Seasonal disconnect between streamflow and retention shapes riverine nitrogen export in the Willamette River Basin, Oregon
Citation:
Compton, J., K. Goodwin, D. Sobota, AND J. Lin. Seasonal disconnect between streamflow and retention shapes riverine nitrogen export in the Willamette River Basin, Oregon. ECOSYSTEMS. Springer, New York, NY, 23:1-17, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00383-9
Impact/Purpose:
Improving the temporal and spatial resolution and accuracy of nutrient data has the potential to improve our understanding of the impacts and management of nutrients. Watershed nitrogen exports are known to be relatively high in the Pacific Northwest, and studying the seasonal and spatial dynamics of watershed balances provides insights into nitrogen management. Agricultural fertilizer inputs are the largest source of nitrogen to the Willamette River Basin, accounting for approximately 71% of all inputs. Most of the nitrogen export from rivers occurred during the wet season, when plant uptake is low, leading to high export. Development of crop-specific, spatially detailed maps of fertilizer inputs can provide more accurate information for agencies and groups managing water quality problems associated with nitrogen inputs, such as groundwater nitrate contamination and risk of algal blooms.
Description:
Watershed nutrient balance studies traditionally focus on annual fluxes. In areas with strongly seasonal, Mediterranean-type climate regimes, riverine nutrient export may be greater during wet seasons when hydrologic forcing overwhelms or bypasses retention mechanisms. By combining data on riverine export with spatially detailed nutrient inputs, we examine how nitrogen (N) supply, retention, and streamflow shape annual and seasonal riverine N export in Oregon’s Willamette River Basin (WRB). The WRB has pronounced dry summers and wet winters, and the distribution of farmland, cities and forests create significant spatial variations in N inputs. Local data on N inputs were coupled with streamflow and chemistry to calculate fractional N export for 22 WRB sub-watersheds in the mid-2000s. For the entire WRB, 78% of the N inputs came from agricultural activities, mainly as synthetic fertilizer (69%); the next largest inputs were deposition (10%), alder fixation (5%) and point sources (5%). Crop-specific estimates of fertilizer agreed with county fertilizer sales rates at the high end of extension recommendations. Fractional riverine N export (annual riverine N export / net watershed N inputs) averaged 38% of net inputs in WRB tributaries, greater than other regions of North America. Fall and winter together accounted for 60–90% of the riverine N export across all watersheds. Summer export was small but was greatest in the watersheds that receive seasonal snowmelt. Large wet season losses, when biotic sinks are less active, result in a relatively high proportion of N inputs exported in this region with a Mediterranean climate and high runoff.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Seasonal disconnect between streamflow and retention shapes riverine nitrogen export in the Willamette River Basin, Oregon