Hydrological controls on nutrient concentrations and fluxes in agricultural catchments

Petry, Jonas Fernando; Soulsby, Christopher; Malcolm, I. A.; Youngson, A. F.

doi:10.1016/s0048-9697(02)00058-x

Cited by 94 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…This pattern is also reported in numerous permanent water bodies in Ireland, such as Lough Bunny (Pybus et al, 2003) and Lough Carra (King and Champ, 2000), as well as in Scotland (Petry et al, 2002) and Wales (Reynolds et al, 1992). The trend is usually explained by reduced effective rainfall and increased plant and microbial N uptake in the catchments during the growing season (late spring to early autumn) and the reverse process occurring in the late autumn and winter (Cunha Pereira, 2011;Kaste et al, 2003).…”

Section: Nitrogensupporting

confidence: 54%

Quantifying the influence of surface water–groundwater interaction on nutrient flux in a lowland karst catchment

McCormack

Naughton

Johnston

et al. 2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Nutrient contamination of surface waters and groundwaters is an issue of growing importance as the risks associated with agricultural run-off escalate due to increasing demands on global food production. In this study, the influence of surface water-groundwater interaction on the nutrient flux in a lowland karst catchment was investigated with the aid of alkalinity sampling and a hydrological model. The objective of the study was to determine the impact of ephemeral karst lakes (turloughs) on the surface watergroundwater nutrient flux, and whether these lakes act as sources or sinks of nutrients within the groundwater flow system. Water samples were tested from a variety of rivers, turloughs, boreholes and springs at monthly intervals over 3 years. Alkalinity sampling was used to elucidate the contrasting hydrological functioning between different turloughs. Such disparate hydrological functioning was further investigated with the aid of a hydrological model which allowed for an estimate of allogenically and autogenically derived nutrient loading into the karst system. The model also allowed for an investigation of mixing within the turloughs, comparing observed behaviours with the hypothetical conservative behaviour allowed for by the model. Within the turloughs, recorded nutrient concentrations were found to reduce over the flooded period, even though the turloughs hydrological functioning (and the hydrological model) suggested this would not occur under conservative conditions. As such, it was determined that nutrient loss processes were occurring within the system. Denitrification during stable flooded periods (typically 3-4 months per year) was deemed to be the main process reducing nitrogen concentrations within the turloughs, whereas phosphorus loss is thought to occur mostly via sedimentation and subsequent soil deposition.The results from this study suggest that, in stable conditions, ephemeral lakes can impart considerable nutrient losses on a karst groundwater system.

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Section: Nitrogensupporting

confidence: 54%

Quantifying the influence of surface water–groundwater interaction on nutrient flux in a lowland karst catchment

McCormack

Naughton

Johnston

et al. 2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…Several studies have reported that the relationship between land use and water quality can vary seasonally [17,43,59,60]. In our study, seasonal changes of river flow caused by the subtropical monsoon climate might explain seasonal differences in the strength of impacts of land use on water quality.…”

Section: Seasonal Differences In Impacts Of Land Use On Water Qualitymentioning

confidence: 55%

Impacts of Land Use on Surface Water Quality in a Subtropical River Basin: A Case Study of the Dongjiang River Basin, Southeastern China

Ding

Jiang

Fu³

et al. 2015

Water

161

103

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Abstract:Understanding the relationship between land use and surface water quality is necessary for effective water management. We estimated the impacts of catchment-wide land use on water quality during the dry and rainy seasons in the Dongjiang River basin, using remote sensing, geographic information systems and multivariate statistical techniques. The results showed that the 83 sites can be divided into three groups representing different land use types: forest, agriculture and urban. Water quality parameters exhibited significant variations between the urban-dominated and forest-dominated sites. The proportion of forested land was positively associated with dissolved oxygen concentration but negatively associated with water temperature, electrical conductivity, permanganate index, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and chlorophyll-a. The proportion of urban land was strongly positively associated with total nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen concentrations. Forested and urban land use had stronger impacts on water quality in the dry season than in the rainy OPEN ACCESSWater 2015, 7 4428 season. However, agricultural land use did not have a significant impact on water quality. Our study indicates that urban land use was the key factor affecting water quality change, and limiting point-source waste discharge in urban areas during the dry season would be critical for improving water quality in the study area.

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“…Nutrient fluxes tend to be greatest under storm events, both to overland flow and to delivery of deeper soil water to drainage (Petry et al, 2002). An important control on N leaching to groundwater is the proportioning between run-off and infiltration.…”

Section: Position Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the impact of climate change on future nitrate concentrations in groundwater of the UK

Stuart

Gooddy

Bloomfield

et al. 2011

Science of The Total Environment

144

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This paper reviews the potential impacts of climate change on nitrate concentrations in groundwater of the UK using a Source-Pathway-Receptor framework. Changes in temperature, precipitation quantity and distribution, and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations will affect the agricultural nitrate source term through changes in both soil processes and agricultural productivity. Non-agricultural source terms, such as urban areas and atmospheric deposition, are also expected to be affected. The implications for the rate of nitrate leaching to groundwater as a result of these changes are not yet fully understood but predictions suggest that leaching rate may increase under future climate scenarios. Climate change will affect the hydrological cycle with changes to recharge, groundwater levels and resources and flow processes. These changes will impact on concentrations of nitrate in abstracted water and other receptors, such as surface water and groundwater-fed wetlands.The implications for nitrate leaching to groundwater as a result of climate changes are not yet well enough understood to be able to make useful predictions without more site-specific data.The few studies which address the whole cycle show likely changes in nitrate leaching ranging from limited increases to a possible doubling of aquifer concentrations by 2100.These changes may be masked by nitrate reductions from improved agricultural practices, but a range of adaption measures need to be identified. Future impact may also be driven by economic responses to climate change. The study draws on extensive literature mainly from the UK and so presents a UK-based perspective, although literature for other temperate climates is included to augment that from Keywordsthe UK and to demonstrate that the proposed framework and general conclusions have a wider applicability.The principal N input to UK groundwater is derived from manures, fertilisers, sewage sludges and crop residues in agricultural areas (DEFRA, 2006). There are also smaller inputs from urban point sources and aerial deposition (Wakida and Lerner, 2005). N fertiliser can be applied as urea or ammonia, as well as nitrate, but the non-nitrate forms are generally converted rapidly to nitrate in the soils of the UK (MAFF, 1999). A small percentage of applied N is lost to the atmosphere as NH 3 , NO or N 2 O (Destouni and Darracq, 2009;Skiba et al., 1997;Sommer and Hutchings, 1995). A proportion of soil N is leached as nitrate from the base of the soil. This is either stored in, or transmitted through, the unsaturated zone to groundwater. groundwater. They found that although an ensemble average suggests there will be about a 5% reduction in annual potential groundwater recharge across the study area, this was not statistically significant at the 95% confidence level and more importantly observed that the spread of results for simulated changes in annual potential groundwater recharge range from a 26% decrease to a 31% increase by the 2080s, with ten GCMs predicting a decrease and three a...

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Hydrological controls on nutrient concentrations and fluxes in agricultural catchments

Cited by 94 publications

References 25 publications

Quantifying the influence of surface water–groundwater interaction on nutrient flux in a lowland karst catchment

Quantifying the influence of surface water–groundwater interaction on nutrient flux in a lowland karst catchment

Impacts of Land Use on Surface Water Quality in a Subtropical River Basin: A Case Study of the Dongjiang River Basin, Southeastern China

A review of the impact of climate change on future nitrate concentrations in groundwater of the UK

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