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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 #409191
Research Project: Agricultural Management for Long-Term Sustainability and Soil Health

Location: Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research

Title: The importance of consensus science to managing phosphorus in the environment: SERA-17 and the legacy of Andrew Sharpley

Author
item MACRAE, MERRIN - University Of Waterloo
item Kleinman, Peter
item OSMOND, DEANNA - North Carolina A&t State University
item SHOBER, AMY - University Of Delaware
item NELSON, NATHAN - Kansas State University

Submitted to: Journal of Environmental Quality
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/10/2024
Publication Date: 2/10/2024
Citation: Macrae, M., Kleinman, P.J., Osmond, D., Shober, A., Nelson, N. 2024. The importance of consensus science to managing phosphorus in the environment: SERA-17 and the legacy of Andrew Sharpley. Journal of Environmental Quality. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20546.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20546

Interpretive Summary: Phosphorus (P) loss from agricultural systems to surface waters presents a wicked problem requiring transdisciplinary solutions. Through consensus building science, USDA's SERA-17 organization provided a means of distilling complex findings from a multitude of settings into scientific and management outcomes that have been adopted around the world. Similarly, Dr. Andrew Sharpley served as a the major leader of agricultural phosphorus science over the course of his career. In celebration of Sharpley's illustrious career, this analysis explores the lessons behind scientific consensus building for non-point source phosphorus management.

Technical Abstract: Phosphorus (P) loss from agricultural systems to surface waters, and, ultimately, eutrophication, presents a wicked problem requiring transdisciplinary solutions. Over the course of his career, Dr. Andrew Sharpley demonstrated a rare ability to collaboratively achieve consensus around issues related to the science and management of P. The SERA-17 organization (Southern Extension and Research Advisory Information Exchange Group - 17) served as the central community of experts and stakeholders in which that consensus was built and applied. The consensus-based approach, routinely demonstrated by Sharpley and at the core of the SERA-17 organization, was routinely applied to key areas of P science to produce applied outcomes that have been readily adopted: advance foundational science to resolve knowledge gaps and to promote innovation; promote consistency in method to facilitate comprehensive investigations and conclusions across a diversity of systems; engage diverse stakeholders to prioritize research and, ultimately, ensure that outcomes reflect a plurality of perspectives; and, deliver pragmatic solutions that reflect the best information available at a particular time. We review the history of SERA-17 in delivering new science and new management recommendations with an eye to elucidating Sharpley’s role and legacy.