Granular measures of agricultural land use influence lake nitrogen and phosphorus differently at macroscales

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dc.contributor.authorStachelek, Josephen
dc.contributor.authorWeng, W.en
dc.contributor.authorCarey, Cayelan C.en
dc.contributor.authorKemanian, Armen R.en
dc.contributor.authorCobourn, Kelly M.en
dc.contributor.authorWagner, Tyler K.en
dc.contributor.authorWeathers, Kathleen C.en
dc.contributor.authorSoranno, Patricia A.en
dc.contributor.departmentBiological Sciencesen
dc.contributor.departmentForest Resources and Environmental Conservationen
dc.date.accessioned2021-02-25T15:29:56Zen
dc.date.available2021-02-25T15:29:56Zen
dc.date.issued2020-12en
dc.description.abstractAgricultural land use is typically associated with high stream nutrient concentrations and increased nutrient loading to lakes. For lakes, evidence for these associations mostly comes from studies on individual lakes or watersheds that relate concentrations of nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P) to aggregate measures of agricultural land use, such as the proportion of land used for agriculture in a lake's watershed. However, at macroscales (i.e., in hundreds to thousands of lakes across large spatial extents), there is high variability around such relationships and it is unclear whether considering more granular (or detailed) agricultural data, such as fertilizer application, planting of specific crops, or the extent of near-stream cropping, would improve prediction and inform understanding of lake nutrient drivers. Furthermore, it is unclear whether lake N and P would have different relationships to such measures and whether these relationships would vary by region, since regional variation has been observed in prior studies using aggregate measures of agriculture. To address these knowledge gaps, we examined relationships between granular measures of agricultural activity and lake total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) concentrations in 928 lakes and their watersheds in the Northeastern and Midwest U.S. using a Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach. We found that both lake TN and TP concentrations were related to these measures of agriculture, especially near-stream agriculture. The relationships between measures of agriculture and lake TN concentrations were more regionally variable than those for TP. Conversely, TP concentrations were more strongly related to lake-specific measures like depth and watershed hydrology relative to TN. Our finding that lake TN and TP concentrations have different relationships with granular measures of agricultural activity has implications for the design of effective and efficient policy approaches to maintain and improve water quality.en
dc.description.adminPublic domain – authored by a U.S. government employeeen
dc.description.notesThis work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation's Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) Program (award 1517823) and Macrosystems Biology Program (awards EF-1638679, EF-1638554, EF-1638539, and EF-1638550). PAS was also supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project 1013544. ARK supported by Hatch Appropriations under Project #PEN04571 and Accession #1003346. We thank Sarah Collins for early input on the design and motivation for this study. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Author contributions: J. Stachelek conceived of the study, built models, analyzed data, and wrote the paper. C. C. Carey, A. R. Kemanian, and P. A. Soranno contributed to the conception of the manuscript and edited the paper. W. Weng, K. M. Cobourn, T. Wagner, K. C. Weathers, and P. A. Soranno provided interpretation of results and edited the paper.en
dc.description.sponsorshipU.S. National Science Foundation's Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) Program [1517823]; U.S. National Science Foundation's Macrosystems Biology Program [EF-1638679, EF-1638554, EF-1638539, EF-1638550]; USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project [1013544]; Hatch Appropriations [PEN04571, 1003346]en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2187en
dc.identifier.eissn1939-5582en
dc.identifier.issn1051-0761en
dc.identifier.issue8en
dc.identifier.pmid32485044en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/102439en
dc.identifier.volume30en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsPublic Domainen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/en
dc.subjectagricultureen
dc.subjectfertilizeren
dc.subjectlakesen
dc.subjectmanureen
dc.subjectNitrogenen
dc.subjectPhosphorusen
dc.subjectWater qualityen
dc.titleGranular measures of agricultural land use influence lake nitrogen and phosphorus differently at macroscalesen
dc.title.serialEcological Applicationsen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.dcmitypeStillImageen

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