Eutrophication is a most critical and urgent problem for many surface waters in lots of countries and regions in the world, such as a large area of coasts of Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Baltic Sea in the Baltic region and Taihu Lake in China.
Since 1970s, limnologists have reached the general agreement that the element phosphorus (P) is limiting eutrophication by affecting phytoplankton growth in the majority of world lakes. Anthropogenic P from agriculture is widely recognized as one of the most important non-point sources of P to water bodies. The P input from agricultural fields should be greatly reduced to prevent further eutrophication and guarantee good drinking water supplies.
Reduced fertilization and growing cover crops are two of the main strategies to mitigate P losses from agricultural soils, especially in the agricultural sections with heavy P application rates or big animal breeding intensity. Today, modeling is a common tool to estimate nutrient losses and transport to water bodies.
My studies are to find best management practices (BMPs) foranimal manure and cover crops that can minimize P leaching from agricultural soils in a Swedish context. I also work on P modelingusing the ICECREAM model to explain the data from a long-term field experiment in south-west Sweden. These studies will contribute to obtain knowledge of mitigation of P losses to water bodies and provide suggestions for management of P in agricultural systems.