Riparian Forest Ecosystems as Filters for Nonpoint-Source Pollution

Lowrance, Richard

doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-1724-4_5

Cited by 79 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…At the ecosystem scale, N gas fluxes can deplete soil stocks of inorganic N, an essential, and frequently limiting (to plant growth) nutrient (Vitousek and Howarth 1991). At the landscape scale, these fluxes can prevent or mitigate the movement of excess inorganic N from terrestrial environments (e.g., highly fertilized agricultural fields) into water bodies where they can cause overgrowth of aquatic plants and eutrophication (Lowrance 1998). At regional and global scales, N 2 O is a "greenhouse" gas that can influence the earth's radiative budget and plays a role in stratospheric ozone destruction (Prather et al 1995).…”

Section: N Gas Fluxes and Atmospheric Deposition -Some Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape and Regional Scale Studies of Nitrogen Gas Fluxes

Groffman

Venterea

Verchot

et al. 2006

Scaling and Uncertainty Analysis in Ecology

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Section: N Gas Fluxes and Atmospheric Deposition -Some Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape and Regional Scale Studies of Nitrogen Gas Fluxes

Groffman

Venterea

Verchot

et al. 2006

Scaling and Uncertainty Analysis in Ecology

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“…Hence establishing dense riparian shade is expected to increase dissolved inorganic N spiraling lengths in second to fourth order streams in our study area. This will result in higher concentrations down stream, unless the increased nutrient uptake by riparian trees planted in pasture (e.g., Lowrance 1998) compensates for the lower in-stream nutrient retention. An increase in nutrient export is not a serious concern at the site because the Mangaotama Stream at Whatawhata drains into the turbid Waipa River where benthic algal growth is restricted by low light penetration and silt streambed.…”

Section: Nutrient Uptakementioning

confidence: 99%

Influences of leaf toughness and nitrogen content on in‐stream processing and nutrient uptake by litter in a Waikato, New Zealand, pasture stream and streamside channels

Quinn¹,

Burrell

Parkyn

2000

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research

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The factors influencing in-stream disintegration and uptake of dissolved nutrients by leaves were investigated to improve the basis for selecting plants for riparian management. Leaves from five introduced and five New Zealand native plants were studied in 12 streamside channels and a natural stream. Fallen, air-dried leaves were tethered in packs attached to tiles in the channels and stream, and measured for mass loss, nitrogen and phosphorus uptake, toughness (by penetrometry), respiration rates, carbon : nitrogen (C:N) ratios, and macroinvertebrate communities after 7, 15, 28, 56, 126, and 226 days. Initial leaching over 2 days reduced mass by 8-32%, and microbial respiration could account for up to 23-93% (median = 43%) of dry mass (DM) lost over the first 56-126 days. First order mass loss rates (k, day -1 ) varied 14-fold, from -0.0028 day -1for Knightia excelsa to -0.039 day -1 for Juglans nigra, and were correlated most strongly with leaf toughness after 7 days in stream water (r = -0.84). Leaf packs in Mangaotama Stream, that were more rapidly colonised by invertebrates and exposed to frequent flow disturbances, had 3-to 5-fold higher mass loss rates than those in the streamside channels. The 12-fold variation amongst leaf species in mean uptake rate of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP), M99031 Received 26 May 1999; accepted 1 November 1999 and the 6-fold variation in mean nitrate uptake were correlated with k(r = -0.78 and -0.92 for DRP and NO 3 -N, respectively), respiration after 7 days (r = 0.80 and 0.84) and toughness after 2 days of leaching (r = -0.77 and -0.82). These findings improve the basis for selecting riparian plant species to optimise in-stream nutrient retention and invertebrate food supply in streams with different abilities to retain litter fall. For example, riparian plants with soft, N-rich, leaves are recommended to enhance the detrital energy base of streams where frequent spates flush leaf litter down stream, whereas a wider variety of plants and leaf types will be suitable for riparian planting for this purpose along highly retentive streams.

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“…A number of riparian transect studies have documented substantial nutrient filtering along hydrologic flow paths (Peterjohn and Correll 1984;Lowrance et al 1985;Jacobs and Gilliam 1985;Cooper 1990;Jordan et al 1993), yet other studies have described more variable results (Osborne and Kovacic 1993;Phillips et al 1993;Altman and Parizek 1995;Hill 1996;Correll et al 1997;Vidon and Hill 2004). In whole watershed analyses, evaluations of riparian effects have been mixed, showing strong (Weller et al 1996;Baker et al 2001;Johnson et al 1997;Norton and Fisher 2000;Jones et al 2001) or weak (Omernik et al 1981;Osborne and Wiley 1988) riparian effects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved methods for quantifying potential nutrient interception by riparian buffers

2006

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Efforts to quantify the effects of riparian buffers on watershed nutrient discharges have been confounded by a commonly used analysis, which estimates buffer potential as the percentage of forest or wetland within a fixed distance of streams. Effective landscape metrics must instead be developed based on a clear conceptual model and quantified at the appropriate spatial scale. We develop new metrics for riparian buffers in two stages of increasing functional specificity to ask: (1) Which riparian metrics are more distinct from measures of whole watershed land cover? (2) Do functional riparian metrics provide different information than fixed-distance metrics? (3) How do these patterns vary within and among different physiographic settings? Using publicly available geographic data, we studied 503 watersheds in four different physiographic provinces of the Chesapeake Bay Drainage. In addition to traditional fixed-distance measures, we calculated mean buffer width, gap frequency, and measures of variation in buffer width using both ''unconstrained'' metrics and ''flow-path'' metrics constrained by surface topography. There were distinct patterns of relationship between watershed and near-stream land cover in each physiographic province and strong correlations with watershed land cover confounded fixed-distance metrics. Flow-path metrics were more independent of watershed land cover than either fixed-distance or unconstrained measures, but both functional metrics provided greater detail, interpretability, and flexibility than the fixed-distance approach. Potential applications of the new metrics include exploring the potential for land cover patterns to influence water quality, accounting for buffers in statistical nutrient models, quantifying spatial patterns for process-based modeling, and targeting management actions such as buffer restoration.

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Riparian Forest Ecosystems as Filters for Nonpoint-Source Pollution

Cited by 79 publications

References 42 publications

Landscape and Regional Scale Studies of Nitrogen Gas Fluxes

Landscape and Regional Scale Studies of Nitrogen Gas Fluxes

Influences of leaf toughness and nitrogen content on in‐stream processing and nutrient uptake by litter in a Waikato, New Zealand, pasture stream and streamside channels

Improved methods for quantifying potential nutrient interception by riparian buffers

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