Following the surface application of different fertiliser treatments (cattle slurry, cattle
manure, and inorganic fertiliser) to grassed hillslopes, the transport of nitrogen (N) and
phosphorus (P) was monitored on controlled plots. The plots measured 30 m by 5 m,
the lower 10 m acting as an untreated buffer zone, in order to examine the effect of
following current codes of practice when applying fertilisers (MAFF and WOAD,
1991). Surface and sub-surface nutrient flow pathways were monitored, by sampling
water from the saturated and unsaturated zones of the soil profile, and from surface
runoff.
Sub-surface flow was dominated by N03--N. However, concentrations of this N
species were relatively low (3-6 mg 1-1), and differences between treatments and the
control were not significant. Generally, this indicated immobilisation of N species and
P fractions, outputs in plant uptake and possibly to atmosphere (denitrification).
For surface runoff, concentrations of N and P from treated plots were significantly
higher than those from the control. N was largely present as organic-N and NH4+-N for
the slurry and manure (15 mg 1-1 and 5 mg 1-1 respectively), and as NH4+-N and
N03--N for the inorganic fertiliser (20 mg 1-1 in both cases). P was largely present as
P04--P (0.5 mg 1-1 for manure and slurry, 10 mg 1-1 for inorganic fertiliser), except for
the manure treatment, where some 75 % of the total was organic-P. The 10 m buffer
was effective in reducing the delivery of N and P in surface runoff, differences between
the treatments and the control being rendered insignificant. This result was qualified in
terms of the ratio of the buffer area to the treated area and the relatively low surface
loads of N and P observed.
N and P transport was then examined under less controlled conditions at the field to
headwater catchment scale (4-18 ha). Sub-surface throughflow was associated with
similar concentrations of N03--N (3-8 mg 1-1) and very low concentrations of P04--P (0.03-0.1 mg 1-1). These concentrations appeared to vary more in relation to seasonal
changes in the level of discharge from the catchment than to changes in land-use, which
implied that N and P in sub-surface throughflow was transport rather than supply
limited. This was in broad agreement with observations made at the plot scale.
At this larger scale, fluctuations in the concentrations of NH4+-N and P04--P occurred
during rainfall events in response to what was probably the short-term occurrence of
surface runoff from partial source areas of reduced infiltration capacity or variable
source areas of saturation. These short-term fluctuations implied variations in
topography and the distribution of surface derived N and P at the catchment scale.
There was evidence of the occurrence of preferential flow during field experiments at
both scales, which had important implications for the timing and magnitude of N and P
transport.
Finally, a functional and semi-distributed mathematical model was constructed to
operate at the headwater catchment scale, and the effect of spatial variability in the
interaction between land-use and topography on the transport of N and P was
considered further.