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Analyzing a century of agricultural phosphorus surplus and its long-term key drivers in France

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Abstract

The increase in agricultural production over the last decades has required an excessive use of nutrients, notably phosphorus (P). The phosphorus surplus (P-surplus) transferred to hydrosystems represents a source of potential harm to the environment, particularly in terms of water pollution (e.g. eutrophication). In this study, a soil surface budget was used to calculate P-surplus as the difference between inputs from mineral fertilizer, manure and atmospheric deposition and outputs represented by various types of harvested crops. P-surplus was quantified yearly between 1920 and 2020 for 90 geographic entities in France, called departments. National mean P-surplus calculated over the 1920–2020 period was 6 kg P per hectare of utilized agricultural area (ha UAA). At the departmental scale, the 1920–2020 average ranged from − 25 to 62 kg P ha UAA−1. Annual imprecisions linked to P-surplus were also quantified for each department as the difference between the 1st and 9th decile of 200 Monte Carlo simulations. The average departmental imprecision was 4 kg P ha UAA−1 year−1. These uncertainties are mainly related to P content in crops (R2 = 0.67). Despite these imprecisions, this study assessed trends in P-surplus and determined key-drivers responsible for surplus changes. Indeed, changes in surplus were similar in all the departments for the period 1920–1974, characterized by surplus increase with a maximum in 1974 and by a surplus decline since then. This decrease was clearly related to the decline of mineral fertilizer use in most departments.

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  1. Université de Tours, EA 6293, Géo-Hydrosystèmes Continentaux, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Parc de Grandmont, 37200, Tours, France

    H. Guejjoud, F. Curie & C. Grosbois

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  1. H. Guejjoud
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  2. F. Curie
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GH: Conceptualization, methodology, validation, formal analysis, writing-original draft, review and editing. CF: Conceptualization, methodology, validation, formal analysis, writing-review and editing, supervision and funding acquisition. GC.: Validation, writing-review and editing and supervision

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Correspondence to H. Guejjoud.

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Guejjoud, H., Curie, F. & Grosbois, C. Analyzing a century of agricultural phosphorus surplus and its long-term key drivers in France. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-023-10300-1

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