ARS | Publication request: Nutrient transfers in ditches draining heavily manured soils of the Delmarva Peninsula

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: February 16, 2009
Publication Date: January 1, 2010
Repository URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10113/7533
Citation: Kleinman, P.J., Allen, A., Needelman, B. 2010. Nutrient transfers in ditches draining heavily manured soils of the Delmarva Peninsula. In: Moore, M.T., Kroger, R., editors. Agricultural Drainage Ditches: Mitigation Wetlands for the 21st Century. Kerala, India:Research Signpost. p. 107-124.

Technical Abstract: Drainage ditches are a ubiquitous feature of the Delmarva Peninsula, which abuts the Chesapeake Bay and is home each year to 600 million broiler poultry. Improved drainage is critical to human habitation, travel and industry on the Delmarva Peninsula where low-lying, flat topography is dappled with poorly drained soils. This chapter summarizes drainage ditch research on the Delmarva Peninsula as part of “the Ditch Project,” a collaborative effort between researchers at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, and the University of Maryland College Park. Results from the Ditch Project provide a perspective into the role of drainage ditches in nutrient transfers from heavily-manured agricultural soils, the effect of current management practices on those transfers, and the potential for improved ditch management.