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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #419404
Research Project: Agricultural Management for Long-Term Sustainability and Soil Health

Location: Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research

Title: Toward a transdisciplinary and unifying definition of legacy phosphorus

Author
item SHOBER, AMY - University Of Delaware
item Simpson, Zachary
item JARVIE, HELEN - University Of Waterloo
item MACRAE, MERRIN - University Of Waterloo
item Kleinman, Peter
item HAYGARTH, PHILIP - Lancaster University
item KULESZA, STEPHANIE - North Carolina State University
item GATIBONI, LUKE - North Carolina State University
item DAVIES, JENNY - Lancaster University

Submitted to: Journal of Environmental Quality
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/11/2024
Publication Date: 12/8/2024
Citation: Shober, A., Simpson, Z.P., Jarvie, H., Macrae, M., Kleinman, P.J., Haygarth, P., Kulesza, S., Gatiboni, L., Davies, J. 2024. Toward a transdisciplinary and unifying definition of legacy phosphorus. Journal of Environmental Quality. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20659.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20659

Interpretive Summary: The management of phosphorus in agricultural settings must balance production and environmental concerns. Increasingly, legacy phosphorus is seen as a critical component of agricultural phosphorus science and management. In an effort to promote consensus around the science and management of legacy phosphorus, an international team of scientists explored the various dimensions of legacy phosphorus, providing guidance on its consistent and meaningful definition.

Technical Abstract: Legacy phosphorus (P) is a concept advanced by Dr. Andrew Sharpley and colleagues that was originally applied to the persistence of anthropogenic signatures in watersheds, and has since been adopted in a diversity of settings to help guide the science and management of P. Following Sharpley’s example to develop consensus-based science, we considered contrasting perspectives on legacy P and defined legacy P as those stores within the environment that arise from historic human activity excluding ‘natural’ or ‘background’ geogenic sources. Legacy P is not restricted to one system or setting; it may reside in soils, sediments, biota, and water bodies. Legacy P has been inferred by fluxes (inputs minus outputs of P to a system) or, equivalently, by mass stocks (total minus geogenic). Because the origin of P in the environment cannot currently be directly quanti-fied, we recommend that researchers report ‘total P’ to track wider watershed P stocks and fluxes of P that include legacy P. We recognize that the definition of legacy P will continue to evolve as we continue to work toward consensus. Ultimately, the final definition of legacy P has conse-quences for the implementation and success of regulatory and voluntary strategies for legacy P management in agricultural systems. We support continued progress toward a consensus-backed, research-grounded definition for legacy P that is widely applicable yet useful for guiding manage-ment and policy.