load before conversion (baseline) due mainly to high precipitation and high agricultural activity; (b) the greatest percentage increases of TN and TP occurred in the North and South Dakotas, coinciding with the highest amount of grassland conversion to cropland; and (c) grassland conversion to continuous corn resulted in the greatest increase in TN and TP loads, followed by conversion to corn/soybean and then conversion to corn/wheat. Although the greatest percentage increases of TN and TP occurred in the North and South Dakotas, these areas still contributed relatively low TN and TP to total basin loads after conversion. However, watersheds, predominantly in the lower MORB continued to be “hotspots” that contributed the greatest amounts of TN and TP to the total basin loads—driven by a combination of grassland conversion, high precipitation, and loading from pre-existing cropland. At the watershed outlet, the TN and TP loads were increased by 6.4% (13,800 t/yr) and 8.7% (3,400 t/yr), respectively, during the 2008–2016 period for the conversion to continuous corn scenario. |
| Doi | 10.1029/2020MS002284 |
| Pmid | 34336130 |
| Wosid | WOS:000666401800009 |
| Url | https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020MS002284 |
| Is Certified Translation | No |
| Dupe Override | No |
| Is Public | Yes |
| Language Text | English |
| Keyword | land use change; Missouri River Basin; nitrogen loading; phosphorus loading |
| Is Peer Review | Yes |
| Relationship(s) |
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