Changes in water quality of the River Frome (UK) from 1965 to 2009: Is phosphorus mitigation finally working?

Bowes, Michael J.; Smith, J.T.; Neal, Colin; Leach, D.V.; Scarlett, Peter; Wickham, Heather; Harman, Sarah; Armstrong, Linda K.; Davy‐Bowker, John; Haft, Michael; Davies, Cynthia E.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.04.049

Cited by 67 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Sustained phytoplankton blooms occurred between March and July each year at almost all study sites. Similar seasonal patterns in phytoplankton biomass have been observed in other British rivers, such as the River Frome, Dorset (Bowes et al, 2011;House et al, 2001), the Humber basin (Bowes and House, 2001;Neal et al, 2006) and also in previous studies of the Thames basin (Kinniburgh and Barnett, 2010;Kinniburgh et al, 1997;Lack, 1971;Neal et al, 2006;Palmer-Felgate et al, 2008;Whitehead and Hornberger, 1984).…”

Section: Temporal Changes In Chlorophyll Concentrationsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…It could also be due to temperature limitation. Studies of the River Frome in Dorset, southern England showed that diatom growth rates (as indicated by depressed dissolved reactive silicon concentrations) declined when water temperatures reached 15 o C (Bowes et al, 2011). Data from this study infers a similar temperature limitation effect during summer in all rivers, with dissolved reactive silicon concentration dips and chlorophyll peaks suddenly ceasing when temperatures (ranging from 15 to 21 o C across the study sites) are reached.…”

Section: Temporal Changes In Chlorophyll Concentrationsupporting

confidence: 51%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Spatial and temporal changes in chlorophyll-a concentrations in the River Thames basin, UK: Are phosphorus concentrations beginning to limit phytoplankton biomass?

Bowes

Gozzard

Johnson

et al. 2012

Science of The Total Environment

Self Cite

105

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. Lowest chlorophyll concentrations were observed in the smaller tributaries, despite some having very high phosphorus concentrations of over 300 µg l -1 . There was a strong positive correlation between river length and mean chlorophyll concentration (R 2 = 0.82), and rivers connected to canals had ca. six times greater chlorophyll concentration than 'natural' rivers with similar phosphorus concentrations, indicating the importance that residence time has on determining phytoplankton biomass. Phosphorus concentration did have some influence, with phosphorus-enriched rivers having much larger phytoplankton blooms than nutrientpoor rivers of a similar length. Water quality improvements may now be capping chlorophyll 2 peaks in the Rivers Thames and Kennet, due to SRP depletion during the spring / early summer phytoplankton bloom period. Dissolved reactive silicon was also depleted to potentially-limiting concentrations for diatom growth in the River Thames during these phytoplankton blooms, but nitrate remained in excess for all rivers throughout the study period. Other potential mitigation measures, such as increasing riparian shading and reducing residence times by removing impoundments may be needed, alongside phosphorus mitigation, to reduce the magnitude of phytoplankton blooms in the future.

show abstract

Section: Temporal Changes In Chlorophyll Concentrationsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Temporal Changes In Chlorophyll Concentrationsupporting

confidence: 51%

Spatial and temporal changes in chlorophyll-a concentrations in the River Thames basin, UK: Are phosphorus concentrations beginning to limit phytoplankton biomass?

Bowes

Gozzard

Johnson

et al. 2012

Science of The Total Environment

Self Cite

105

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Again, this suggests that multiple factors are limiting periphyton growth. The two potentiallylimiting macronutrients for phytoplankton within the River Thames system; soluble reactive phosphorus and dissolved reactive silicon (which is required by diatoms to construct frustules) (Bowes et al, 2012b), showed negative relationships due to algal uptake resulting in depletion (Bowes et al, 2011), with the highest chlorophyll concentrations coinciding with the lowest P and Si concentrations.…”

Section: Weekly Water Quality Monitoring Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying multiple stressor controls on phytoplankton dynamics in the River Thames (UK) using high-frequency water quality data

Bowes

Loewenthal

Read

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. AbstractRiver phytoplankton blooms can pose a serious risk to water quality and the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems. Developing a greater understanding of the physical and chemical controls on the timing, magnitude and duration of blooms is essential for the effective management of phytoplankton development. Five years of weekly water quality monitoring data along the River Thames, southernEngland were combined with hourly chlorophyll concentration (a proxy for phytoplankton biomass), flow, temperature and daily sunlight data from the mid-Thames. Weekly chlorophyll data was of insufficient temporal resolution to identify the causes of short term variations in phytoplankton biomass. However, hourly chlorophyll data enabled identification of thresholds in water temperature (between 9 and 19 o C) and flow (less than 30 m 3 s -1 ) that explained the development of phytoplankton populations. Analysis showed that periods of high phytoplankton biomass and growth rate only occurred when these flow and temperature conditions were within these thresholds, and coincided with periods of long sunshine duration, indicating multiple stressor controls. Nutrient concentrations appeared to have no impact on the timing or magnitude of phytoplankton bloom development, but severe depletion of dissolved phosphorus and silicon during periods of high phytoplankton biomass may have contributed to some bloom collapses through nutrient limitation. This study indicates that for nutrient enriched rivers such as the Thames, manipulating residence time (through removing impoundments) and light / temperature (by increasing riparian tree shading) may offer more realistic solutions than reducing phosphorus concentrations for controlling excessive phytoplankton biomass.

show abstract

“…Significant ecological gains following reductions in major point source (i.e., wastewater and industrial effluents rich in bioavailable P) discharges have been reported [16][17][18][19], but many surface waters remain polluted with non-point nutrient sources and are in poor ecological condition [3,20,21]. This is because the relationships between nutrient use, nutrient delivery, biological response and ecosystem resilience in space and time are highly complex making it difficult to accurately predict recovery trajectories based on nutrient load reduction [22,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agriculture and Eutrophication: Where Do We Go from Here?

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The eutrophication of surface waters has become an endemic global problem. Nutrient loadings from agriculture are a major driver, but it remains very unclear what level of on-farm controls are necessary or can be justified to achieve water quality improvements. In this review article, we use the UK as an example of societies' multiple stressors on water quality to explore the uncertainties and challenges in achieving a sustainable balance between useable water resources, diverse aquatic ecosystems and a viable agriculture. Our analysis shows that nutrient loss from agriculture is a challenging issue if farm productivity and profitability is to be maintained and increased. Legacy stores of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in catchments may be sufficient to sustain algal blooms and murky waters for decades to come and more innovation is needed to drawdown and recover these nutrients. Agriculture's impact on eutrophication risk may also be overestimated in many catchments, and more accurate accounting of sources, their bioavailabilities and lag times is needed to direct proportioned mitigation efforts more effectively. Best practice farms may still be leaky and incompatible with good water quality in high-risk areas requiring some prioritization of society goals. All sectors of society must clearly use N and P more efficiently to develop long-term sustainable solutions to this complex issue and nutrient reduction strategies should take account of the whole catchment-to-coast continuum. However, the right balance of local interventions OPEN ACCESS Sustainability 2014, 6 5854 (including additional biophysical controls) will need to be highly site specific and better informed by research that unravels the linkages between sustainable farming practices, patterns of nutrient delivery, biological response and recovery trajectories in different types of waterbodies.

show abstract

Changes in water quality of the River Frome (UK) from 1965 to 2009: Is phosphorus mitigation finally working?

Cited by 67 publications

References 51 publications

Spatial and temporal changes in chlorophyll-a concentrations in the River Thames basin, UK: Are phosphorus concentrations beginning to limit phytoplankton biomass?

Spatial and temporal changes in chlorophyll-a concentrations in the River Thames basin, UK: Are phosphorus concentrations beginning to limit phytoplankton biomass?

Identifying multiple stressor controls on phytoplankton dynamics in the River Thames (UK) using high-frequency water quality data

Agriculture and Eutrophication: Where Do We Go from Here?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About