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Nutrient losses in runoff from grasslandand shrubland habitats in southern New Mexico: II. Field plots

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Abstract

Losses of dissolved nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na,Cl, and SO4) in runoff were measured on grasslandand shrubland plots in the Chihuahuan desert ofsouthern New Mexico. Runoff began at a lowerthreshold of rainfall in shrublands than ingrasslands, and the runoff coefficient averaged 18.6%in shrubland plots over a 7-year period. In contrast,grassland plots lost 5.0 to 6.3% of incidentprecipitation in runoff during a 5.5-year period. Nutrient losses from shrubland plots were greater thanfrom grassland plots, with nitrogen losses averaging0.33 kg ha−1 yr−1 vs0.15 kg ha−1 yr−1, respectively, during a 3-year period. Thegreater nutrient losses in shrublands were due tohigher runoff, rather than higher nutrientconcentrations in runoff. In spite of these nutrientlosses in runoff, all plots showed net accumulationsof most elements due to inputs from atmosphericdeposition. Therefore, loss of soil nutrients byhillslope runoff cannot, by itself, account for thedepletion of soil fertility associated withdesertification in the Chihuahuan desert.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany and Division of Earth andOcean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, U.S.A.

    William H. Schlesinger

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, University ofNew Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, U.S.A.

    T.J. Ward

  3. Department of Biology, New Mexico StateUniversity, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, U.S.A.

    John Anderson

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  1. William H. Schlesinger
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  2. T.J. Ward
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  3. John Anderson
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Correspondence to William H. Schlesinger.

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Schlesinger, W.H., Ward, T. & Anderson, J. Nutrient losses in runoff from grasslandand shrubland habitats in southern New Mexico: II. Field plots. Biogeochemistry 49, 69–86 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006246126915

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