Location: Soil Drainage Research
2024 Annual Report
Objectives
Objective 1: Elucidate field and instream governing processes that control water quality and ecological response.
Goal 1.1: Develop water table, soil moisture, and evapotranspiration measurement capacity within a subset of EOF network sites to better understand the water balance in tile drained landscapes.
Hypothesis 1.2: The majority of observed edge-of-field P losses are attributable to old soil P rather than recently applied P fertilizers.
Hypothesis 1.3: Preferential flow to subsurface tile drains are dominated by contributions from a relatively narrow band of the soil surface extending less than 1 m on either side of the drain.
Objective 2: Quantify the response of ecosystem services (e.g., water quality, habitat, and biodiversity) to conservation practice implementation.
Hypothesis 2.1: Implementation of conservation/aspirational practices (ASP) will significantly reduce edge-of-field surface and subsurface nutrient loss compared to business as usual (BAU) practices.
Hypothesis 2.2: Including two or more conservation practices (stacking) will provide greater nutrient loss reductions compared to single practice implementation.
Hypothesis 2.3: Improvements in soil health indicators will be associated with reduced edge-of-field nutrient losses.
Hypothesis 2.4: Installation of instream inserts within an agricultural headwater stream will create riffle pool sequences that will increase instream habitat diversity and improve fish community integrity at the microhabitat spatial scale.
Hypothesis 2.5: Installation of instream inserts in conjunction with channel rerouting and wetland creation will increase instream habitat diversity, improve fish community integrity, increase dissolved oxygen concentrations, and reduce downstream transport of nutrients. Hypothesis 2.6: Channelized agricultural headwater streams with greater instream habitat diversity will exhibit less nutrient concentrations and less within-season variability in nutrient concentrations and greater fish biodiversity and abundance.
Objective 3: Contribute to LTAR network science, data synthesis, and model development through data collection and development/assessment of predictive tools.
Hypothesis 3.1: Aspirational management systems (ASP) will improve soil health indicators compared to business-as-usual (BAU), but the degree of improvement will depend on site-specific factors.
Goal 3.2: Identify the best environmental predictors of fish community structure in agricultural headwater streams in the Eastern Corn Belt LTAR node.
Goal 3.3: Collect and synthesize data for Ohio high priority, agricultural tile drained watersheds.
Approach
Improved drainage, including subsurface tile and channelized streams, is required for sustainable agricultural crop production on an estimated 200 million ha of cropland worldwide. Another 425 million ha could benefit from improved drainage. The Midwest U.S. produces roughly 65% of the Nation’s annual corn and soybean production, largely as a result of artificial drainage. However, improved drainage has been linked to downstream water quality issues that include harmful algal blooms (e.g., Lake Erie and Gulf of Mexico) and hypoxia (e.g., Gulf of Mexico). Future climate predictions for the Midwest U.S. indicate more intense fall and spring storms and increasing temperatures that will heighten the importance of efficient drainage systems that maintain or improve ecosystem function and are in balance with new and/or enhanced production management practices, referred to as conservation/aspirational practices. Voluntary, incentive, and regulatory efforts have been applied to address agricultural nutrient loss and ecosystem function; yet, the problems persist. A combination of plot, field, and stream-scale research will be used to: isolate and understand the governing processes that control hydrological, water quality, and ecological responses; assess existing and novel management and conservation practices for their ability to reduce nutrient loss, enhance stream habitat and increase aquatic biodiversity; and synthesize the findings into improved simulation algorithms/scenarios for existing models and/or the development of new predictive tools. Successful completion of the proposed research will provide producers; certified crop advisors; extension specialists; researchers; drainage industry; conservationists; local, state, and federal action agencies; Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB) and other watershed stakeholders; and decision/policy makers a better understanding of the governing controls and processes of nutrient dynamics in tile drained landscapes; quantitative assessments to develop and inform design, selection, and implementation of conservation practices; and enhance or improve the development and testing of prediction technologies.
Progress Report
In support of Objective 1:
Goal 1.1. Soil moisture, soil temperature, and water table stage sensors have been installed in select fields to facilitate water balance assessment and measurement and data collecting is ongoing. Eddy covariance towers have been permanently installed in one set of fields and a second set of mobile towers have been tested and are ready for deployment. Discussions with University partners to support flux gas measurement and processing is also underway with hopes of having an agreement in place in the next two to three months.
Hypothesis 1.2. A second article focused on distinguishing the contributions of old and new phosphorus sources was published in 2024. Further analyses of the model results are ongoing. Additionally, we are collaborating with ARS scientists in Mississippi and Colorado to build alternative analyses of edge-of-field water quality data in order to better understand soil legacy phosphorus losses.
Hypothesis 1.3. A bromide tracer experiment was initiated in October 2023, utilizing six existing drainage research plots. Bromide concentrations in tile drainage have been monitored continuously since the application, and flow data have been compiled from the research plots. Analyses of these data are on-going.
In support of Objective 2:
Hypothesis 2.1. Significant progress continues to be made on assessing the soil and water quality benefits of alternative and prevailing practices. Soil samples were collected from the research fields and analyzed for agronomically important tests and soil health parameters. Surface and subsurface water quantity and quality data collection as well as site specific producer management data from approximately 30 fields (15 pair) and 20 plots is continuing. Exploration on cover crops, artificial (i.e., tile) drainage design, fertilizer placement, fertilizer source, fertilizer rate, and tillage is ongoing at the field scale. Additionally, a plot scale fertilizer placement study has recently been completed and data analysis is underway. With respect to the plots, one set of plots (12) are being prepped to start a new Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) experiment investigating a business-as usual-system of management (i.e., corn-soybean rotation with rotational tillage, fertility consistent with state recommendations and free drainage) compared to an alternative system (corn-wheat-soybean rotation in two years, no-tillage, minimal fertilizer applications, and controlled drainage). Baseline data is currently being collected on the remaining eight plots to support a fertilizer source study.
Hypothesis 2.2. The assessment of stacked practices is ongoing. Specifically, collaborations with University partners are facilitating the assessment of a phosphorus removal structure combined with a constructed wetland. Additionally, data analysis on the effects of combining a two-stage ditch design with upland practices and in-field furrow ditches has been completed and writing of the accompanying manuscript is underway.
Hypothesis 2.3. Soil samples were collected from 15 paired fields as well as a plot-scale experiment and processed in the lab. Samples have been analyzed for some soil health properties, and other analyses are on- going. Additionally, in-field assessments of soil hydraulic conductivity and compaction were completed in four fields. Water quality data collection and processing is also on-going. Soils data collected from previous sampling campaigns was shared with University collaborators in support of their work to improve and refine watershed models.
Hypothesis 2.4. Fishes and instream habitat were sampled in the fall 2023 and spring of 2024.
Hypothesis 2.5. Weekly grab samples of water for nutrient measurements have been collected on an ongoing basis from September to October 2023 and then ongoing since April 1, 2024. Instream habitat and fishes were collected in the fall of 2023 and spring of 2024 and dissolved oxygen/temperature data loggers were deployed in spring 2024. Additionally, nutrient addition experiments were conducted in April and then again in May 2024.
Hypothesis 2.6. Worked with stakeholders to get landowner information for ten new sites on private lands for a new research project evaluating the relationships among fishes, instream habitat diversity, and nutrient concentrations in agricultural headwater streams. Landowner permission secured from eight of ten identified sites and fishes, instream habitat, and grab samples for nutrient measurements were initiated in the eight new sites and two existing sites in spring 2024.Continuing efforts to secure permission from remaining two sites and/or to identify suitable backup sites.
In support of Objective 3:
Hypothesis 3.1. Led by researchers in Columbus, Ohio, historical datasets including soil health results from across the LTAR cropland common experiments were collected. Additionally, soil health indicators (total carbon, aggregate stability, active carbon, and soil protein) were measured within the LTAR common experiment treatments at the Eastern Corn Belt LTAR location.
Goal 3.2 Progress on finalizing databases continues. Climatic and instream habitat data have been finalized and a preliminary modeling analysis using those data in conjunction with the fish data have been conducted to evaluate the effect of climatic variables on fish community structure and if the effect of climatic variables on fishes is greater than that of instream habitat variables. Additionally, developed and calculated two new novel fish response variables (i.e., creek chub piscivore density, creek chub prey fish density) to be included as part of final fish database.
Goal 3.3. Added new Upper Big Walnut Creek site to LTAR algal limitation project and began monthly collection of algal water samples from two sites in support of this cross location project in May. Additionally, continuing to collect water samples for nutrient measurements, maintain and download stage data and climatic data, and the measurement of hydrologic variables in support of this project.
Plot and field scale data for the Eastern Corn Belt (ECB) common experiment continues to be collected. An overview manuscript has been submitted for the special collection on LTAR common experiments and progress continues to be made on an associated dataset publication. Data has also been collected and shared that supports four cross location projects being led from the drainage working group within the LTAR network. Two years of seasonal data to support the dominant flow pathways has been collected and shared with the project lead. Likewise, data to support improving simulation technologies has been collected and shared as has data to support assessment and quantification of microplastics in agricultural drainage. An additional site year of tile drainage temperature data was also collected and shared to support a structural practice project. Further, two new cross location ditch drainage projects were recently proposed and are being planned.
Accomplishments
1. Existing soil phosphorus sources represent the majority of phosphorus loss in subsurface drainage. Phosphorus load reduction is a primary goal of stakeholders in the Western Lake Erie Basin as it drives harmful algal blooms, but uncertainty about the source of P losses (new fertilizer applications vs. existing soil P) makes prioritization of best management practices difficult. An ARS scientist in Columbus, Ohio analyzed edge-of- field water quality data across a network of privately owned farms to assess the relative contributions of these two sources, and results showed over 80% of phosphorus leaving fields through drainage tiles was from existing soil P pools. Additionally, it was found that P coming from new fertilizer sources was most prevalent from liquid manure applications applied to the soil surface in late fall, with less P lost from other methods of P application. The results highlight the need for P load reduction efforts to limit surface applications of liquid manure in the late fall, as well as to develop strategies to mitigate existing soil P sources. These findings are a major contribution to national efforts of the USDA NRCS to advance scientific knowledge of legacy P sources, are informing water quality policy through the Ohio Department of Agriculture and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and are being incorporated into education efforts through Ohio State Extension.
2. Conservation crop rotation differentially affects subsurface nitrogen and phosphorus transport. The binational agreement between the U.S. and Canada established a 40% reduction goal for phosphorus loading to address nutrient pollution concerns in the Western Lake Erie Basin. While there are no goals to reduce nitrogen loading, it is well documented that nitrogen loading affects the toxicity of algal blooms occurring in the Western Lake Erie Basin. Conservation practices such as crop rotation, specifically the inclusion of winter wheat into the rotation, has been suggested as a means to reduce nutrient loss via subsurface tile drainage. ARS scientists in Columbus, Ohio, utilized an edge-of-field network consisting of 30 privately owned agricultural production fields and determined that conservation crop rotation helped to reduced nitrogen surpluses . However, any measurable benefits associated with phosphorus were masked due to elevated soil phosphorus levels in those fields. These findings are critical to the USDA Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) and the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network sustainable intensification initiatives and help to inform conservation policy and action agency implementation guidance such as Ohio’s H2Ohio water quality initiative.
3. Planting Grass filter strips do not affect fish biodiversity or instream habitat quality in agricultural headwater streams. Grass filter strips are a widely used conservation practice intended to improve stream water quality and provide wildlife habitat and are promoted by state and federal stakeholders and voluntarily implemented by producers and landowners. However, only a limited amount of information is available on the effects of grass filter strips and other conservation practices on stream fishes and instream habitat conditions. An ARS scientist in Columbus, Ohio documented the long-term effects of planting grass filter strips adjacent to agricultural headwater streams in central Ohio on fish diversity and abundance as well as stream habitat characteristics. Fish diversity, fish abundance, and stream habitat characteristics did not differ among channelized agricultural headwater streams without grass filter strips, channelized agricultural headwater streams with grass filter strips planted between 2005 and 2006, and unchannelized streams with forested riparian habitats. These results suggest that grass filter strips should not be used alone, but in conjunction with other practices capable of improving physical habitat and water quality in order tobenefit fishes in agricultural headwater streams in the Midwestern United States. These results will assist state agencies, federal agencies, non-profit groups, and consulting agencies involved with conservation and management of fishes and other stream animals and those involved with managing agricultural watersheds.
4. Identification of the best environmental predictors of crayfish community structure in agricultural headwater streams. Many native crayfishes in North America are endangered as a result of habitat loss, water quality impairment, and non-native species. Little is known about crayfish-habitat relationships in headwater streams that have been impacted by agriculture. An ARS scientist from Columbus, Ohio collaborated with Purdue University scientists in Fort Wayne, Indiana and an ARS scientist from West Lafayette, Indiana to identify the environmental variables that best predict crayfish diversity, abundance, and species composition in agricultural headwater streams in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Crayfish diversity, abundance, and species composition was best predicted by water velocity, darter abundance (i.e., abundance of small benthic fishes), predator fish length, watershed size, riparian width, and riparian woody vegetation density. These results indicate that conservation strategies that improve instream habitat, riparian habitat, and biotic variables will benefit native crayfishes in agricultural headwater streams in the Midwestern United States. These results will assist state agencies, federal agencies, non-profit groups, and consulting agencies involved with crayfish and macroinvertebrate conservation and those involved with managing agricultural watersheds.
5. Documented feasibility of planting a native aquatic plant species to help restore Midwestern agricultural streams and rivers. Planting aquatic plants is a common practice used to help stabilize banks and promote instream habitat restoration in degraded streams and rivers. Information is lacking on whether it is feasible to plant a native aquatic plant (American water willow) as part of restoration efforts in agricultural streams and rivers. An ARS scientist in Columbus, Ohio collaborated with Mount Vernon Nazarene University to conduct a four-year field study to evaluate the factors influencing American water willow colonization and growth in two state scenic rivers in central Ohio. Survival of planted American water willow was greater in sites that received three plantings and sites with cobble substrate (i.e., rock 2.5 to 10.1 inches in size). American water willow survival and flooding frequency were greater in the state scenic river that exhibited the greatest abundance of American water willow. These results indicate that it is feasible to plant this aquatic plant in agricultural rivers with predominately gravel and cobble substrate in the Midwestern United States as part of stream restoration efforts. These results will assist state agencies, federal agencies, non-profit groups, and consulting agencies involved with conservation and management of aquatic plants in agricultural watersheds.
Review Publications
Wood, T.C., Smiley, P.C., Gillespie, R.B., Gonzalez, J.M. 2024. Identifying the environmental variables that predict crayfish assemblage structure in agricultural headwater streams. Freshwater Science. 43(1):18-36. https://doi.org/10.1086/729307.
Brubaker, G., Smiley, P.C., Bossley, J.P. 2023. Factors influencing the planting success of Justicia americana (L.) Vahl (American Water Willow) in a state scenic river in Ohio. Northeastern Naturalist. 30(4):407-428. https://doi.org/10.1656/045.030.0405.
Field, H.R., Sawyer, A.H., Welch, S.A., Benefiel, R.K., Mathie, D.M., Hood, J.M., Pawlowski, E.D., Karwan, D.L., Kreiling, R.M., Johnson, Z.I., Hanrahan, B.R., King, K.W. 2023. Importance of dense aquatic vegetation in seasonal phosphate and particle transport in an agricultural headwater stream. Water Resources Research. 59(9). Article e2022WR033782. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR033782.
Hanrahan, B.R., King, K.W., Rumora, K.R., Stinner, J.H. 2023. Contrasting the influence of crop rotation on phosphorus balances and losses in agricultural fields across a tile-drained landscape in Ohio, USA. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 49(6). Article 102232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2023.09.003.
Harmel, R.D., Preisendanz, H.E., King, K.W., Busch, D., Birgand, F., Sahoo, D. 2023. A review of data quality and cost considerations for water quality monitoring at the field scale and in small watersheds. Water. 15(17). Article 3110. https://doi.org/10.3390/w15173110.
Smiley, P.C. 2024. The effect of planting grass filter strips on fishes in agricultural headwater streams. Aquatic Conservation. Article 34:e4137. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.4137.
Osterholz, W.R., Simpson, Z.P., Williams, M.R., Shedekar, V., Penn, C.J., King, K.W. 2024. New phosphorus losses via tile drainage depend on fertilizer form, placement, and timing. Journal of Environmental Quality. 53:241-252. https://DOI.org/10.1002/jeq2.20549.
Decker, L., Sawyer, A.H., Welch, S.A., Zhu, J., Binley, A., Field, H., Hanrahan, B.R., King, K.W. 2024. Wide-ranging timescales of subsurface phosphorus transport from field to stream in a tile drained landscape. Journal of Hydrology. 635. Article 131185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.131185.
Hanrahan, B.R., King, K.W., Rumora, K.R., Stinner, J.H. 2024. Nitrogen balances and losses in conservation cropping systems across a tile-drained landscape in Ohio, United States. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 79:145-154. https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2024.00055.
Askar, M., Ghane, E., Youssef, M., Shedekar, V., King, K.W., Bhattarai, R. 2024. Feasibility of predicting subsurface drainage discharge with DRAINMOD parameterized by uncalibrated SURRGO soil properties and ROSETTA3. Journal of Natural Resources and Agricultural Ecosystems. 2(2):39-52. https://doi.org/10.13031/jnrae.15735.