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To investigate controls on phytoplankton production along the Louisiana coastal shelf, we mapped salinity, nutrient concentrations (dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and phosphorus (P i ), silicate (Si)), nutrient ratios (DIN/P i ), alkaline phosphatase activity, chlorophyll and 14 C primary productivity on fine spatial scales during cruises in March, May, and Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (. Additionally, resource limitation assays were undertaken in a range of salinity and nutrient regimes reflecting gradients typical of this region. Of these, seven showed P i limitation, five revealed nitrogen (N) limitation, three exhibited light (L) limitation, and one bioassay had no growth. We found the phytoplankton community to shift from being predominately N limited in the early spring (March) to P limited in late spring and summer (May and July). Light limitation of phytoplankton production was recorded in several bioassays in July in water samples collected after peak annual flows from both the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. We also found that organic phosphorus, as glucose-6-phosphate, alleviated P limitation while phosphono-acetic acid had no effect. Whereas DIN/P i and DIN/Si ratios in the initial water samples were good predictors of the outcome of phytoplankton production in response to inorganic nutrients, alkaline phosphatase activity was the best predictor when examining organic forms of phosphorus. We measured the rates of integrated primary production (0.33-7.01 g C m -2 d -1 ), finding the highest rates within the Mississippi River delta and across Atchafalaya Bay at intermediate salinities. The lowest rates were measured along the outer shelf at the highest salinities and lowest nutrient concentrations (\0.1 lM DIN and Pi). The results of this study indicate that P i limitation of phytoplankton delays the assimilation of riverine DIN in the summer as the plume spreads across the shelf, pushing primary production over a larger region. Findings from water samples, taken adjacent the Atchafalaya River discharge, highlighted the importance of this riverine system to the overall production along the Louisiana coast.

Understanding local groundwater hydrology and geochemistry is critical for evaluating the effectiveness of wetlands at mitigating agricultural impacts on surface waters. The effectiveness of depressional wetlands at mitigating nitrate (NO 3 ) transport from fertilized row crops, through groundwater, to local streams was examined in the watershed of the upper Choptank River, a tributary of Chesapeake Bay on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Hydrologic, geochemical, and water quality data were collected from January of 2008 through December of 2009 from surface waters and networks of piezometers installed in and around current or former depressional wetlands of three major types along a gradient of anthropogenic alteration: (1) natural wetlands with native vegetation (i.e., forested); (2) prior-converted croplands, which are former wetlands located in cultivated fields; and (3) hydrologically restored wetlands, including one wetland restoration and one shallow water management area. These data were collected to estimate the orientation of groundwater flow paths and likely interactions of groundwater containing NO 3 from agricultural sources with reducing conditions associated with wetlands of different types. Natural wetlands were found to have longer periods of soil saturation and reducing conditions conducive to denitrification compared to the other wetland types studied. Because natural wetlands are typically located in groundwater recharge areas along watershed divides, nitrogen (N) from nearby agriculture was not intercepted. However, these wetlands likely improve water quality in adjacent streams via dilution. Soil and geochemical conditions conducive to denitrification were also present in restored wetlands and prior-converted croplands, and substantial losses of agricultural NO 3 were observed in groundwater flowing through these wetland sediments. However, delivery of NO 3 from agricultural areas through groundwater to these wetlands resulting in opportunities for denitrification were limited, particularly where reducing conditions did not extend throughout the entire thickness of the surficial aquifer allowing NO 3 to pass conservatively beneath a wetland along deeper groundwater flow paths. The complexity of N fate and transport associated with depressional wetlands complicates the understanding of their importance to water quality in adjacent streams. Although depressional wetlands often contribute low NO 3 water to local streams, their effectiveness as landscape sinks, for N from adjacent agriculture varies with natural conditions, such as the thickness of the aquifer and the extent of reducing conditions. Measurement of such natural geologic, hydrologic, and geochemical conditions are therefore fundamental to understanding N mitigation in individual wetlands.Key words: agriculture-Chesapeake Bay-denitrification-depressional wetlandsgroundwater-wetland conservation practices Local hydrologic and geochemical conditions control the movement of nitrate (NO 3 ) through and around depressional wetlands...

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Restoration of riparian buffers is an important component of nutrient reduction strategies in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. In 1998, Maryland adopted a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), which provides financial incentives to take agricultural land out of production to plant streamside vegetation. Between 1998 and 2005, 1-30% of streamside vegetation (average=11%), was restored to forest or managed grass in 15 agriculturally dominated sub-basins in the Choptank River basin, a tributary of Chesapeake Bay. Pre-existing forested buffers represented 10-48% of the streamside (average=33%), for a total of 12-61% buffered streamsides (average= 44%). Using multi-year water quality data collected before and after CREP implementation (1986,(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006), we were unable to detect significant effects of CREP on baseflow nutrient concentrations based on the area of restored buffer, the percentage of restored streamside, or the percentage of total riparian buffer in the sub-basins (p>0.05). Although CREP increased the average buffered streamside from 33% in the 1990s to 44% by 2005, N and P concentrations have not changed or have increased in some streams over the last 20 years. Reductions may not have occurred for the following reasons: (1) buffer age, width, and connectivity (gaps) between buffers are also important to nutrient reductions; (2) agricultural nutrient inputs may have increased during this period; and (3) riparian buffer restoration was not extensive enough by 2005 to have measurable affects on the stream water quality in these sub-basins. Significant effects of CREP may yet be resolved as the current CREP buffers mature; however, water quality data through 2006 in the Choptank basin do not yet show any significant effects.