The loss of P in subsurface drainage from lysimeters (0.5 ha), managed as either monoculture grass or grass‐clover for the last 9 yr have been quantified. Both systems received two to three cattle slurry applications annually and were cut two to three times before being grazed by dairy cattle. Mineral fertilizer‐P was applied only to the grass‐clover (about 25 kg P ha−1 yr−1). After 9 yr, NaHCO3‐soluble P in the topsoil (0–10 cm) averaged 38 and 47 mg P kg−1 for the grass and grass‐clover respectively, giving an average increase of 1.0 mg OIsen‐P kg−1 yr−1 in the grass‐clover. Drainage‐weighted molybdate‐reactive phosphorus (MRP) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations ranged from 0.16 to 0.38 mg P L−1 and 0.45 to 0.79 mg P L−1, respectively during the 2‐yr study period. The MRP and TP losses in subsurface‐flow from the grass‐clover (1.68–2.03 and 3.47–5.03 kg P ha−1 yr−1, respectively) were significantly larger than those from the grass (1.27–1.34 and 2.97–3.58 kg P ha−1 yr−1, respectively). Averaged across years and pastures, MRP accounted for 42% of the TP loss, while a non‐MRP form accounted for 41% of the TP loss through field drains. Particulate‐associated P represented about 17% of the TP loss. The P losses in subsurface runoff measured in the present study were much larger than previous estimates. The results also showed that, despite the subsoil having much larger P‐sorption capacity than the topsoil, significant amounts of P losses could occur through preferential hydrological pathways.

Changes in the weed seedbank were monitored between 1991 and 1998 in two experiments that were established to compare organic crop rotations at two sites in NE Scotland. Two rotations, replicated twice at each site, were compared and all courses of both rotations were present every year. There were relatively minor changes in weed species diversity over time, but major changes in seedbank abundance. Weed seed numbers were relatively low in rotations with a high proportion of grass/clover ley. Differences in level of seedbank across the rotation were relatively predictable at Tulloch but much less so at Woodside where factors such as the effect of the grass/clover ley seemed to play a lesser role. Other factors, such as weather and its influence on the effectiveness of weed control operations, and higher populations of ground-living arthropods, may be affecting the Woodside seedbanks.

Runoff from intensive dairy farming systems can impair the quality of catchment waters, with potential ecological and human health implications. A water quality study was carried out in three streams in a predominantly dairy farming region, with the aim of assessing the effects of diffused-and point-sourced inputs on a number of water quality parameters and benthic macroinvertebrates. The results showed significant increases in streamwater biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), ammonium-nitrogen (m-N) and molybdate reactive phosphorus (MRP) concentrations between the farm reaches. These changes in water quality appeared to be due largely to the point-sourced inputs from farmyards, and had a significant effect on the ability of the water to support a healthy and diverse community of invertebrates. The results also showed that concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO) and ammonium in streamwater were the two most important parameters studied that were inversely related to the invertebrate scores.

Phosphorus concentrations and outputs have been compared and contrasted in six small agricultural catchments in the west and northeast of Scotland.The loss of P from soils to stream waters was more from catchments with intensive dairy cattle farming in the west than from the less intensively stockedlarable catchments in the northeast, with striking differences being seen between the two regions. In the northeast, intensive animal farming caused less P loss in drainage water than arable management.Larger mean annual concentrations were seen in the west (0.076-0.142 mg P04-P/l as molybdate-reactive phosphate-MRP) compared with the northeast (0.012-0.025 mg PO,-P/l), a feature caused by the combination of limited P-retention in the western Gleysols and smaller inputs to the largely-podzolic northeastern catchments. Stream concentrations were decreased by dilution during winter storm flows and increased during summer baseflow and at the beginning of soil rewetting in autumn.

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