Nitrogen, phosphorus and pesticides. Strategies and prospects for reducing flows

Abstract

This special issue is the result of the scientific and technical day "Nitrogen, phosphorus and pesticides : new strategies for reducing upstream flows", organized by the joint research unit "Centre d'écologie végétale et d'hydrologie" (École nationale du génie de l'eau et de l'environnement de Strasbourg/Université Louis Pasteur.) and ASTEE (Association scientifique et technique pour l'eau et l'environnement), in Strasbourg on February 8, 2007 The objective here is to make available to all actors involved in environmental management, the knowledge acquired during recent research work. Four articles are first devoted to the transfer mechanisms, interests and limits of strategies to reduce nitrate, phosphorus and pesticide flows in watersheds. Two articles then analyze the processes involved and the optimization of artificial wetlands with a view to reducing pesticide flows. Finally, two articles present the design of operational tools to assess the impact of agricultural practices on water quality in non-instrumented agrosystems, in the form of pesticide transfer risk indicators on the one hand, and the Territ'eau methodology developed in Brittany on the other.