Shober, Amy L. and Simpson, Zachary P. and Jarvie, Helen P. and Macrae, Merrin L. and Kleinman, Peter J. A. and Haygarth, Philip M. and Kulesza, Stephanie and Gatiboni, Luke and Davies, Jenny (2024) Toward a transdisciplinary and unifying definition of legacy phosphorus. Journal of Environmental Quality. ISSN 0047-2425
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Legacy phosphorus (P) is a concept advanced by Dr. Andrew Sharpley and colleagues that was originally applied to the persistence of anthropogenic signatures in watersheds, and it has since been adopted in a diversity of settings to help guide the science and management of P. Following Sharpley's example to develop consensus‐based science, we considered contrasting perspectives on legacy P and defined legacy P as those stores within the environment that arise from historic human activity excluding “natural” or “background” geogenic sources. Legacy P is not restricted to one system or setting; it may reside in soils, sediments, biota, and water bodies. Legacy P has been estimated by fluxes (inputs minus outputs of P to a system) or, equivalently, by mass stocks (total minus geogenic). Because the origin of P in the environment cannot currently be directly quantified, we recommend that researchers report “total P” to track wider watershed P stocks and fluxes of P that include legacy P. We recognize that the definition of legacy P will continue to evolve as we continue to work toward consensus. Ultimately, the final definition of legacy P has consequences for the implementation and success of regulatory and voluntary strategies for legacy P management in agricultural systems. We support continued progress toward a consensus‐backed, research‐grounded definition for legacy P that is widely applicable yet useful for guiding management and policy.