Date of Graduation
12-2011
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences (MS)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences
Advisor/Mentor
J. Thad Scott
Committee Member
Brian Haggard
Second Committee Member
David Miller
Third Committee Member
Steve Boss
Keywords
Earth sciences, Biological sciences, Denitrification, Lanscape ecology, Nitrogen retention, Nutrient cycling, Reservoir
Abstract
Studies coupling direct measurements of micro-scale nitrogen (N) cycle processes with ecosystem-scale flux estimates are needed to determine N retention hotspots within river networks, where up to 50% of terrestrial loading to aquatic systems is retained. This study examined the role of denitrification, a microbially-mediated reactive N removal pathway, in ecosystem-scale N retention in 3 small (< 1 km2), shallow flood-control reservoirs. Annual reservoir N retention was estimated through mass balance modeling of system inputs and outputs. Annual denitrification rates were estimated by combining multiple measurements of seasonal, habitat-specific dinitrogen gas (N2) fluxes. Annual reservoir N retention ranged from 14 - 19 g m-2 in the reservoirs, while reactive N removal through denitrification was 13 - 25 g m-2. Denitrification efficiency, or the portion of the retained N load that was denitrified, was high relative to other lentic systems and was > 100% at 2 sites. Previous lentic denitrification studies may have underestimated denitrification efficiency by not considering water column denitrification, which was 50% of total denitrification at one study reservoir. However, not all potential inputs, most importantly biological N2 fixation, were included in this study's mass balance model, which likely led to underestimation of N retention. This study's findings indicate that reservoirs are N sinks in the landscape, and that denitrification plays a major role in regulating long-term storage of both watershed and biologically-fixed N loads in lentic systems.
Citation
Grantz, E. (2011). Nitrogen Retention and Denitrification in Reservoirs. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/228