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Nitrogen retention in rivers: model development and application to watersheds in the northeastern U.S.A.

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Abstract

A regression model (RivR-N) was developed that predicts the proportion of N removed from streams and reservoirs as an inverse function of the water displacement time of the water body (ratio of water body depth to water time of travel). When appliedto 16 drainage networks in the eastern U.S.,the RivR-N model predicted that 37% to 76%of N input to these rivers is removed duringtransport through the river networks.Approximately half of that is removed in1st through 4th order streams whichaccount for 90% of the total stream length. The other half is removed in 5th orderand higher rivers which account for only about10% of the total stream length. Most Nremoved in these higher orders is predicted tooriginate from watershed loading to small andintermediate sized streams. The proportion ofN removed from all streams in the watersheds(37–76%) is considerably higher than theproportion of N input to an individual reachthat is removed in that reach (generally<20%) because of the cumulative effect ofcontinued nitrogen removal along the entireflow path in downstream reaches. Thisgenerally has not been recognized in previousstudies, but is critical to an evaluation ofthe total amount of N removed within a rivernetwork. At the river network scale,reservoirs were predicted to have a minimaleffect on N removal. A fairly modest decrease(<10 percentage points) in the N removed atthe river network scale was predicted when athird of the direct watershed loading was tothe two highest orders compared to a uniformloading.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, Rutgers/NOAA CMER Program, 71 Dudley Rd, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, U.S.A.

    Sybil P. Seitzinger & Renée V. Styles

  2. State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY, 13210, U.S.A

    Elizabeth W. Boyer

  3. U.S. Geological Survey, 413 National Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA, 20192, U.S.A

    Richard B. Alexander

  4. UMR Sisyphe, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 place Jussieu, 75005, Paris, France

    Gilles Billen

  5. Department Ecology & Environmental Biology, Cornell University, Corson Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, U.S.A

    Robert W. Howarth

  6. Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Geology and Geophysics, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4

    Bernhard Mayer

  7. Laboratory of Soil Science and Geology and Wageningen Institute for Environment and Climate Research, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 37, 6700 AA, Wageningen, the Netherlands

    Nico van Breemen

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  1. Sybil P. Seitzinger
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  2. Renée V. Styles
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  3. Elizabeth W. Boyer
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  4. Richard B. Alexander
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Correspondence to Sybil P. Seitzinger.

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Seitzinger, S.P., Styles, R.V., Boyer, E.W. et al. Nitrogen retention in rivers: model development and application to watersheds in the northeastern U.S.A.. Biogeochemistry 57, 199–237 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015745629794

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