Coupling high-frequency stream metabolism and nutrient monitoring to explore biogeochemical controls on downstream nitrate delivery

Jarvie, Helen P.; Sharpley, Andrew N.; Kresse, Timothy; Hays, Phillip D.; Williams, Richard J.; King, Stephen M.; Berry, Lawrence G.. 2018 Coupling high-frequency stream metabolism and nutrient monitoring to explore biogeochemical controls on downstream nitrate delivery. Environmental Science & Technology, 52 (23). 13708-13717. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b03074

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Abstract/Summary

Instream biogeochemical process measurements are often short-term and localized. Here we use in situ sensors to quantify the net effects of biogeochemical processes on seasonal patterns in baseflow nitrate retention at the river-reach scale. Dual-station high-frequency in situ nitrate measurements, were coupled with high-frequency measurements of stream metabolism and dissolved inorganic carbon, in a tributary of the Buffalo National River, Arkansas. Nitrate assimilation was calculated from net primary production, and combined with mass-balance measurements, to estimate net nitrification and denitrification. The combined net effects of these instream processes (assimilation, denitrification, and nitrification) removed >30–90% of the baseflow nitrate load along a 6.5 km reach. Assimilation of nitrate by photoautotrophs during spring and early summer was buffered by net nitrification. Net nitrification peaked during the spring. After midsummer, there was a pronounced switch from assimilatory nitrate uptake to denitrification. There was clear synchronicity between the switch from nitrate assimilation to denitrification, a reduction in river baseflows, and a shift in stream metabolism from autotrophy to heterotrophy. The results show how instream nitrate retention and downstream delivery is driven by seasonal shifts in metabolic pathways; and how continuous in situ stream sensor networks offer new opportunities for quantifying the role of stream biota in the dynamics, fate, and transport of nitrogen in fluvial systems.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b03074
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Pollution (Science Area 2017-) Water Resources (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	0013-936X
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment
Date made live:	04 Dec 2018 15:44 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/521792

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