Experimental nutrient additions accelerate terrestrial carbon loss from stream ecosystems

Rosemond, Amy D.; Benstead, Jonathan P.; Bumpers, Phillip M.; Gulis, Vladislav; Kominoski, John S.; Manning, David W. P.; Suberkropp, Keller; Wallace, J. Bruce

doi:10.1126/science.aaa1958

Cited by 229 publications

(231 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…This general pattern appears to hold across a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, suggesting that large inputs of nitrogen or carbon to floodplain systems could change substrate stoichiometry and impact ecosystem respiration and nitrogen retention and removal. For instance, Rosemond et al (2015) found that average residence time of terrestrially-derived particulate organic carbon decreased by half under high nitrogen availability during a long-term experiment manipulating loworder streams with various nitrogen applications. Under anoxic conditions, however, stoichiometric constraints of carbon and nitrogen supply are often secondary to redox conditions in controlling overall nitrogen uptake and loss (Helton et al, 2015).…”

Section: Riparian Corridors Function As Kidneys Of River Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Riparian Corridors: A New Conceptual Framework for Assessing Nitrogen Buffering Across Biomes

Pinay

Bernal

Abbott

et al. 2018

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Anthropogenic activities have more than doubled the amount of reactive nitrogen circulating on Earth, creating excess nutrients across the terrestrial-aquatic gradient. These excess nutrients have caused worldwide eutrophication, fundamentally altering the functioning of freshwater and marine ecosystems. Riparian zones have been recognized to buffer diffuse nitrate pollution, reducing delivery to aquatic ecosystems, but nutrient removal is not their only function in river systems. In this paper, we propose a new conceptual framework to test the capacity of riparian corridors to retain, remove, and transfer nitrogen along the continuum from land to sea under different climatic conditions. Because longitudinal, lateral, and vertical connectivity in riparian corridors influences their functional role in landscapes, we highlight differences in these parameters across biomes. More specifically, we explore how the structure of riparian corridors shapes stream morphology (the river's spine), their multiple functions at the interface between the stream and its catchment (the skin), and their biogeochemical capacity to retain and remove nitrogen (the kidneys). We use the nitrogen cycle as an example because nitrogen pollution is one of the most pressing global environmental issues, influencing directly and indirectly virtually all ecosystems on Earth. As an initial test of the applicability of our interbiome approach, we present synthesis results of gross ammonification and net nitrification from diverse ecosystems.

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Section: Riparian Corridors Function As Kidneys Of River Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Riparian Corridors: A New Conceptual Framework for Assessing Nitrogen Buffering Across Biomes

Pinay

Bernal

Abbott

et al. 2018

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…Terrestrial inputs as well as autochthonous primary production of OM are the result of the interplay of several catchment attributes such as soil properties (Autio et al 2016;Nelson et al 1992), land cover (Giling et al 2014;Wilson and Xenopoulos 2009), hydrology and water residence time (Lambert et al 2014;Sanderman et al 2009) and nutrient availability (Reche et al 1998), all of these basic drivers being altered by human activities (Carpenter et al 2011;Stanley et al 2012). The conversion of natural landscapes for human use has thus been shown to alter the sources, composition and reactivity of fluvial OM with significant effects on carbon cycling in freshwaters (Parr et al 2015;Petrone et al 2011;Rosemond et al 2015;Wilson and Xenopoulos 2009). Our ability to predict future changes in fluvial OM and associated ecological consequences in response to increasing anthropogenic pressures is however hampered by our limited understanding of the processes involved as well as by the fact that DOM and POM fractions are often investigated separately rather than simultaneously.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of human land use on the terrestrial and aquatic sources of fluvial organic matter in a temperate river basin (The Meuse River, Belgium)

et al. 2017

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The impact of human activities on the concentrations and composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and particulate organic matter (POM) was investigated in the Walloon Region of the Meuse River basin (Belgium). Water samples were collected at different hydrological periods along a gradient of human disturbance (50 sampling sites ranging from 8.0 to 20,407 km 2 ) and during a 1.5 year monitoring of the Meuse River at the city of Liège. This dataset was completed by the characterization of the DOM pool in groundwaters. The composition of DOM and POM was investigated through elemental (C:N ratios), isotopic (d 13 C) and optical measurements including excitation emission matrix fluorescence with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC). Land use was a major driver on fluvial OM composition at the regional scale of the Meuse Basin, the composition of both fluvial DOM and POM pools showing a shift toward a more microbial/algal and less plant/soil-derived character as human disturbance increased. The comparison of DOM composition between surface and groundwaters demonstrated that this pattern can be attributed in part to the transformation of terrestrial sources by agricultural practices that promote the decomposition of soil organic matter in agricultural lands and subsequent microbial inputs in terrestrial sources. In parallel, human land had contrasting effects on the autochthonous production of DOM and POM. While the in-stream generation of fresh DOM through biological activity was promoted in urban areas, summer autochthonous POM production was not influenced by land use. Finally, soil erosion by agricultural management practices favored the transfer of terrestrial organic matter via the particulate phase. Stable isotope data suggest that the hydrological transfer of terrestrial DOM and POM in humanimpacted catchment are not subject to the same controls, and that physical exchange between these two pools of organic matter is limited.

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“…algae, macroinvertebrates, fishes) and food web compartments (e.g. "green" pathways involving primary producers, "brown" pathways involving heterotrophic bacteria and fungi [11,12]); and many interacting environmental factors are also involved, such as land use, flooding, and stream size, affect stressor-response relationships [13][14][15]. Temporal factors also complicate relationships, with legacy (historic) nutrient sources contributing to stressors [3,16,17].…”

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of chlorophyll a to total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations in lotic ecosystems: a systematic review protocol

et al. 2017

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Background: Eutrophication of freshwater ecosystems resulting from nitrogen and phosphorus pollution is a major stressor across the globe. Despite recognition by scientists and stakeholders of the problems of nutrient pollution, rigorous synthesis of scientific evidence is still needed to inform nutrient-related management decisions, especially in streams and rivers. Nutrient stressor-response relationships are complicated by multiple interacting environmental factors, complex and indirect causal pathways involving diverse biotic assemblages and food web compartments, legacy (historic) nutrient sources such as agricultural sediments, and the naturally high spatiotemporal variability of lotic ecosystems. Determining nutrient levels at which ecosystems are affected is a critical first step for identifying, managing, and restoring aquatic resources impaired by eutrophication and maintaining currently unimpaired resources. The systematic review outlined in this protocol will compile and synthesize literature on the response of chlorophyll a to nutrients in streams, providing a state-of-the-science body of evidence to assess nutrient impacts to one of the most widely-used measures of eutrophication. This review will address two questions: "What is the response of chlorophyll a to total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations in lotic ecosystems?" and "How are these relationships affected by other factors?" Methods: Searches for published and unpublished articles (peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed) will be conducted using bibliographic databases and search engines. Searches will be supplemented with bibliography searches and requests for material from the scientific and management community. Articles will be screened for relevance at the title/abstract and full text levels using pre-determined inclusion criteria; 10% (minimum 50, maximum 200) of screened papers will be examined by multiple reviewers to ensure consistent application of criteria. Study risk of bias will be evaluated using a questionnaire developed from existing frameworks and tailored to the specific study types this review will encounter. Results will be synthesized using meta-analysis of correlation coefficients, as well as narrative and tabular summaries, and will focus on the shape, direction, strength, and variability of available nutrientchlorophyll relationships. Sensitivity analysis and meta-regression will be used to evaluate potential effects of study quality and modifying factors on nutrient-chlorophyll relationships.

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Experimental nutrient additions accelerate terrestrial carbon loss from stream ecosystems

Cited by 229 publications

References 43 publications

Riparian Corridors: A New Conceptual Framework for Assessing Nitrogen Buffering Across Biomes

Riparian Corridors: A New Conceptual Framework for Assessing Nitrogen Buffering Across Biomes

Effects of human land use on the terrestrial and aquatic sources of fluvial organic matter in a temperate river basin (The Meuse River, Belgium)

Response of chlorophyll a to total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations in lotic ecosystems: a systematic review protocol

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