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Watershed Buffering of Legacy Phosphorus Pressure at a Regional Scale: A Comparison Across Space and Time

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Abstract

Phosphorus (P) plays a crucial role in both agricultural production and water quality. There has been growing recognition of the importance of “legacy” P (surplus P that has accumulated in watersheds over time) for understanding contemporary water quality outcomes; however, little is known about how different watersheds respond to cumulative pressures from surplus P. The “buffering capacity” concept describes the ability of watersheds to attenuate P loading to surface waters by retaining P inputs over time. To explore the role of various watershed characteristics in buffering capacity, we used historic P data to calculate indices describing long- and short-term buffering for 16 large watersheds in southern Quebec, Canada, across a 30-year time span (1981–2011). We examined the correlation between these buffering capacity indicators and a set of key geochemical, hydrological, landscape and socio-ecological variables that we hypothesized could influence P buffering dynamics. Both short- and long-term buffering metrics were most strongly correlated with hydrological characteristics. Riverine TP flux across the watersheds was most strongly correlated with long-term buffering, which could represent a dominant influence of legacy P on contemporary riverine P flux. However, short- and long-term watershed buffering indices were not correlated with each other, suggesting distinctly different timescales and mechanisms of buffering. Combining estimates of long-term P accumulation along with biophysical characteristics of the watershed (including hydrology) explained a much greater share of the variation in riverine TP flux (R2 = 0.69) than biophysical characteristics alone (R2 = 0.36). Our findings reinforce the need to consider P buffering capacity and legacy P accumulation to help guide decision making around regional water quality targets across human-dominated landscapes.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Helen Jarvie and Donnacha Doody for comments on previous drafts. We thank Guillaume Larocque at the Québec Centre for Biodiversity Science for technical assistance and support. This research was funded by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grants (DG) to Elena Bennett and the Economics for the Anthropocene (E4A) program. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their invaluable feedback.

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Author notes

  1. ASK, lead author, did the majority of the writing of the paper, designed the study, performed the majority of the research and analyzed the data. J-OG contributed essential data and models for the study. GM analyzed some of the data and wrote major parts of the paper. EMB helped to design study and wrote major parts of the paper. RM contributed essential data and models for the study. PJAW conceived of the study design, consulted on all phases of data analysis and wrote major sections of the paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, 21,111 Lakeshore Rd., Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Montreal, Quebec, H9X 3V9, Canada

    A. S. Kusmer & E. M. Bennett

  2. Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    J.-O. Goyette & R. Maranger

  3. Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    G. K. MacDonald

  4. McGill School of Environment, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    E. M. Bennett

  5. Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

    P. J. A. Withers

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  1. A. S. Kusmer
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Correspondence to A. S. Kusmer.

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Kusmer, A.S., Goyette, JO., MacDonald, G.K. et al. Watershed Buffering of Legacy Phosphorus Pressure at a Regional Scale: A Comparison Across Space and Time. Ecosystems 22, 91–109 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-018-0255-z

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