Hillslope Nutrient Dynamics Following Upland Riparian Vegetation Disturbance

Yeakley, J. Alan; Coleman, David C.; Haines, Bruce L.; Kloeppel, Brian D.; Meyer, Judy L.; Swank, Wayne T.; Argo, Barry W.; Deal, James M.; Taylor, Seth R.

doi:10.1007/s10021-002-0116-6

Cited by 38 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…During water year 1991 (the year following peak defoliation) the model results indicated that regional annual nitrate-N export had transiently increased by nearly 1500% from a baseline rate of about 0Ð1 kg ha 1 to a peak value approaching 1Ð5 kg ha 1 . Consistent with other recent studies of nitrate-N leakage from forests in the northeastern and southeastern USA (Aber et al, 2002;Yeakley et al, 2003), our results suggest that natural vegetation disturbance is an important mechanism by which dissolved N can be leaked from forested lands to small streams, rivers, and Chesapeake Bay. Whereas other studies (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…It has been hypothesized that, in heavily forested watersheds, N saturation of N-limited forests from chronically elevated N deposition will eventually lead to sustained 'leakage' of nitrate-N to receiving waters (Aber et al, 1989(Aber et al, , 1998Stoddard, 1994). Even in the absence of N saturation, transient nitrate-N leakage from eastern US forests has been shown to be a common (but not universal) response both to harvesting practices (Likens et al, 1970(Likens et al, , 1978Bormann and Likens, 1979;Martin et al, 1984;Lynch and Corbett, 1991;Dahlgren and Driscoll, 1994;Johnson, 1985;Yeakley et al, 2003) and to other natural disturbances, such as outbreaks of defoliating insects (Swank et al, 1981;Eshleman et al, 1998). Water quality and biogeochemical responses of forest ecosystems to other common natural disturbances, such as outbreaks of pathogens, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and fires (Dale et al, 1998;Foster et al, 1998) have received far less attention.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Regionalization of disturbance‐induced nitrogen leakage from mid‐Appalachian forests using a linear systems model

Eshleman

Fiscus

Castro

et al. 2004

Hydrological Processes

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The 'leakage' of nitrate-nitrogen (nitrate-N) to surface waters is a common (but not universal) response of forest ecosystems to both human-induced and natural disturbances. There are several reported examples of the transient leakage of nitrate-N to surface waters from eastern US forests that have sustained outbreaks of defoliating insects, such as the introduced gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) larva. Previous research has suggested that annual nitrate-N leakage from disturbed forests can be modelled using an empirically derived unit nitrogen export response function (UNERF) model. The model represents annual nitrate-N export as a linear deterministic process in both space and time and is analogous to a unit hydrograph. The goal of the present study was to verify and apply a regionalized, lithology-based UNERF model that references the geographic distribution of bedrock class and the timing and extent of gypsy moth defoliation of forests in the non-glaciated highlands of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Despite an inability to verify the model for most individual watersheds within the study area, the model was able to reproduce the statistical distribution of annual nitrate-N export to streams that comprised our target population. During water year 1991 (the year following peak defoliation) the model results indicated that regional annual nitrate-N export had transiently increased by nearly 1500% from a baseline rate of about 0Ð1 kg ha 1 to a peak value approaching 1Ð5 kg ha 1 . We thus conclude that natural vegetation disturbance is an important mechanism by which dissolved nitrogen is leaked from forested lands to small streams, rivers, and Chesapeake Bay. The present study also illustrates how simple, empirically derived linear systems approaches like the UNERF model can be successfully applied to problems where regionalization is a primary goal.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regionalization of disturbance‐induced nitrogen leakage from mid‐Appalachian forests using a linear systems model

Eshleman

Fiscus

Castro

et al. 2004

Hydrological Processes

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We used data for small streams in the desert southwest, Arizona, USA (sites 5, 6, 7, and 25 in Grimm et al [1981] We also assessed potential groundwater nutrients by collecting original samples from point-source hill-slope surface waters (seeps and springs, n ¼ 10) and mixing wells placed into stream sediments (n ¼ 80) following Brookshire et al (2005) and through the use of piezometers (n ¼ 4, at Noland Divide) and published values for spring, soil lysimeter, and riparian well water (Grimm et al 1981, Mulholland 1992, Qualls et al 2000, Van Miegroet et al 2001, Yeakley et al 2003. We further explored the implications of in-stream nutrient removal for watershed nutrient balance (atmospheric input minus stream output) at sites for which long-term inorganic N budgets have been constructed and across which deposition varies from ;5 to 32 kg NÁha …”

Section: Field Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maintenance of terrestrial nutrient loss signatures during in‐stream transport

Brookshire

Valett

Gerber

2009

Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Small streams account for the majority of channel length in river basins worldwide and are the primary conveyors of terrestrial nutrients to rivers and ultimately the oceans. The controls of stream nutrient fluxes, however, are debated. Classical models emphasize that nutrient transport in streams integrates nutrient cycling in the terrestrial watershed while others argue that in-stream processes control nutrient flux. Recent studies have shown that in-stream cycling can be important in determining downstream nutrient fluxes, but results have not been reconciled with mass-balance calculations at the smallwatershed scale. Here we use a simple analytical framework to assess nutrient cycling in streams and show that, under most conditions, longitudinally static nutrient concentrations reflect in-stream biotic balance between uptake and regeneration and groundwater inputs. Using measures of nutrient concentrations in small streams across four biomes, we provide evidence for generality of biogeochemical steady state (inputs ¼ outputs) in stream ecosystems: overall, longitudinal profiles were flat for nitrogen and phosphorus and were similar in concentration to soil and ground waters. Deviation from flat longitudinal profiles was associated with seasonal or successional biomass growth and small groundwater inputs relative to in-stream sink strength. We conclude that streams tend strongly toward nutrient balance, allowing use of their chemistry as an integrated measure of terrestrial nutrient losses.

show abstract

“…Some of the major factors that contribute to fate and transport dynamics of nitrogen in forested watersheds include plant biomass (Yeakley et al 2003), physical and biological properties of soil (Heathwaite et al 1996), and dominant hydrologic flowpaths through upper soil and litter layers to the stream (Michalzik et al 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface runoff contribution of nitrogen during storm events in a forested watershed

et al. 2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We examined total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) loading to a small forested stream during storm events. We hypothesized that upper soil and litter layers in riparian area are primary source of higher TKN concentrations during storm. A storm water sampling program was carried out to gather requisite flow and water quality data to calibrate and validate water and nutrient components of the Riparian Ecosystem Management Model for TKN. Water quality and storm flow data collected from January 2000 to December 2003 were used to simulate the hydrology and nitrogen transport over a second-order watershed within the Fort Benning Military Installation, Georgia. Intensive sampling conducted from October 2002 to May 2003 provided the necessary data to characterize the rising limb, peak, and recession limb of six major storm events. Simulated runoff and storm TKN loads were compared with their corresponding observed or calculated values. Hydrology and nitrogen data collected from February 21, 2003 to December 31, 2003 were used for the model validation. The hydrology component of the model showed a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 87% for the validation period. The average absolute difference between simulated and calculated TKN loads was 25%. Even though the monthly water budget indicated the dominance of subsurface flow, TKN contribution from direct runoff was significantly greater than that from subsurface flow. On an average, 73% of the observed total TKN load at the watershed outlet was contributed by surface runoff during storm events. The results suggested that the surface runoff during the storm events washed off the nitrogen from the forest floor and transported to the stream.

show abstract

Hillslope Nutrient Dynamics Following Upland Riparian Vegetation Disturbance

Cited by 38 publications

References 39 publications

Regionalization of disturbance‐induced nitrogen leakage from mid‐Appalachian forests using a linear systems model

Regionalization of disturbance‐induced nitrogen leakage from mid‐Appalachian forests using a linear systems model

Maintenance of terrestrial nutrient loss signatures during in‐stream transport

Surface runoff contribution of nitrogen during storm events in a forested watershed

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About