SAES-422 Multistate Research Activity Accomplishments Report
Sections
Status: Approved
Basic Information
- Project No. and Title: SERA17 : Organization to Minimize Phosphorus Loss from Agriculture
- Period Covered: 11/11/2024 to 09/01/2025
- Date of Report: 09/23/2025
- Annual Meeting Dates: 06/25/2025 to 06/25/2025
Participants
The 2025 annual SERA-17 meeting was held online, hosted by Peter Kleinman (USDA – ARS). The organizing committee included: Pete Kleinman (SERA-17 Chair), Deanna Osmond (SERA-17 outgoing Chair), Steph Kulesza (SERA-17 incoming Chair) and Merrin Macrae, Joshua Mott, Zach Simpson, Andrew Margenot, Grace Miner, and Kevin King.
The meeting was opened by Peter Kleinman at 10:00 AM MT. The meeting included a business meeting, focused around working groups.
Participants: Approximately 70 attendees were present.
Brief summary of minutes of annual meeting:
The full meeting will be posted at: sera17.wordpress.ncsu.edu
A brief summary is provided here.
- Working group reports (10 minutes)
- Legacy P Perspectives – Andrew Margenot (Univ. Illinois)
- P in Drainage Waters – Merrin Macrae (Univ. Waterloo)
- P in Streambanks – Zach Simpson (Aarhus Univ.)
- P BMPs – Deanna Osmond (NC State Univ., emeritus)
- FRST update – Nathan Slaton (Univ. Arkansas)
- Lab Methods – John Kovar (USDA-ARS) and Barbara Cade-Menun (Agric. Agri-Food Canada)
- Reports from other P communities (5-10 minutes)
- 7th Annual Phosphorus Forum, Raleigh, NC, Sept. 17–18, 2025. Matt Scholz (Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance)
- 8th Sustainable Phosphorus Summit, Accra, Ghana, Sept 30-Oct 3, 2025. Phil Haygarth (Lancaster Univ.)
- Andrew Sharpley Early Career Award in Agricultural Phosphorus Sustainability – Merrin Macrae presented the award to Dr. Andrew Margenot (Univ. Illinois)
- Comments by the SERA-17 administrator, Dr. Amy Grunden (NC State University)
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Future meetings:
Nov 1-4, 2026, Portland, OR. In association with ASA-CSSA-SSSA meetings.
Accomplishments
The 2024-2025 SERA-17 meeting brought together approximately 70 participants, including several graduate students, with diverse backgrounds from the U.S., Canada and the UK. Discussion largely centered on three topics: Legacy P in the landscape, issues surrounding water quality and drainage, and P in streambanks. Considerable interest was expressed on these topics and a vibrant discussion followed all three sessions.
Impacts
- Impact: SERA-17 members have a long history of tackling complex problems and developing solutions for better managing P and other nutrients and protecting the environment. SERA-17s workgroups are actively working on key areas of phosphorus research, outreach and management. Over the past year, SERA-17 members led the publication of a special issue of Journal of Environmental Quality celebrating the career and research of Dr. Andrew Sharpley (see key publications below). Macrae et al (2024) highlighted the connection between SERA-17 and Sharpley’s legacy of promoting scientific consensus to advance the science and management of P. Other highlights include a review of the history of the P Index, which intersects strongly with SERA-17, consideration of the diversity of definitions currently circulating around legacy P, a revisiting of P lability as a key measurement of legacy P in the environment, and, a revisiting of the critical source area concept as an organizing paradigm for agricultural P management.
- Short-term Outcomes and Outputs: SERA-17s workgroups are quite active. The legacy P workgroup is conducting a global review of perspectives on legacy phosphorus, with contributions from >60 experts. The P in Drainage Watershed workgroup is carrying out a review of the state of the science, updating past reviews that are considered dated. A new SERA-17 workgroup was launched to develop the scientific underpinnings of a precision conservation approach to P management. Two new SERA-17 fact sheets are being developed or updated. The SERA-17 lab methods manual is being updated, with a third edition expected in 2026.
Grants, Contracts & Other Resources Obtained
Publications
Gatiboni, L., A. Shober, N. Fiorellino, D. Osmond, and L. Mosesso. 2025. Drawdown of soil phosphorus by crop removal: A meta-analysis of 56 fields with halted fertilization. A&E. DOI: 10.1002/ael2.70007
Macrae, M.L., P.J.A. Kleinman, D. Osmond, A. Shober and N. Nelson. 2024. The importance of consensus science to management phosphorus in the environment: SERA-17 and the legacy of Andrew Sharpley. J. Environ. Qual.: https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20546
Osmond, D.L., P.J.A. Kleinman, F. Coale, N.O. Nelson, C.H. Bolster, and J. McGrath. 2024. A short history of the phosphorus index and Andrew Sharpley's contributions from inception through development and implementation. J, Environ. Qual. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20535
Shober, A.L.; Simpson, Z.P.; Jarvie, H.P.; Macrae, M.L.; Kleinman, P.J.A.; Haygarth, P.M.; Kulesza, S.; Gatiboni, L.; Davies, J. Toward a transdisciplinary and unifying definition of legacy phosphorus. J. Environ. Qual. 2024; https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20659
Simpson Z.P., Mott J., Elkin K., Buda A., Faulkner J., Hapeman C., McCarty G., Foroughi M., Hively W.D., King K., Osterholz W., Penn C., Williams M., Witthaus L., Locke M., Pawlowski E., Dalzell B., Feyereisen G., Dolph C., Bjorneberg D., Nouwakpo K., Rogers C.W., Scott I., Bolster C.H., Duriancik L., Kleinman P.J.A. Phosphorus lability across diverse agricultural contexts with legacy sources. J Environ Qual. 2024 Sep 29. doi: 10.1002/jeq2.20632.
McDowell, R., P.J.A. Kleinman, P. Haygarth, J.M. McGrath, D. Smith, L. Heathwaite, A. Iho, O. Schoumans, and D. Nash. 2025. A review of the development and implementation of the critical source area concept: A reflection of Andrew Sharpley’s role in improving water quality. J. Environ. Qual.: DOI: 10.1002/jeq2.20551
Kleinman, P.J.A., D. Flaten, D. Osmond, H. Jarvie, R. McDowell, Z. Simpson, and J. Mott. 2025. Through the lens of phosphorus - The legacy of Andrew Sharpley. J. Environ. Qual. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.70032