Document Type
Article
Department or Administrative Unit
Biological Sciences
Publication Date
4-1-2014
Abstract
Nitrogen (N) retention in streams is an important ecosystem service that may be affected by the widespread burial of streams in stormwater pipes in urban watersheds. We predicted that stream burial suppresses the capacity of streams to retain nitrate (NO3 −) by eliminating primary production, reducing respiration rates and organic matter availability, and increasing specific discharge. We tested these predictions by measuring whole-stream NO3 − removal rates using 15NO3 − isotope tracer releases in paired buried and open reaches in three streams in Cincinnati, Ohio (USA) during four seasons. Nitrate uptake lengths were 29 times greater in buried than open reaches, indicating that buried reaches were less effective at retaining NO3 − than open reaches. Burial suppressed NO3 − retention through a combination of hydrological and biological processes. The channel shape of two of the buried reaches increased specific discharge which enhanced NO3 − transport from the channel, highlighting the relationship between urban infrastructure and ecosystem function. Uptake lengths in the buried reaches were further lengthened by low stream biological NO3 − demand, as indicated by NO3 − uptake velocities 17-fold lower than that of the open reaches. We also observed differences in the periphyton enzyme activity between reaches, indicating that the effects of burial cascade from the microbial to the ecosystem scale. Our results suggest that stream restoration practices involving “daylighting” buried streams have the potential to increase N retention. Further work is needed to elucidate the impacts of stream burial on ecosystem functions at the larger stream network scale.
Recommended Citation
Beaulieu, J.J., Mayer, P.M., Kaushal, S.S. et al. Effects of urban stream burial on organic matter dynamics and reach scale nitrate retention. Biogeochemistry 121, 107–126 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-014-9971-4
Journal
Biogeochemistry
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Rights
© The Author(s) 2014.
Included in
Environmental Health Commons, Fresh Water Studies Commons, Microbiology Commons, Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons, Water Resource Management Commons
Comments
This article was originally published Open Access in Biogeochemistry. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.