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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Water Quality and Ecology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #406603
Research Project: Enhancing Long-Term Agroecosystem Sustainability of Water and Soil Resources Through Science and Technology

Location: Water Quality and Ecology Research

Title: Evaluation of woodchip-bioditch reactors as a nutrient reduction conservation strategy

Author
item PAYNE, GEOFFREY - Arkansas State University
item Moore, Matthew
item KRAJCIR, KEVIN - Arkansas State University
item CLASSEN, RACHELLE - Arkansas State University
item FARRIS, JERRY - Arkansas State University

Submitted to: Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/29/2023
Publication Date: 1/4/2024
Citation: Payne, G.K., Moore, M.T., Krajcir, K.J., Classen, R., Farris, J.L. 2024. Evaluation of woodchip-bioditch reactors as a nutrient reduction conservation strategy. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment. 7:e20455. https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20455.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20455

Interpretive Summary: Excess nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural runoff can harm rivers, lakes, and streams, and eventually end up damaging coastal environments like the Gulf of Mexico. Farmers need practical, economical conservation strategies to help reduce the amount of nutrients leaving farmland. One innovative practice being examined for nutrient mitigation is the use of woodchip bioditch reactors that can be placed in agricultural drainage ditches. A small scale experiment found that these temporary bioditch reactors successfully decreased the nitrogen runoff load, but the phosphorus load actually increased. Bioditch reactors that were constantly wet had a higher nitrogen load removal than reactors which had dried out. Further examination on greenhouse gas emissions are needed to determine whether widespread implementation of this nutrient conservation strategy should occur.

Technical Abstract: Continued increases in nitrogen and phosphorus loads in waterways cause problems with water quality, impacting human health, the economy, and the environment. To reach nutrient load reduction targets, innovative conservation strategies should be evaluated. This study used a mesocosm-scale experiment to assess the (1) potential of using woodchip-bioditch reactors for the mitigation of nitrate (NO3-) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) in agricultural waterways; (2) influence of bioditch reactor orientation to flow direction on NO3- and SRP concentrations and loads; and (3) impact of differing wet/dry cycles on NO3- and SRP loads when bioditch reactors are present. Woodchip-bioditch reactors successfully reduced NO3- loads compared to controls (p = 0.031), but SRP load was sometimes higher in bioditch reactor treatments. No consistent differences were identified between orientation of bioditch reactors to flow direction. The constantly wet treatment had a significantly higher NO3- load reduction than the dry treatment and control (p = 0.042). Our results indicate the promise of woodchip-bioditch reactors as a nutrient reduction conservation strategy, although further study of nutrient and greenhouse gas dynamics is needed before widespread use should begin.