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<li>Quantify soil nutrient transformations associated with manure application & cover crop decomposition. </li>
<li>Examine relationship between soil chemistry & soluble P movement to surface water. </li>
<li>Optimize methods to measure soil & water denitrification. </li>
<li>Determine real-time soil water dynamics & impact on cover crop, manure, fertilizer, & soil nutrient fate. </li>
<li>Develop management practices to reduce impact of P & N from manures & cover crops. </li>
<li>Evaluate/ refine decision support tools to protect Chesapeake Bay Watershed. </li> </ol>
<ol>
<li>Rates and extent of nutrient transformations and release from manure and cover crop decomposition will be determined. </li>
<li>P availability and mobility will be determined as a function of soil type, soil component chemistry & manure amendments. </li>
<li>Impact of winter cover crops on nitrate leaching during winter/spring recharge and N availability during the following growing season will be evaluated by monitoring N soils crops and groundwater & determining N balances.
</li>
<li>Soil N availability will be studied by applying manure or N-15 labeled fertilizer to winter wheat plots. </li>
<li>Grain yield responses and N use efficiency will be determined and related to soil plant testing parameters: soil nitrate total wheat N & chlorophyll content. </li>
<li>Real- time changes in soil water content will be coupled with real-time water applications during irrigation and rainfall events, & with real-time evaporative demand, to assess nutrient fate in water under different production systems. </li>
<li>Synthesize information to evaluate & refine decision support tools for manure management & cover crop usage with emphasis on N&P. </li></ol></p>