The roles and benefits of wetlands in managing reactive nitrogen

Hey, Donald L.; Kostel, Jill; Crumpton, William G.; Mitsch, William J.; Scott, Brian

doi:10.2489/jswc.67.2.47a

Cited by 23 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…These hydrologic connections are promoted by obstructions to channel flow such as logjams and beaver dams [ Wohl and Beckman , ], which increase the magnitude, duration, and frequency of overbank flow [ Westbrook et al ., ]. Water, carbon, and nutrients that are distributed across the floodplain during high flows can subsequently be released during low flow conditions [ Mertes , ], effectively attenuating water and solute fluxes [ Hey et al ., ]. Hydrologic connections across the floodplain can also promote high aquatic ecosystem metabolism and biogeochemical processing by linking nutrient (e.g., nitrogen, N; phosphorous, P) and organic matter sinks and sources [ Powers et al ., ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beaver‐mediated lateral hydrologic connectivity, fluvial carbon and nutrient flux, and aquatic ecosystem metabolism

Wegener

Covino

Wohl

2017

Water Resources Research

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River networks that drain mountain landscapes alternate between narrow and wide valley segments. Within the wide segments, beaver activity can facilitate the development and maintenance of complex, multithread planform. Because the narrow segments have limited ability to retain water, carbon, and nutrients, the wide, multithread segments are likely important locations of retention. We evaluated hydrologic dynamics, nutrient flux, and aquatic ecosystem metabolism along two adjacent segments of a river network in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado: (1) a wide, multithread segment with beaver activity; and, (2) an adjacent (directly upstream) narrow, single-thread segment without beaver activity. We used a mass balance approach to determine the water, carbon, and nutrient source-sink behavior of each river segment across a range of flows. While the single-thread segment was consistently a source of water, carbon, and nitrogen, the beaver impacted multithread segment exhibited variable source-sink dynamics as a function of flow. Specifically, the multithread segment was a sink for water, carbon, and nutrients during high flows, and subsequently became a source as flows decreased. Shifts in river-floodplain hydrologic connectivity across flows related to higher and more variable aquatic ecosystem metabolism rates along the multithread relative to the single-thread segment. Our data suggest that beaver activity in wide valleys can create a physically complex hydrologic environment that can enhance hydrologic and biogeochemical buffering, and promote high rates of aquatic ecosystem metabolism. Given the widespread removal of beaver, determining the cumulative effects of these changes is a critical next step in restoring function in altered river networks.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beaver‐mediated lateral hydrologic connectivity, fluvial carbon and nutrient flux, and aquatic ecosystem metabolism

Wegener

Covino

Wohl

2017

Water Resources Research

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“…Nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands varied between 250 and 603 g N m À2 year À1 (Vymazal, 2011). Apart from direct assimilation by plants, removal of N is achieved through microbial nitrification (Purkhold et al, 2000;Treusch et al, 2005) and denitrification activities (Hey et al, 2012). These two N-cycling processes are mainly associated with the subsurface sediment (Kallner Bastviken et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial distribution of N-cycling microbial communities showed complex patterns in constructed wetland sediments

Correa‐Galeote

Marco

Tortosa

et al. 2012

FEMS Microbiol Ecol

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Constructed wetlands are used for biological treatment of wastewater from agricultural lands carrying pollutants such as nitrates. Nitrogen removal in wetlands occurs from direct assimilation by plants and through microbial nitrification and denitrification. We investigated the spatial distribution of N-cycling microbial communities and genes involved in nitrification and denitrification in constructed wetland sediments receiving irrigation water. We used quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) to characterize microbial communities. Geostatistical variance analysis was used to relate them with vegetation cover and biogeochemical sediment properties. The spatial distribution of the N-cycling microbial communities of sediments was heterogeneous and complex. Total communities of bacteria and crenarchaea showed different spatial distributions. Analysis of autocorrelation patterns through semivariance indicated a tendency towards a patchy distribution over scales around 10 m for genes involved in the nitrification and denitrification processes. In contrast, biogeochemical sediment properties showed diverse spatial distributions. While almost no patchiness was found for pH and moisture, patchiness at scales between 8 and 10 m was detected for carbon, nitrate and ammonia. Denitrification variables showed spatial autocorrelation at scales comparable to genes. However, denitrifying enzyme activity and potential N 2 O production showed a common spatial pattern, different from that of the N 2 O/(N 2 O + N 2 ).

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“…Improvement of water quality is a particularly important function for wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, where elevated loading of N, P, and sediment is a primary cause of its impaired status (Lowrance et al, 1997). If wetlands are isolated from the surrounding hydroscape, they cannot effectively intercept and filter incoming water, and the opportunity for flood protection and improved water quality in the watershed of the wetland is missed (Hey et al, 2012). …”

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confidence: 99%

Hydrologic Connectivity to Streams Increases Nitrogen and Phosphorus Inputs and Cycling in Soils of Created and Natural Floodplain Wetlands

2013

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Greater connectivity to stream surface water may result in greater inputs of allochthonous nutrients that could stimulate internal nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycling in natural, restored, and created riparian wetlands. This study investigated the effects of hydrologic connectivity to stream water on soil nutrient fluxes in plots ( = 20) located among four created and two natural freshwater wetlands of varying hydrology in the Piedmont physiographic province of Virginia. Surface water was slightly deeper; hydrologic inputs of sediment, sediment-N, and ammonium were greater; and soil net ammonification, N mineralization, and N turnover were greater in plots with stream water classified as their primary water source compared with plots with precipitation or groundwater as their primary water source. Soil water-filled pore space, inputs of nitrate, and soil net nitrification, P mineralization, and denitrification enzyme activity (DEA) were similar among plots. Soil ammonification, N mineralization, and N turnover rates increased with the loading rate of ammonium to the soil surface. Phosphorus mineralization and ammonification also increased with sedimentation and sediment-N loading rate. Nitrification flux and DEA were positively associated in these wetlands. In conclusion, hydrologic connectivity to stream water increased allochthonous inputs that stimulated soil N and P cycling and that likely led to greater retention of sediment and nutrients in created and natural wetlands. Our findings suggest that wetland creation and restoration projects should be designed to allow connectivity with stream water if the goal is to optimize the function of water quality improvement in a watershed.

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The roles and benefits of wetlands in managing reactive nitrogen

Cited by 23 publications

References 32 publications

Beaver‐mediated lateral hydrologic connectivity, fluvial carbon and nutrient flux, and aquatic ecosystem metabolism

Beaver‐mediated lateral hydrologic connectivity, fluvial carbon and nutrient flux, and aquatic ecosystem metabolism

Spatial distribution of N-cycling microbial communities showed complex patterns in constructed wetland sediments

Hydrologic Connectivity to Streams Increases Nitrogen and Phosphorus Inputs and Cycling in Soils of Created and Natural Floodplain Wetlands

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