Land Use and Climate Variability Amplify Carbon, Nutrient, and Contaminant Pulses: A Review with Management Implications

Kaushal, Sujay S.; Mayer, Paul M.; Vidon, P.; Smith, Rose Marie; Pennino, Micheal J; Newcomer, Tamara A.; Duan, Shuiwang; Welty, Claire; Belt, Kenneth T.

doi:10.1111/jawr.12204

Cited by 167 publications

(119 citation statements)

References 215 publications

(317 reference statements)

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“…Scientists are beginning to investigate how climate change will interact with land management to affect surface water quality (Howarth et al 2012;Baron et al 2012;Kaushal et al 2014). Connections between weather variation and water quality have been noted for single drought-flood events (Kaushal et al 2008), long-term data in a limited number (B3, all within the same state) of watersheds (David et al 1997;Royer et al 2006) or hypothesized from modeling exercises (Donner et al 2002).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weather whiplash in agricultural regions drives deterioration of water quality

et al. 2017

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Excess nitrogen (N) impairs inland water quality and creates hypoxia in coastal ecosystems. Agriculture is the primary source of N; agricultural management and hydrology together control aquatic ecosystem N loading. Future N loading will be determined by how agriculture and hydrology intersect with climate change, yet the interactions between changing climate and water quality remain poorly understood. Here, we show that changing precipitation patterns, resulting from climate change, interact with agricultural land use to deteriorate water quality. We focus on the 2012-2013 Midwestern U.S. drought as a ''natural experiment''. The transition from drought conditions in 2012 to a wet spring in 2013 was abrupt; the media dubbed this ''weather whiplash''. We use recent (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) and historical data to connect weather whiplash (drought-to-flood transitions) to increases in riverine N loads and concentrations. The drought likely created highly N-enriched soils; this excess N mobilized during heavy spring rains (2013), resulting in a 34% increase (10.5 vs. 7.8 mg N L -1 ) in the flow-weighted mean annual Biogeochemistry (2017) 133:7-15 DOI 10.1007 nitrate concentration compared to recent years. Furthermore, we show that climate change will likely intensify weather whiplash. Increased weather whiplash will, in part, increase the frequency of riverine N exceeding E.P.A. drinking water standards. Thus, our observations suggest increased climatic variation will amplify negative trends in water quality in a region already grappling with severe impairments.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weather whiplash in agricultural regions drives deterioration of water quality

et al. 2017

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“…Furthermore, increased N and P inputs from fertilizer and sewage can saturate in-stream biological demand [45]. Overall, human activities have dramatically altered both the hydrologic plumbing and nonpoint sources of nutrients in many urban and agricultural watersheds, which contributes to amplified pulses of water and nutrient export from watersheds [17]. Below, we discuss the nature of stream degradation from an agricultural and urban perspective and its relevance to stream and river restoration.…”

Section: Stream Impairment In Human Dominated Watershedsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Increasing urbanization, agricultural intensification, and climate change will likely exacerbate future N and P loads to coastal areas [16,17]. The growing environmental impacts of N and P pollution have motivated efforts to track sources and manage nutrient loads in streams and rivers [18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrient Retention in Restored Streams and Rivers: A Global Review and Synthesis

Johnson

Kaushal

Mayer

et al. 2016

Water

125

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Excess nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from human activities have contributed to degradation of coastal waters globally. A growing body of work suggests that hydrologically restoring streams and rivers in agricultural and urban watersheds has potential to increase N and P retention, but rates and mechanisms have not yet been analyzed and compared across studies. We conducted a review of nutrient retention within hydrologically reconnected streams and rivers, including 79 studies. We developed a typology characterizing different forms of stream and river restoration, and we also analyzed nutrient retention across this typology. The studies we reviewed used a variety of methods to analyze nutrient cycling. We performed a further intensive meta-analysis on nutrient spiraling studies because this method was the most consistent and comparable between studies. A meta-analysis of 240 experimental additions of ammonium (NH 4 + ), nitrate (NO 3´) , and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) was synthesized from 15 nutrient spiraling studies. Our results showed statistically significant relationships between nutrient uptake in restored streams and specific watershed attributes. Nitrate uptake metrics were significantly related to watershed surface area, impervious surface cover, and average reach width (p < 0.05). Ammonium uptake metrics were significantly related to discharge, velocity, and transient storage (p < 0.05). SRP uptake metrics were significantly related to watershed area, discharge, SRP concentrations, and chl a concentrations (p < 0.05). Given that most studies were conducted during baseflow, more research is necessary to characterize nutrient uptake during high flow. Furthermore, long-term studies are needed to understand changes in nutrient dynamics as projects evolve over time. Overall analysis suggests the size of the stream restoration (surface area), hydrologic connectivity, and hydrologic residence time are key drivers influencing nutrient retention at broader watershed scales and along the urban watershed continuum.

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“…For example, the amplified hydrologic pulse of urban ecosystems is expected to change due to the interactive effects of land use and climate change across different areas of the U.S. and elsewhere [79,[93][94][95][96], and this may trigger urban adaptation and evolution of ecosystem structure and function of urban drainage [44,90]. As another example, the number and concentrations of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in the chemical diet of urban watersheds can be expected to increase in the future, and there are questions regarding urban adaptation from individual organisms and ecosystem responses to environmental regulations globally [128][129][130][131].…”

Section: The Future Of Urban Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is well known that urban hydrologic systems become flashier in response to increasing watershed development [33]. The interaction between climate variability and urbanization can amplify hydrologic pulses and the export of carbon, nutrients, and contaminants in many urban waterways [79,[93][94][95][96].…”

Section: Evolving Hydrology: An Amplified Urban Hydrologic Pulsementioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Evolution: The Role of Water

Kaushal

McDowell

Wollheim

et al. 2015

Water

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Abstract:The structure, function, and services of urban ecosystems evolve over time scales from seconds to centuries as Earth's population grows, infrastructure ages, and sociopolitical values alter them. In order to systematically study changes over time, the concept of "urban evolution" was proposed. It allows urban planning, management, and restoration to move beyond reactive management to predictive management based on past observations of consistent patterns. Here, we define and review a glossary of core concepts for studying urban evolution, which includes the mechanisms of urban selective pressure and urban adaptation. Urban selective pressure is an environmental or societal driver contributing to urban adaptation. Urban adaptation is the sequential process by which an urban structure, function, or services becomes more fitted to its changing environment or human choices. The role of water is vital to driving urban evolution as demonstrated by historical changes in drainage, sewage flows, hydrologic pulses, and long-term chemistry. In the current paper, we show how hydrologic traits evolve across successive generations of urban ecosystems OPEN ACCESSWater 2015, 7 4064 via shifts in selective pressures and adaptations over time. We explore multiple empirical examples including evolving: (1) urban drainage from stream burial to stormwater management; (2) sewage flows and water quality in response to wastewater treatment; (3) amplification of hydrologic pulses due to the interaction between urbanization and climate variability; and (4) salinization and alkalinization of fresh water due to human inputs and accelerated weathering. Finally, we propose a new conceptual model for the evolution of urban waters from the Industrial Revolution to the present day based on empirical trends and historical information. Ultimately, we propose that water itself is a critical driver of urban evolution that forces urban adaptation, which transforms the structure, function, and services of urban landscapes, waterways, and civilizations over time.

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Land Use and Climate Variability Amplify Carbon, Nutrient, and Contaminant Pulses: A Review with Management Implications

Cited by 167 publications

References 215 publications

Weather whiplash in agricultural regions drives deterioration of water quality

Weather whiplash in agricultural regions drives deterioration of water quality

Nutrient Retention in Restored Streams and Rivers: A Global Review and Synthesis

Urban Evolution: The Role of Water

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