Influence of farming intensity and climate on lowland stream nitrogen

Goyenola, Guillermo - Graeber, D. - Meerhoff, Mariana - Jeppesen, Erick - Teixeira de Mello, Franco - Vidal, Nicolás - Fosalba, Claudia - Ovesen, N. B. - Gelbrecht, J. - Mazzeo Beyhaut, Néstor - Kronvang, B.

Resumen:

Nitrogen lost from agriculture has altered the geochemistry of the biosphere, with pronounced impacts on aquatic ecosystems. We aim to elucidate the patterns and driving factors behind the N fluxes in lowland stream ecosystems differing about land-use and climatic-hydrological conditions. The climate-hydrology areas represented humid cold temperate/stable discharge conditions, and humid subtropical climate/flashy conditions. Three complementary monitoring sampling characteristics were selected, including a total of 43 streams under contrasting farming intensities. Farming intensity determined total dissolved N (TDN), nitrate concentrations, and total N concentration and loss to streams, despite differences in soil and climatic-hydrological conditions between and within regions. However, ammonium (NH4+) and dissolved organic N concentrations did not show significant responses to the farming intensity or climatic/hydrological conditions. A high dissolved inorganic N to TDN ratio was associated with the temperate climate and high base flow conditions, but not with farming intensity. In the absence of a significant increase in farming N use efficiency (or the introduction of other palliative measures), the expected farming intensification would result in a stronger increase in NO3−, TDN, and TN concentrations as well as in rising flow-weighted concentrations and loss in temperate and subtropical streams, which will further exacerbate eutrophication.


Detalles Bibliográficos
2020
Agricultural impact
Stream
Nitrogen concentration
Nitrogen losses
Eutrophication
Inglés
Universidad de la República
COLIBRI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/32299
Acceso abierto
Licencia Creative Commons Atribución (CC - By 4.0)