ERTDI Report 76 (Kiely et al.)
Summary: Synthesis Report for the project: 2000-LS-2.1.1a-M2. Authors: Gerard Kiely, Gerard Morgan, Xie Quishi, Richard Moles, Paul Byrne, Bernadette O’Regan, Philip Jordan and Wayne Manary
This project examined, over the 12-month period January–December 2002, the phosphorus (P) in stream run-off from three grassland catchments in Ireland: the Dripsey in County Cork, the Oona Water in County Tyrone, and the Clarianna in County Tipperary. In each catchment, three or four river monitoring stations for flow and P fraction concentrations were set up in a nested catchment arrangement at scales of 0.15–85 km2. The objectives were to investigate the processes responsible for P transfer from fertilised grassland soils to streams and to investigate the patterns of such transfers. The P sorption and desorption characteristics of soil samples from each catchment were also determined (and are reported separately as part of LS2.1.1b). The catchments were characterised by similar land use (grassland) and a gradient of soil P fertility. The differences were mainly soil type (and associated chemistry affecting P retention) and soil hydrology (affecting P run-off).
