Role of concentrated flow pathways on the movement of pesticides through agricultural fields and riparian buffers

Riparian buffers, which are an important component of watershed management strategies, can effectively mitigate nutrients and pesticides in agricultural runoff. However, concentrated flow pathways (CFPs) can undermine the performance of buffers by allowing contaminant-laden runoff to bypass the mitigation potential offered by the buffer soils and vegetation. To determine the extent to which CFPs increase pesticide transport from agricultural fields to nearby streams, soil samples (0-2 cm depth) were collected along both CFPs and overland flow (OLF) pathways from the field to the stream for nine fields in a Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) site in the ridge and valley physiographic region of Pennsylvania. Soil samples were analyzed for atrazine, metolachlor, and imidacloprid, with two dominant patterns emerging. In corn fields, pesticide concentrations were higher in OLF than CFP samples, suggesting that pesticides were mitigated during transport through each corn field. In contrast, hay and pasture fields, which had not been treated with any of the three pesticides of interest, had lower pesticide concentrations in the OLF samples than the CFP samples. Because the CFPs from these fields originated in upgradient unsampled corn fields, these results suggest that the CFPs were a conduit for pesticides applied in the corn fields and were simply flowing through the hay and pasture fields. Similarly, CFPs in riparian buffers and grass pathways located between the row-cropped fields and the stream tended to have lower concentrations than the upland field (OLF-F) but higher concentrations than the buffer OLF, suggesting a potential for increasing overland flow effectiveness in riparian zones by interrupting CFPs leading to the stream. This study highlights the importance of the land management factors and hydrologic connectivity that cause CFPs to serve different functions (mitigation or enhancement) as runoff is conveyed from agricultural fields to a riparian buffer, and ultimately to an adjacent stream. Further, the results highlight the need for design and maintenance solutions addressing the erosion and sediment control issues that commonly undermine agricultural buffer effectiveness. Keywords. Buffers, Concentrated flow, Contaminant fate and transport, Hydrology, Land management, Pesticides, Overland flow, Water quality.

Files

Metadata

Work Title Role of concentrated flow pathways on the movement of pesticides through agricultural fields and riparian buffers
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Joseph W. Chandler
  2. Heather E. Preisendanz
  3. Tamie L. Veith
  4. Kyle R. Elkin
  5. Herschel A. Elliott
  6. John E. Watson
  7. Peter J. A. Kleinman
License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)
Publication Date 2021
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. 10.13031/trans.14221
Source
  1. Transactions of the ASABE
Deposited September 23, 2022

Versions

Analytics

Collections

This resource is currently not in any collection.

Work History

Version 1
published

  • Created

    September 23, 2022 15:30 by Scholarly Communications and Copyright

  • Added Chandler et al_Concentrated flowpaths_Trans ASABE_2021-1.pdf

    September 23, 2022 15:30 by Scholarly Communications and Copyright

  • Added Creator Joseph W. Chandler

    September 23, 2022 15:30 by Scholarly Communications and Copyright

  • Added Creator Heather E. Preisendanz

    September 23, 2022 15:30 by Scholarly Communications and Copyright

  • Added Creator Tamie L. Veith

    September 23, 2022 15:30 by Scholarly Communications and Copyright

  • Added Creator Kyle R. Elkin

    September 23, 2022 15:30 by Scholarly Communications and Copyright

  • Added Creator Herschel A. Elliott

    September 23, 2022 15:30 by Scholarly Communications and Copyright

  • Added Creator John E. Watson

    September 23, 2022 15:30 by Scholarly Communications and Copyright

  • Added Creator Peter J. A. Kleinman

    September 23, 2022 15:30 by Scholarly Communications and Copyright

  • Published

    September 23, 2022 15:30 by Scholarly Communications and Copyright

  • Updated Description Show Changes

    September 26, 2022 15:52 by xzx1

    Description
    • <jats:p><jats:bold>Highlights</jats:bold></jats:p><jats:p><jats:list list-type="bullet"><jats:list-item><jats:p>Land management and hydrologic connectivity cause concentrated flow pathways (CFPs) to serve various functions.</jats:p></jats:list-item><jats:list-item><jats:p>Pesticide concentrations diminished along flow pathways from row-cropped fields through functional riparian zones.</jats:p></jats:list-item><jats:list-item><jats:p>CFPs facilitated pesticide transport into pasture/hay fields from upgradient corn fields.</jats:p></jats:list-item><jats:list-item><jats:p>Subsurface transport was likely a more important transport pathway relative to surface runoff for imidacloprid.</jats:p></jats:list-item></jats:list></jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Abstract</jats:bold>. Riparian buffers, which are an important component of watershed management strategies, can effectively mitigate nutrients and pesticides in agricultural runoff. However, concentrated flow pathways (CFPs) can undermine the performance of buffers by allowing contaminant-laden runoff to bypass the mitigation potential offered by the buffer soils and vegetation. To determine the extent to which CFPs increase pesticide transport from agricultural fields to nearby streams, soil samples (0-2 cm depth) were collected along both CFPs and overland flow (OLF) pathways from the field to the stream for nine fields in a Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) site in the ridge and valley physiographic region of Pennsylvania. Soil samples were analyzed for atrazine, metolachlor, and imidacloprid, with two dominant patterns emerging. In corn fields, pesticide concentrations were higher in OLF than CFP samples, suggesting that pesticides were mitigated during transport through each corn field. In contrast, hay and pasture fields, which had not been treated with any of the three pesticides of interest, had lower pesticide concentrations in the OLF samples than the CFP samples. Because the CFPs from these fields originated in upgradient unsampled corn fields, these results suggest that the CFPs were a conduit for pesticides applied in the corn fields and were simply flowing through the hay and pasture fields. Similarly, CFPs in riparian buffers and grass pathways located between the row-cropped fields and the stream tended to have lower concentrations than the upland field (OLF-F) but higher concentrations than the buffer OLF, suggesting a potential for increasing overland flow effectiveness in riparian zones by interrupting CFPs leading to the stream. This study highlights the importance of the land management factors and hydrologic connectivity that cause CFPs to serve different functions (mitigation or enhancement) as runoff is conveyed from agricultural fields to a riparian buffer, and ultimately to an adjacent stream. Further, the results highlight the need for design and maintenance solutions addressing the erosion and sediment control issues that commonly undermine agricultural buffer effectiveness. Keywords: Buffers, Concentrated flow, Contaminant fate and transport, Hydrology, Land management, Pesticides, Overland flow, Water quality.</jats:p>
    • Riparian buffers, which are an important component of watershed management strategies, can effectively mitigate nutrients and pesticides in agricultural runoff. However, concentrated flow pathways (CFPs) can undermine the performance of buffers by allowing contaminant-laden runoff to bypass the mitigation potential offered by the buffer soils and
    • vegetation. To determine the extent to which CFPs increase pesticide transport from agricultural fields to nearby streams,
    • soil samples (0-2 cm depth) were collected along both CFPs and overland flow (OLF) pathways from the field to the stream
    • for nine fields in a Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) site in the ridge and valley physiographic region of Pennsylvania. Soil samples were analyzed for atrazine, metolachlor, and imidacloprid, with two dominant patterns emerging. In
    • corn fields, pesticide concentrations were higher in OLF than CFP samples, suggesting that pesticides were mitigated during transport through each corn field. In contrast, hay and pasture fields, which had not been treated with any of the three
    • pesticides of interest, had lower pesticide concentrations in the OLF samples than the CFP samples. Because the CFPs from
    • these fields originated in upgradient unsampled corn fields, these results suggest that the CFPs were a conduit for pesticides
    • applied in the corn fields and were simply flowing through the hay and pasture fields. Similarly, CFPs in riparian buffers
    • and grass pathways located between the row-cropped fields and the stream tended to have lower concentrations than the
    • upland field (OLF-F) but higher concentrations than the buffer OLF, suggesting a potential for increasing overland flow
    • effectiveness in riparian zones by interrupting CFPs leading to the stream. This study highlights the importance of the land
    • management factors and hydrologic connectivity that cause CFPs to serve different functions (mitigation or enhancement)
    • as runoff is conveyed from agricultural fields to a riparian buffer, and ultimately to an adjacent stream. Further, the results
    • highlight the need for design and maintenance solutions addressing the erosion and sediment control issues that commonly
    • undermine agricultural buffer effectiveness.
    • Keywords. Buffers, Concentrated flow, Contaminant fate and transport, Hydrology, Land management, Pesticides, Overland flow, Water quality.
  • Updated

    April 04, 2024 10:21 by [unknown user]