Stream Nutrient Retention in Three Northeastern Oklahoma Agricultural Catchments

Haggard, Brian E.; Storm, Daniel E.; Tejral, R. D.; Popova, Yulia; Keyworth, V. G.; Stanley, Emily H.

doi:10.13031/2013.6120

Cited by 39 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…This research, with the exception of Alexander et al (2000), has been conducted in forested headwater streams with low instream NO { 3 concentrations. Our study and other research in agricultural headwater streams have indicated that these particular streams are ineffective at N removal because of NO { 3 saturation (Haggard et al 2001;Royer et al 2004;Bernot et al 2006). Studies in a variety of stream types have identified several factors to be important in removing N, such as organic carbon supply (Groffman et al 2005), NO { 3 concentration (Bernot et al 2006;Gü cker and Pusch 2006;Herrman et al 2008), ratio of depth to HRT (Seitzinger et al 2002), discharge (Peterson et al 2001), stream depth (Alexander et al 2000), and relative transient storage (Valett et al 1996).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 48%

An assessment of nitrogen removal from headwater streams in an agricultural watershed, northeast Ohio, U.S.A

Herrman¹,

Bouchard²,

Moore³

2008

Limnology & Oceanography

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The objective of this project was to assess in-stream nitrogen removal capacity in a fragmented agricultural landscape and to compare removal capacities in streams with agricultural or residential (hereafter referred to as agricultural streams) and forested riparian land use. We also identified what stream characteristics control nitrogen removal in these systems. We examined paired reaches (one agricultural and one forested reach) along five headwater streams in an agricultural watershed (Upper Sugar Creek Watershed) in northeast Ohio. Although denitrification rates were high (,0.1-17.2 mg N m 22 h 21 ), annual nitrogen removal was most likely low because during spring and fall, when in-stream nitrogen loads were high, removal was low, and during summer when instream nitrogen loads were low, removal was high. Between the agricultural and forested reaches removal rates were similar in terms of loss rate and uptake velocity. Removal capacities were similar despite forested reaches having higher hydraulic residence times. Using a redundancy analysis we identified temperature, in-stream nitrate concentration, and relative transient storage as stream characteristics that affect nitrogen removal. Further analysis suggests that nitrogen removal via denitrification in these headwater streams was not limited by the availability of nitrate. In this fragmented agricultural watershed in-stream nitrogen removal was low and riparian land use had no effect on this process, most likely because of nitrate saturation.Since the middle of the 20th century in the United States, reactive nitrogen inputs to landscapes have tripled as the result of agricultural fertilizer applications and cultivation of N-fixing crops (Galloway et al. 2003). Reactive N is considered by some researchers to be the third largest threat to our planet after biodiversity loss and climate change (Giles 2005). Excess N degrades habitat and limits biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems (Vitousek et al. 1997;Howarth et al. 2000). In the midwestern United States, agricultural watersheds are the dominant exporters of reactive N, particularly inorganic N (Goolsby et al. 1999), and have been linked to the eutrophication of the Gulf of Mexico (Rabalais et al. 2001). Because of these negative effects, several studies have examined N removal capacity and removal strategies over large spatial scales (Mitsch et al. 2001;Seitzinger et al. 2002). A crucial process responsible for the removal of N is denitrification. Denitrification is an important biogeochemical process because it removes a mobile, reactive form of N (nitrate) from an ecosystem by converting it to an unreactive gas (dinitrogen). This reaction has been extensively studied since the early 1970s, yet questions still remain about its efficacy and the characteristics that control this process in stream ecosystems (Boyer et al. 2006).In streams and rivers, the transport of nutrients has been coupled to the downstream movement of water by the nutrient spiraling theory (Webster and Patton 1979;Newbold et al. ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 48%

An assessment of nitrogen removal from headwater streams in an agricultural watershed, northeast Ohio, U.S.A

Herrman¹,

Bouchard²,

Moore³

2008

Limnology & Oceanography

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“…Ammonium accounted for 12 to 47% of the DIN load during the study period, averaging 21% of the total DIN pool. This ratio of NH 4 1 /DIN is 2 to 53 times higher than in other agricultural watersheds (Haggard et al, 2001;Royer et al, 2004). The high ratio of NH 4 1 to NO 3 2 in the Southwest Creek stream network and the generally higher rates of NH 4 1 uptake than NO 3 2 in streams (Webster et al, 2003) demonstrate the importance of NH 4 1 as a N source to riverine biota in this watershed.…”

Section: Nutrient Uptake Modeling and Measurementmentioning

confidence: 66%

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Attenuation within the Stream Network of a Coastal, Agricultural Watershed

et al. 2006

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Streams alter the concentration of nutrients they transport and thereby influence nutrient loading to estuaries downstream; however, the relationship between in-stream uptake, discharge variability, and subsequent nutrient export is poorly understood. In this study, instream N and P uptake were examined in the stream network draining a row-crop agricultural operation in coastal North Carolina. The effect of in-stream nutrient uptake on estuarine loading was examined using continuous measurements of watershed nutrient export. Remineralization from the streambed (vs. terrestrial sources) was the apparent source of NH 4 1 and PO 4 32 to the estuary during base flow.In-stream uptake reduced the dissolved inorganic N to dissolved inorganic P ratio of water exported to the N-limited estuary, thus limiting the potential for estuarine phytoplankton growth.

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“…Whereas many studies have documented increases in nutrient concentration with agricultural development (e.g., Harding et al 1999), only a few (e.g., Haggard et al 2001;Niyogi et al 2004;Bernot et al 2006) have examined how nutrient dynamics change in response to land-use intensification. Furthermore, the latter studies examined only whole-stream changes in nutrient uptake.…”

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confidence: 99%

Nitrogen dynamics in grassland streams along a gradient of agricultural development

Simon

Niyogi

Frew

et al. 2007

Limnology & Oceanography

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We examined nitrogen (N) uptake in seven grassland streams lying in catchments along a gradient (0-84%) of agricultural land use in New Zealand using a stable isotope ( 15 N) addition of NH z 4 to quantify whole-stream uptake rates and uptake by specific compartments within the streams. Whole-stream uptake of NH z 4 ranged from 1.2 mmol N m 22 min 21 to 7.9 mmol N m 22 min 21 and showed no evidence of strong saturation of uptake with increasing NH z 4 availability along the land use gradient. The relatively simple pattern of increasing N uptake along the gradient occurred despite substantial shifts in uptake among community members. Uptake of NH z 4 by epilithic biofilms followed a subsidy-stress relationship, with highest uptake rates at intermediate levels of pastoral development and lowest uptake rates at high pastoral development. At high (.60%) pastoral development, reduced uptake by epilithon was compensated for by enhanced uptake by macrophytes. Compensatory uptake can play an important role in streams when community composition is reorganized by human activity.Intensification of agricultural land use is a global phenomenon that has degraded aquatic systems (Pimentel et al. 2004). In most cases, agricultural land use alters the physical structure and chemical characteristics of streams, which in turn affect the composition of biological communities (Townsend et al. 1997;Quinn 2000;Allan 2004). These abiotic and biotic changes contribute to alteration of ecosystem processes, including decomposition (Niyogi et al. 2003), metabolism (Young and Huryn 1999), denitrification (Inwood et al. 2005), and nutrient uptake (Niyogi et al. 2004;Bernot et al. 2006), in streams draining agricultural landscapes.One of the most common results of agricultural intensification is the increased input of nutrients to streams (e.g., Kemp and Dodds 2001). Increased nutrient delivery to streams can stimulate productivity (Quinn 2000), but excessive nutrient enrichment degrades water quality and habitat, both locally and in downstream systems, especially lakes and estuaries (e.g., Carpenter et al. 1998). Streams are important transporters and transformers ) of nutrients, and their response to enhanced nutrient loading and other changes from agriculture will have important implications for downstream systems. The response by streams to nutrient enrichment depends on how the various organisms in streams take up, retain, and transform added nutrients. At the whole-stream level, we might expect nutrient uptake by organisms to increase as nutrient concentration rises, but uptake may ultimately saturate as other factors (light, etc.) become limiting (Dodds et al. 2002;Niyogi et al. 2004;Bernot et al. 2006). However, because agricultural land use also changes a suite of other abiotic factors and, subsequently, community structure, a more complex response may occur (Townsend and Riley 1999). For example, increased light availability resulting from clearance of riparian vegetation could increase the capacity for nutrient uptake withi...

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Stream Nutrient Retention in Three Northeastern Oklahoma Agricultural Catchments

Abstract: ABSTRACT. Stream nutrient retention was examined in three adjacent agricultural catchments (Cherokee Creek, Cloud Creek, and Dry Creek)

Cited by 39 publications

References 40 publications

An assessment of nitrogen removal from headwater streams in an agricultural watershed, northeast Ohio, U.S.A

An assessment of nitrogen removal from headwater streams in an agricultural watershed, northeast Ohio, U.S.A

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Attenuation within the Stream Network of a Coastal, Agricultural Watershed

Nitrogen dynamics in grassland streams along a gradient of agricultural development

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