SPATIOTEMPORAL ASSESSMENT OF ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION SURROUNDING ANIMAL FARMS IN THE UNITED STATES

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) have expanded in the U.S. to address efficiencies in livestock production. These operations tend to cluster in space, and processes such as atmospheric deposition can partially explain significant increases in nutrients found in waterbodies surrounding these intensified agricultural systems. Nationwide, CAFO-clustered watersheds have shown greater concentrations of precipitation NH4 (0.10 mg/l greater on average) and NO3 (0.60 mg/) than CAFO-dispersed watersheds (p< 0.05). When comparing CAFO-clustered watersheds in NC and the trends in NH4 and NO3, we observed that watersheds with a higher density of CAFOs displayed an increasing trend in NH4 over time, while no trend was observed in NH4 for watersheds with a lower density of CAFOs. A shallow natural seepage lake located in a nitrogen hot spot has seen increases in pH and total nitrogen over a similar time period. The spatial patterns revealed in this study may be used to understand how watershed-targeted management has worked to prevent nutrient pollution from nonpoint sources and bring insights into the role of CAFOs in freshwater nutrient pollution and algal bloom expansion in the US.    

Presentation Preference: Oral

Primary Presenter: Lorrayne Miralha, The Ohio State University (miralha.1@osu.edu)

Authors:

Lorrayne Miralha, The Ohio State University  (miralha.1@osu.edu)

Diane Lauritsen, Limnosciences  (ddlauritsen@gmail.com)