Journal
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
Volume 62, Issue -, Pages S239-S257Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/lno.10576
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf of Mexico Program [MX954554810-0]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Ecosystem function measurements can enhance our understanding of nitrogen (N) delivery in coastal catchments across river and estuary ecosystems. Here, we contrast patterns of N cycling and export in two rivers, one heavily influenced by wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), in a coastal catchment of south Texas. We measured N export from both rivers to the estuary over 2 yr that encompass a severe drought, along with detailed mechanisms of N cycling in river, tidal river, and two estuary sites during prolonged drought. WWTP nutrient inputs stimulated uptake of N, but denitrification resulting in permanent N removal accounted for only a small proportion of total uptake. During drought periods, WWTP N was the primary source of exported N to the estuary, minimizing the influence of episodic storm-derived nutrients from the WWTP-influenced river to the estuary. In the site without WWTP influence, the river exported very little N during drought, so storm-derived nutrient pulses were important for delivering N loads to the estuary. Overall, N is processed from river to estuary, but sustained WWTP-N loads and periodic floods alter the timing of N delivery and N processing. Research that incorporates empirical measurements of N fluxes from river to estuary can inform management needs in the face of multiple anthropogenic stressors such as demand for freshwater and eutrophication.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available