Abstract
Leaching of excess nitrogen (N) to groundwater in fertilized landscapes can overwhelm natural biogeochemical processes and cause long-term eutrophication of aquatic systems. We investigated N fate and transport from an intensively managed short-rotation woody crop (Pinus taeda) plantation through the riparian zone of an intermittent, low-gradient blackwater stream. Fertilization of the P. taeda plantation on the uplands resulted in contamination of groundwater with nitrate concentrations between 0.9 and 1.9 mg N L−1. No corresponding increase in nitrate was observed in stream water or shallow groundwater in the riparian zone. Groundwater travel-time modeling predicted that N from near-stream, upland plantation areas should have reached streams during the monitoring period. Two years of measuring N species in well water in contrasting landscape positions (within the plantation, swale, riparian edge, forested hillslope, and valley), indicated rapid nitrate transformation and denitrification within the forested wetland valleys. Denitrification in the shallow groundwater system within the toeslopes and the riparian zone was estimated to have removed > 90% of nitrate. These results highlight the importance of riparian zones as pathways for the removal of N and for controlling downstream N loads.
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The data from this manuscript will be freely available upon request, as well as through the Bioenergy Knowledge Discovery Framework (https://www.bioenergykdf.net/).
Change history
15 October 2023
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-023-01088-x
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Acknowledgements
Peter Groffman and Lisa Martel of the Cary Institute provided advice and guidance throughout the project and conducted the N2 and N2O analysis. Andy Horcher and John Blake (retired) provided logistical and in-kind organizational support. Kevin Fouts, Nathan Melear, and Katie Lamp’l helped in sampling the 2nd year of the project and in well installation and sample processing. Christopher Lewis, Nathan Melear, Wesley Gerrin, Tyler McIntosh, Gabriel William Dias Ferreira, and Fabio Henrique Silva Floriano de Toledo assisted in drill rig operation and in augering plantation soil samples. Seth Younger, Katie Lamp’l, and Jordan Horvieth assisted in the cryogenic extraction process. Dan Buhr assisted in the processing of N2 and N2O data. Lori Sutter at UGA, and Allison Fortner, Jana Phillips, and Sarah Ottinger at ORNL conducted the water chemistry analysis.
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This work was supported by the United States Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office and the United States Forest Service—Savannah River Site Interagency Agreement DE-AI09-00SR22188. S. Raulerson was supported by the United States Department of Agricultural through a National Institute of Food and Agriculture AFRI Predoctoral Fellowship (2022-67011-36463/1028181). This material is based on work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Bioenergy Technologies Office. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.
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All co-authors contributed to the study. SR wrote the initial draft. JJ wrote an initial manuscript outline. SR, NAG, BMR, and CRJ analyzed data. SR, JJ, BMR, CM, CRJ, and NAG contributed to the study design. SR, JJ, CM, and CRJ conducted or facilitated field work. SR, NAG, BMR, and CRJ facilitated manuscript editing and review.
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The original version of this article was corrected in order to improve the following problems within the text:
1. The numbers in the right-most column of Table 1 were corrected to be in the thousands
2. The captions of Figures 6 and 7 were inverted
3. There were grammatical, spelling and typesetting mistakes throughout the text that were now corrected
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Raulerson, S., Jeffers, J.B., Griffiths, N.A. et al. Rapid denitrification of nitrate-contaminated groundwater in a low-gradient blackwater stream valley. Biogeochemistry 166, 1–20 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-023-01077-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-023-01077-0