Phosphorus (P) is a non-renewable geological macronutrient that plays an essential role in food security. Ecosystem process-based models are a powerful tool to depict the P cycle, investigate the effects of management practices and climate change, and ultimately assess policy interventions that affect biogeochemical cycles. Of the limited number of P models in agricultural production systems, none have been tested in temperate conditions for periods of decades using long-term field experiments. We used data from four long-term experiments to calibrate and validate the P-submodel of DayCent and evaluate its ability to simulate the magnitude and temporal dynamics of P inputs, outputs as well as changes in P soil pools, with a focus on the total soil P content (PTotal) and the plant available P (PAvailable). The experiments involve five different soils, mineral and organic fertilizer treatments, management intensity levels, various crop rotations, crop residue management, and irrigation. The DayCent model captures the gross soil surface P budget (input minus output) in the six long-term experiments with high precision, and it performed well in simulating their soil PTotal. The model can be used to assess different scenarios with a changing climate, a change in management or land-use, and to analyse potential feedback between the terrestrial and the climate system. This makes this model a valuable tool for assessing policy and practical applications.

MUNTWYLER Anna;  PANAGOS Panagiotis;  MORARI Francesco;  BERTI Antonio;  JAROSCH Klaus;  MAYER Jochen;  LUGATO Emanuele; 

2023-02-14

ELSEVIER

JRC129941

0167-8809 (online),   

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X22002311,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC129941,   

10.1016/j.agsy.2022.103595 (online),