This Article Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: AEM.01121-06v1 72/12/7531    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Guber, A. K. Articles by Sikora, L. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Guber, A. K. Articles by Sikora, L. J. Agricola Articles by Guber, A. K. Articles by Sikora, L. J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.01121-06
Copyright (c) 2006, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Rainfall-Induced Release of Fecal Coliforms and Other Manure Constituents: Comparison and Modeling

Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA; USDA-ARS Environmental Microbial Safety Laboratory, Beltsville, MD; USDA-ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Beltsville, MD; USDA-ARS Animal Manure and By-products Laboratory, Beltsville, MD

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: aguber{at}anri.barc.usda.gov,

	Abstract

Modeling release of fecal coliforms is an important component of fate and transport simulations related to environmental water quality. Manure constituents other than fecal coliforms may serve as natural tracers of fecal contamination provided that their release from manure to runoff is similar to the fecal coliform release. The objectives of this work were to compare release of fecal coliforms (FC), chloride (Cl^-), organic carbon (OC), and water-soluble phosphorus (P) from dissolving manure, and to assess the performance of three models in describing the observed release. Bovine manure was applied on 0.5x0.3 m bare and vegetated subplots with 20% slope on sandy loam and clay loam soils. Concentrations of Cl^-, FC, OC and P were measured in runoff collected from troughs at edges of the subplots at five-min intervals during 1-hour rainfall simulations. The one-parametric exponential model, and two-parametric Vadas-Kleinman-Sharpley model and Bradford-Schijven model were fitted to the data. The Bradford-Schijven model had uncorrelated parameters, one of which was linearly related to the irrigation rate, and another parameter reflected the presence or the absence of vegetation. Kinetics of the FC release from manure was similar to the release kinetics of P and OC. The Bradford-Schijven model is recommended to simulate the release of manure constituents.