Name
Effects of soil moisture and winter hydrologic processes on soil phosphorous accumulation and loss in canola croplands of cold-region watersheds
Date & Time
Tuesday, May 26, 2026, 3:15 PM - 3:30 PM
Description
Global studies highlight rising phosphorus (P) depletion, affecting soil health, crop yields, and carbon emissions, while field studies emphasize P accumulation and legacy effects driving downstream pollution. However, how various natural and anthropogenic factors shape soil P availability at the watershed scale, especially in cold-climate agricultural breadbaskets, remains unclear. This study applied a process-based model to a large agricultural watershed in western Canada and simulated biogeochemical, hydrological, and crop growth processes, to assess influence of soil moisture, soil temperature, and snowmelt on spatiotemporal soil P dynamics. The model was calibrated and validated against canola crop yield, streamflow, soil temperature, and soil P for 1990-2016. Analyses revealed three distinct patterns of soil P trends across regions: increasing, declining, and stationary. Despite similar fertilizer rates, differences in long-term soil P trends were primarily driven by soil moisture availability. Soil moisture-limited regions exhibited soil P accumulation due to constrained plant uptake, whereas moisture-sufficient counties showed net P depletion or equilibrium through enhanced crop uptake. Climate-driven shifts, including earlier (~2 weeks) and more frequent snowmelt, along with increased soil temperature phase-change cycles, enhanced winter P mobilization via mineralization and potential freeze-thaw processes but were insufficient to offset accumulation driven by moisture-limited growing-season uptake. Overall, the interplay of soil moisture, soil temperature, and snowmelt in canola cropping systems suggests that growing-season, moisture-driven plant P uptake dominates long-term soil P trends, whereas winter processes are secondary.
Location Name
McCain 2017
Full Address
Dalhousie University
Halifax NS
Canada
Session Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract ID
149
Speaker Organization
University of Alberta
Session Name
H10
Co-authors
Junyu Qi 2 , Symon Mezbahuddin 3,4 , Miles Dyck 4 , Derek MacKenzie 4 , Monireh Faramarzi 1,* 1 Watershed Science and Modelling Laboratory, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada 2 Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, 5825 University Research Ct, College Park, MD 20740, USA 3 International Trade Division, Alberta Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration, Edmonton, AB, Canada 4 Department of Renewable Resources, Faculty of Agricultural Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3 Canada.
Presenting Author
Yinlong Huang