Abstract
This study investigated drivers of denitrification and overall NO3 − removal in an agricultural riparian area in central New York. Denitrification was measured using an in situ “push-pull” method with 15N–NO3 − as a tracer during summer and fall 2011 at a pair of riparian sites characterized by different hydrologic regimes. Median denitrification rates were 1347 and 703 μg N kg soil−1 day−1 for the two study sites. These rates are higher than those reported for other riparian areas, emphasizing the role of some riparian areas as hotspots of NO3 − removal. N2O production was significantly higher at one site, demonstrating that riparian areas can be a greenhouse gas source under certain conditions. Denitrification was negatively correlated with groundwater flux, suggesting that slower flushing of water, and thus longer residence time, promotes denitrification. A mass balance of NO3 − loss revealed that denitrification only accounted for 5–12 % of total NO3 − loss, and production of NH4 + indicated that dissimilatory NO3 − reduction to NH4 + (DNRA) may be occurring at both sites. While both sites were characterized by high NO3 − removal, differences in denitrification rates and NO3 − removal processes demonstrate the need to improve our ability to capture spatial and process heterogeneity in landscape biogeochemical models.
References
Addy, K., Kellogg, D. Q., Gold, A. J., Groffman, P. M., Ferendo, G., & Sawyer, C. (2002). In situ push-pull method to determine ground water denitrification in riparian zones. Journal of Environmental Quality, 31, 1017–1024.
Alexander, R. B., Smith, R. A., & Schwarz, G. E. (2000). Effect of stream channel size on the delivery of nitrogen to the Gulf of Mexico. Nature, 403, 758–761.
Anderson, T. R., Groffman, P. M., Kaushal, S. S., & Walter, M. T. (2014). Shallow groundwater denitrification in riparian zones of a headwater agricultural landscape. Journal of Environmental Quality, 43, 732–744. doi:10.2134/jeq2013.07.0303.
Bakken, L. R., Bergaust, L., Liu, B., & Frostegard, A. (2012). Regulation of denitrification at the cellular level: a clue to the understanding of N2O emissions from soils. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society-B, 367, 1226–1234. doi:10.1098/rstb.2011.0321.
Berntson, G. M., & Aber, J. D. (2000). Fast nitrate immobilization in N saturated temperate forest soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 32, 151–156.
Bouwer, H. (1989). The Bouwer and rice slug test: an update. Ground Water, 27, 304–309.
Boyer, E. W., Goodale, C. L., Jaworsk, N. A., & Howarth, R. W. (2002). Anthropogenic nitrogen sources and relationships to riverine nitrogen export in the northeastern USA. Biogeochemistry, 57(1), 137–169.
Burgin, A. J., & Groffman, P. M. (2012). Soil O2 controls denitrification rates and N2O yield in a riparian wetland. Journal of Geophysical Research, Biogeosciences, 117, G01010. doi:10.1029/2011JG001799.
Burgin, A. J., & Hamilton, S. K. (2007). Have we overemphasized the role of denitrification in aquatic ecosystems? A review of nitrate removal pathways. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 5(2), 89–96.
Burgin, A. J., & Hamilton, S. K. (2008). NO3 −-driven SO4 2− production in freshwater ecosystems: implications for N and S cycling. Ecosystems, 11, 908–922. doi:10.1007/s10021-008-9169-5.
Burgin, A. J., Lazar, J. G., Groffman, P. M., Gold, A. J., & Kellogg, D. Q. (2013). Balancing nitrogen retention ecosystem services and greenhouse gas disservices at the landscape scale. Ecological Engineering, 56, 26–35.
Chen, X. X., & Driscoll, C. T. (2009). Watershed land use controls on chemical inputs to Lake Ontario embayments. Journal of Environmental Quality, 38(5), 2084–2095. doi:10.2134/jeq2007.0435.
Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station (CUAES) (2013). ‘Homer C. Thompson Vegetable Farm.’ http://cuaes.cornell.edu/ag-operations/freeville-farm/ Accessed 11 March 2013.
Davidson, E. A., & Firestone, M. K. (1988). Measurement of nitrous oxide dissolved in soil solution. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 52, 1201–1203.
Davidson, E. A., Chorover, J., & Dail, D. B. (2003). A mechanism of abiotic immobilization of nitrate in forest ecosystems: the ferrous wheel hypothesis. Global Change Biology, 9, 228–236.
Davis, J. H., Griffith, S. M., Horwath, W. R., Steiner, J. J., & Myrold, D. D. (2008). Denitrification and nitrate consumption in an herbaceous riparian area and perennial ryegrass seed cropping system. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 72, 1299–1310.
Dhondt, K., Boeckx, P., Van Cleemput, O., & Hofman, G. (2003). Quantifying nitrate retention processes in a riparian buffer zone using the natural abundance of 15N in NO3 −. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 17, 2597–2604.
Dubrovsky, N. M., Burow, K. R., Clark, G. M., Gronberg, J. M., Hamilton, P. A., Hitt, K. J., et al. (2010). The quality of our nation’s water: nutrients in the nation’s streams and groundwater, 1992–2004. US Geological Survey Circular, 1350, 174.
Firestone, M. K., Firestone, R. B., & Tiedje, J. M. (1980). Nitrous oxide from soil denitrification: factors controlling its biological production. Science, 208(4445), 749–751.
Fitzhugh, R. D., Lovett, G. M., & Venterea, R. T. (2003). Biotic and abiotic immobilization of ammonium, nitrite, and nitrate in soils developed under different tree species in the Catskill Mountains, New York, USA. Global Change Biology, 9, 1–11.
Flewelling, S. A., Herman, J. S., Hornberger, G. M., & Mills, A. L. (2012). Travel time controls the magnitude of nitrate discharge in groundwater bypassing the riparian zone to a stream on Virginia’s coastal plain. Hydrological Processes, 26, 1242–1253. doi:10.1002/hyp.8219.
Groffman, P. M., Gold, A. J., & Addy, K. (2000). Nitrous oxide production in riparian zones and its importance to national emission inventories. Chemosphere-Global Change Science, 2, 291–299.
Groffman, P. M., Altabet, M. A., Bohlke, J. K., Butterbach-Bahl, K., David, M. B., Firestone, M. K., et al. (2006). Methods for measuring denitrification: diverse approaches to a difficult problem. Ecological Applications, 16, 2091–2122.
Groffman, P. M., Butterbach-Bahl, K., Fulweiler, R. W., Gold, A. J., Morse, J. L., Stander, E. K., et al. (2009). Challenges to incorporating spatially and temporally explicit phenomena (hotspots and hot moments) in denitrification models. Biogeochemistry, 93, 49–77. doi:10.1007/s10533-008-9277-5.
Gu, C., Hornberger, G. M., Mills, A. L., Herman, J. S., & Flewelling, S. A. (2007). Nitrate reduction in streambed sediments: effects of flow and biogeochemical kinetics. Water Resources Research, 43, W12413. doi:10.1029/2007WR006027.
Gu, C., Hornberger, G. M., Sherman, J. S., & Mills, A. L. (2008). Influence of stream-groundwater interactions in the streambed sediments on NO3 − flux to a low-relief coastal stream. Water Resources Research, 44, W11432. doi:10.1029/2007WR006739.
Harrison, M. D., Groffman, P. M., Mayer, P. M., Kaushal, S. S., & Newcomer, T. A. (2011). Denitrification in alluvial wetlands in an urban landscape. Journal of Environmental Quality, 40, 634–646. doi:10.2134/jeq2010.0335.
Hedin, L. O., von Fischer, J. C., Ostrom, N. E., Kennedy, B. P., Brown, M. G., & Robertson, G. P. (1998). Thermodynamic constraints on nitrogen transformations and other biogeochemical processes at soil-stream interfaces. Ecology, 79(2), 684–703.
Heinen, M. (2006). Simplified denitrification models: overview and properties. Geoderma, 133, 444–463.
Hill, A. R. (1996). Nitrate removal in stream riparian zones. Journal of Environmental Quality, 25, 743–755.
Hill, A. R., Devito, K. J., Campagnolo, S., & Sanmugadas, K. (2000). Subsurface denitrification in a forest riparian zone: interactions between hydrology and supplies of nitrate and organic carbon. Biogeochemistry, 51, 193–223.
Howarth, R. W., Billen, G., Swaney, D., Townsend, A., Jaworski, N., Lajtha, K., et al. (1996). Regional nitrogen budgets and riverine N and P fluxes for the drainages to the North Atlantic Ocean: natural and human influences. Biogeochemistry, 35, 75–139.
Howarth, R. W., Sharpley, A., & Walker, D. (2002). Sources of nutrient pollution to coastal waters in the United States: implications for achieving coastal water quality goals. Estuaries, 25(4B), 656–676.
Istok, J. D., Humphrey, M. D., Schroth, M. H., Hyman, M. R., & O’Reilly, K. T. (1997). Single-well, “push-pull” test for in situ determination of microbial activities. Ground Water, 35, 619–631.
Jahangir, M. M. R., Johnston, P., Addy, K., Khalil, M. I., Groffman, P. M., & Richards, K. G. (2013). Quantification of in situ denitrification rates in groundwater below and arable and a grassland system. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 224, 1693.
Jencso, K. G., McGlynn, B. L., Gooseff, M. N., Bencala, K. E., & Wondzell, S. M. (2010). Hillslope hydrologic connectivity controls riparian groundwater turnover: implications of catchment structure for riparian buffering and stream water sources. Water Resources Research, 46, W10524. doi:10.1029/2009WR008818.
Johnson, M. S., Woodbury, P. B., Pell, A. N., & Lehmann, J. (2007). Land-use change and stream water fluxes: decadal dynamics in watershed nitrate exports. Ecosystems, 10, 1182–1196. doi:10.1007/s10021-007-9091-2.
Kaushal, S. S., Groffman, P. M., Mayer, P. M., Striz, E., & Gold, A. J. (2008). Effects of stream restoration on denitrification in an urbanizing watershed. Ecological Applications, 18(3), 789–804.
Kellogg, D. Q., Gold, A. J., Groffman, P. M., Addy, K., Stolt, M. H., & Blazejewski, G. (2005). In situ ground water denitrification in stratified, permeable soils underlying riparian wetlands. Journal of Environmental Quality, 34, 524–533.
Kellogg, D. Q., Gold, A. J., Cox, S., Addy, K., & August, P. V. (2010). A geospatial approach for assessing denitrification sinks within lower-order catchments. Ecological Engineering, 36(11), 1596–1606. doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2010.02.006.
King, R. S., Baker, M. E., Whigham, D. F., Weller, D. E., Jordan, T. E., Kazyak, P. F., et al. (2005). Spatial considerations for linking watershed land cover to ecological indicators in streams. Ecological Applications, 15(1), 137–153.
Livingstone, M. W., Smith, R. V., & Laughlin, R. J. (2000). A spatial study of denitrification potential of sediments in Belfast and Strangford Loughs and its significance. Science of the Total Environment, 251(252), 369–380.
Lowrance, R. (1992). Groundwater nitrate and denitrification in a coastal plain riparian forest. Journal of Environmental Quality, 21, 401–405.
Matheson, F. E., Nguyen, M. L., Cooper, A. B., Burt, T. P., & Bull, D. C. (2002). Fate of 15N-nitrate in unplanted, planted and harvested riparian wetland soil microcosms. Ecological Engineering, 19, 249–264.
McClain, M. E., Boyer, E., Dent, C. L., Gergel, S. E., Grimm, N. B., Groffman, P. M., et al. (2003). Biogeochemical hot spots and hot moments at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Ecosystems, 6(4), 301–312.
McGlynn, B. L., & McDonnell, J. J. (2003). Role of discrete landscape units in controlling catchment dissolved organic carbon dynamics. Water Resources Research, 39, 1090. doi:10.1029/2002WR001525.
Mosier, A. R., & Klemedtsson, L. (1994). Measuring denitrification in the field. In R. W. Weaver et al. (Eds.), Methods of soil analysis, part 2: microbiological and biochemical properties (2nd ed.). Madison: SSSA.
National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). (2013). Web Soil Survey. http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/HomePage.htm Accessed 11 March 2013.
Noe, G. B., Hupp, C. R., & Rybicki, N. B. (2013). Hydrogeomorphology influences soil nitrogen and phosphorus mineralization in floodplain wetlands. Ecosystems, 16(1), 75–94. doi:10.1007/s10021-012-9597-0.
Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC) (2013), The Ithaca Climate Page, http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu/climate/ithaca/, Accessed 11 March 2013.
O’Brien, J. M., Hamilton, S. K., Podzikowski, L., & Ostrom, N. (2012). The fate of assimilated nitrogen in streams: an in situ benthic chamber study. Freshwater Biology, 57(6), 1113–1125. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2427.2012.02770.x.
Ocampo, C. J., Oldham, C. E., & Sivapalan, M. (2006). Nitrate attenuation in agricultural catchments: shifting balances between transport and reaction. Water Resources Research, 42, W01408. doi:10.1029/2004WR003773.
Pattinson, S. N., Garcia-Ruiz, R., & Whitton, B. A. (1998). Spatial and seasonal variation in denitrification in the Swale-Ouse system, a river continuum. Science of the Total Environment, 210(211), 289–305.
Ranalli, A. J., & Macalady, D. L. (2010). The importance of the riparian zone and in-stream processes in nitrate attenuation in undisturbed and agricultural watersheds—a review of the scientific literature. Journal of Hydrology, 389, 406–415.
Robertson, G. P., Sollins, P., Ellis, B. G., & Lajtha, K. (1999). Exchangeable ions, pH and cation exchange capacity. In G. P. Robertson et al. (Eds.), Standard soil methods for long-term ecological research. New York: Oxford University Press.
Rutting, T., Boeckx, P., Muller, C., & Klemedtsson, L. (2011). Assessment of the importance of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium for the terrestrial nitrogen cycle. Biogeosciences, 8, 1779–1791.
Santisteban, J. I., Mediavilla, R., Lopez-Pamo, E., Dabrio, C. J., Ruiz Zapata, M. B., Gil Garcıa, M. J., et al. (2004). Loss on ignition: a qualitative or quantitative method for organic matter and carbonate mineral content in sediments? Journal of Paleolimnology, 32, 287–299.
Schlesinger, W. H. (2009). On the fate of anthropogenic nitrogen. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(1), 203–208.
Tague, C. (2009). Modeling hydrologic controls on denitrification: sensitivity to parameter uncertainty and landscape representation. Biogeochemistry, 93, 79–90.
Tiedje, J. M. (1994). Denitrifiers. In R. W. Weaver et al. (Eds.), Methods of soil analysis, part 2: microbiological and biochemical properties (2nd ed.). Madison: SSSA.
Townsend, A.R., Martinelli, L.A., & Howarth, R.W. (2009). The global nitrogen cycle, biodiversity, and human health. In: Biodiversity change and human health: from ecosystem services to spread of disease. SCOPE, Paris, France.
Triska, F. J., Duff, J. H., Sheibley, R. W., Jackman, A. P., & Avanzino, R. J. (2007). DIN retention-transport through four hydrologically connected zones in a headwater catchment of the Upper Mississippi River. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 43(1), 60–71.
Turner, R. E., & Rabalais, N. N. (1994). Coastal eutrophication near the Mississippi River delta. Nature, 368, 619–621.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) (1990). National pesticide survey: nitrate. Office of Water, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances. Washington, D.C.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) (2005). Riparian buffer width, vegetative cover, and nitrogen removal effectiveness: a review of current science and regulations. EPA/600/R-05/118, Office of Research and Development, Washington DC.
van Breemen, N., Boyer, E. W., Goodale, C. L., Jaworski, N. A., Paustian, K., Seitzinger, S. P., et al. (2002). Where did all the nitrogen go? Fate of nitrogen inputs to large watersheds in the northeastern U.S.A. Biogeochemistry, 57(58), 267–293.
Vidon, P., & Hill, A. R. (2004). Denitrification and eight patterns of electron donors and acceptors in eight riparian zones with contrasting hydrogeology. Biogeochemistry, 71, 259–283.
Vidon, P., Allan, C., Burns, D., Duval, T. P., Gurwick, N., Inamdar, S., et al. (2010). Hot spots and hot moments in riparian zones: potential for improved water quality management. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 46(2), 278–298.
Viollier, E., Inglett, P. W., Hunter, K., Roychoudhury, A. N., & Van Cappellen, P. (2000). The ferrozine method revisited: Fe(II)/Fe(III) determination in natural waters. Applied Geochemistry, 15(2000), 785–790.
Zaman, M., Nguyen, M. L., Gold, A. J., Groffman, P. M., Kellogg, D. Q., & Wilcock, R. J. (2008). Nitrous oxide generation, denitrification, and nitrate removal in a seepage wetland intercepting surface and subsurface flows from a grazed dairy catchment. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 46, 565–577.
Zarnetske, J. P., Haggerty, R., Wondzell, S. M., & Baker, M. (2011). Dynamics of nitrate production and removal as a function of residence time in the hyporheic zone. Journal of Geophysical Research, Biogeosciences, 116, G01025. doi:10.1029/2010JG001356.
Zarnetske, J. P., Haggerty, R., Wondzell, S. M., Bokil, V. A., & González-Pinzón, R. (2012). Coupled transport and reaction kinetics control the nitrate source-sink function of hyporheic zones. Water Resources Research, 48, W11508. doi:10.1029/2012WR011894.
Acknowledgments
Assistance with the push-pull method was provided by T. Anderson, assistance in the field and laboratory was provided by L. Kreitinger, A. Fortman, and S. Giri, and site access was provided by S. McKay. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. 1144153 and the Cornell Cross-Scale Biogeochemistry & Climate IGERT under NSF Grant No. 1069193. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McPhillips, L.E., Groffman, P.M., Goodale, C.L. et al. Hydrologic and Biogeochemical Drivers of Riparian Denitrification in an Agricultural Watershed. Water Air Soil Pollut 226, 169 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-015-2434-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-015-2434-2