CHARACTERIZING CARBON COMPLEXITY ACROSS THE LAND-WATER INTERFACE IN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES
Author ORCID Identifier
0000-0003-1625-7751
Standing
Graduate (Masters)
Type of Proposal
Oral Research Presentation
Faculty
Faculty of Science
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. C.M. Febria
Proposal
Carbon may be a key underexplored factor in the management of nutrients in the Great Lakes basin. An intricate relationship exists between waterways and the lands they drain, with landscape-level characteristics greatly influencing the quantity and quality of dissolved organic matter (DOM) exported into freshwater ecosystems. Light-emitting fluorescent fractions of DOM (FDOM) have previously been linked to broad land-use categories, however using FDOM to characterize carbon within agricultural landscapes in respect of practices that build soil health, remains largely unexplored. Using the low-topography, clay-dominated soils of Essex County, southern Ontario as a case study we conducted a field survey to characterize DOM across the land-water interface. Focusing on agricultural soils and the tile drainage network, we sought to use FDOM as a tracer and indication of soil organic matter across a suite of farm-based agricultural practices related to carbon (e.g., cover crops, tillage regime and restored). Here we discuss the farmer-centered approach taken to implementing the field study, and preliminary results on the relationships between DOM and management. This understanding is especially critical in the Great Lakes basin where farm-based measures are focused almost entirely on P-management. By examining DOM in the context of other macronutrient cycles (e.g., P), our work may provide critical insight into the realities of implementing policy and management in the region.
Availability
March 29: 12 -2pm, March: 30 - 12 -3 pm, April 1: 12 -2pm
CHARACTERIZING CARBON COMPLEXITY ACROSS THE LAND-WATER INTERFACE IN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES
Carbon may be a key underexplored factor in the management of nutrients in the Great Lakes basin. An intricate relationship exists between waterways and the lands they drain, with landscape-level characteristics greatly influencing the quantity and quality of dissolved organic matter (DOM) exported into freshwater ecosystems. Light-emitting fluorescent fractions of DOM (FDOM) have previously been linked to broad land-use categories, however using FDOM to characterize carbon within agricultural landscapes in respect of practices that build soil health, remains largely unexplored. Using the low-topography, clay-dominated soils of Essex County, southern Ontario as a case study we conducted a field survey to characterize DOM across the land-water interface. Focusing on agricultural soils and the tile drainage network, we sought to use FDOM as a tracer and indication of soil organic matter across a suite of farm-based agricultural practices related to carbon (e.g., cover crops, tillage regime and restored). Here we discuss the farmer-centered approach taken to implementing the field study, and preliminary results on the relationships between DOM and management. This understanding is especially critical in the Great Lakes basin where farm-based measures are focused almost entirely on P-management. By examining DOM in the context of other macronutrient cycles (e.g., P), our work may provide critical insight into the realities of implementing policy and management in the region.