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ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #322998
Title: Expansion of the MANAGE database with forest and drainage studies

Author
item Harmel, Daren
item CHRISTIANSON, LAURA - University Of Illinois
item MCBROOM, MATTHEW - Stephen F Austin State University
item Smith, Douglas
item HIGGS, KORI - North Carolina Agricultural And Technical State University

Submitted to: Water Resources Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/2/2016
Publication Date: 10/3/2016
Citation: Harmel, R.D., Christianson, L.E., McBroom, M.W., Smith, D.R., Higgs, K.D. 2016. Expansion of the MANAGE database with forest and drainage studies. Water Resources Research. 52(5):1275-1279. doi:10.1111/1752-1688.12438.

Interpretive Summary: The “Measured Annual Nutrient loads from AGricultural Environments” (MANAGE) database was published in 2006 to expand an early 1980’s compilation of nutrient runoff data from agricultural land uses at the field or farm scale. Then in 2008, MANAGE was updated with 15 additional studies, and N and P concentrations in runoff were added. Since then, MANAGE has undergone several significant expansions adding N and P water quality along with relevant management and site characteristic data from: 1) 30 runoff studies from forested land uses, 2) 91 drainage water quality studies from drained land, and 3) 12 additional runoff studies from cultivated and pasture lands. In this expansion, additional categories (data types) were added to facilitate analysis of 4R factors; therefore, fertilizer rate, placement, formulation, and application timing data were included when available. In addition, crop yield, N and P uptake, and economic data were added, although these data were only available for a limited number of studies. Inclusion of these additional data from cultivated, pasture/range, and forest land uses as well as artificially drained agricultural land should facilitate expanded spatial analyses and improved understanding of regional differences, management practice effectiveness, and impacts of land use conversions and management techniques. The current version is publically available and can be downloaded at http://www.ars.usda.gov/spa/manage-nutrient.

Technical Abstract: The “Measured Annual Nutrient loads from AGricultural Environments” (MANAGE) database was published in 2006 to expand an early 1980’s compilation of nutrient export (load) data from agricultural land uses at the field or farm spatial scale. Then in 2008, MANAGE was updated with 15 additional studies, and N and P concentrations in runoff were added. Since then, MANAGE has undergone several significant expansions adding N and P water quality along with relevant management and site characteristic data from: 1) 30 runoff studies from forested land uses, 2) 91 drainage water quality studies from drained land, and 3) 12 additional runoff studies from cultivated and pasture lands. In this expansion, additional categories (data types) were added to facilitate analysis of 4R factors; therefore, fertilizer rate, placement, formulation, and application timing data were included when available. In addition, crop yield, N and P uptake, and economic data were added, although these data were only available for a limited number of studies. Inclusion of these additional data from cultivated, pasture/range, and forest land uses as well as artificially drained agricultural land should facilitate expanded spatial analyses and improved understanding of regional differences, BMP effectiveness, and impacts of land use conversions and management techniques. The current version is publically available and can be downloaded at http://www.ars.usda.gov/spa/manage-nutrient.