Predicting Land-Based Nitrogen loads and Attenuation in the Rangitikei River Catchment – the Implications for Land Use

Where both the intensity of land use in high N-attenuation areas was increased and the intensity of land use in low N-attenuation areas was decreased, N loss from agricultural land was greater but, importantly, N load to the River was lower. The approach described here is useful to identifying the potential (so-called) ‘head space’ for increased N leaching from farms within catchments and more efficiently allocating land use intensity to contrasting landscapes.