Using detritivore abundance to manage nutrient leaching and prevent eutrophication in Lake Erie

Session: Soil Health: Role on Nutrient Losses from Agricultural Soils (2)

Josephine Lindsey-Robbins, Bowling Green State University, [email protected]
Shannon Pelini, Bowling Green State University, [email protected]

Abstract

There is a critical need to reduce nutrient losses from agricultural systems in order to protect freshwater ecosystems from nutrient loading. While the main cause of eutrophication of Lake Erie has been shown to be runoff of phosphorus and nitrogen, freshwater eutrophication management should be based on practices that consider complex habitat feedbacks, climatic changes, and nutrient cycling. We conducted a study that manipulated soil macroinvertebrate abundance and rainfall amount in an agricultural mesocosm system. We evaluated the effectiveness of increasing millipede and pill bug abundance as a strategy for nutrient management in an agroecosystem by assessing the nutrient levels within the soil, corn, invertebrates, and leachate. We found that increased invertebrate abundance decreased leachate volume and increased corn biomass. Additionally, total phosphorus and nitrogen levels in soil changed significantly depending on rainfall amount, showing a significant relationship between invertebrate activity and rainfall. We hope that our study will serve as one of the first to show that taking advantage of invertebrate action in agricultural soil will preserve freshwater ecosystems and the valuable services they provide for humans.