Nitrate : Processes, Patterns and Management

This text brings together the various facets of the "nitrate issue" at a research level which should be of interest and use to a wide range of scientists working in this general area.

It examines the processes of nitrate cycling in particular environments, devoting two chapters to soils, though only one deals with agricultural soils.

A central section looks at the hydrology of nitrate, the delivery of nitrate to streams, the movement of nitrate in groundwater systems and the patterns of nitrate in surface waters.

A final section considers management responses to the nitrate problem, with discussions of both preventative and curative solutions, and a detailed examination of the legal requirements surrounding the issue.

Much of the authors' research has been focused within the catchments draining into Slapton Ley, a small lake in south west England whose status as a nature reserve has been threatened over the past few decades because eutrophication.

Of particular interest to them are the links between land use and nitrate loss, and the hydrological pathways by which nitrate moves from soil to stream.