Eutrophication has become a major threat to water quality in the U.S., Europe, and Australasia. In most cases, freshwater eutrophication is accelerated by increased inputs of phosphorus (P), of which agricultural runoff is now a major contributor, due to intensification of crop and animal production systems since the early 1990s'. Once little information is available on the impacts of Brazilian agriculture in water quality, recent changes in crop and animal production systems in Brazil were evaluated in the context of probable implications of the fate of P in agriculture. Between 1993 and 2003, there was 33% increase in the number of housed animals (i.e., beef, dairy cows, swine, and poultry), most in the South Region (i.e., Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, and... |