Quantifying in-stream retention of nitrate at catchment scales using a practical mass balance approach
- As field data on in-stream nitrate retention is scarce at catchment scales, this study aimed at quantifying net retention of nitrate within the entire river network of a fourth-order stream. For this purpose, a practical mass balance approach combined with a Lagrangian sampling scheme was applied and seasonally repeated to estimate daily in-stream net retention of nitrate for a 17.4 km long, agriculturally influenced, segment of the Steinlach River in southwestern Germany. This river segment represents approximately 70 % of the length of the main stem and about 32 % of the streambed area of the entire river network. Sampling days in spring and summer were biogeochemically more active than in autumn and winter. Results obtained for the main stem of Steinlach River were subsequently extrapolated to the stream network in the catchment. It was demonstrated that, for baseflow conditions in spring and summer, in-stream nitrate retention could sum up to a relevant term of the catchment’s nitrogen balance if the entire stream network wasAs field data on in-stream nitrate retention is scarce at catchment scales, this study aimed at quantifying net retention of nitrate within the entire river network of a fourth-order stream. For this purpose, a practical mass balance approach combined with a Lagrangian sampling scheme was applied and seasonally repeated to estimate daily in-stream net retention of nitrate for a 17.4 km long, agriculturally influenced, segment of the Steinlach River in southwestern Germany. This river segment represents approximately 70 % of the length of the main stem and about 32 % of the streambed area of the entire river network. Sampling days in spring and summer were biogeochemically more active than in autumn and winter. Results obtained for the main stem of Steinlach River were subsequently extrapolated to the stream network in the catchment. It was demonstrated that, for baseflow conditions in spring and summer, in-stream nitrate retention could sum up to a relevant term of the catchment’s nitrogen balance if the entire stream network was considered.…
| Author details: | Marc Schwientek, Benny Selle |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5097-6 |
| ISSN: | 0167-6369 |
| ISSN: | 1573-2959 |
| Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26801154 |
| Title of parent work (English): | Environmental monitoring and assessment : an international journal devoted to progress in the use of monitoring data in assessing environmental risks to man and the environment |
| Publisher: | Springer |
| Place of publishing: | Dordrecht |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Year of first publication: | 2016 |
| Publication year: | 2016 |
| Release date: | 2020/03/22 |
| Tag: | Catchment scale; In-stream processes; Mass balance approach; Nitrate retention; Stream network |
| Volume: | 188 |
| Number of pages: | 12 |
| First page: | 373 |
| Last Page: | 386 |
| Funding institution: | Ministry of Science, Research and Arts of Baden-Wurttemberg [AZ Zu 33-721.3-2]; Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research, Leipzig (UFZ); EU FP7 Collaborative Project GLOBAQUA [603629] |
| Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Geowissenschaften |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
| Institution name at the time of the publication: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Erd- und Umweltwissenschaften |
