Climate Variability Induced Shifts in Nitrogen Loading from Terrestrial to Aquatic Ecosystems

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Asit Mazumder ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Nitrogen Concentration ◽  
Nitrogen Loading ◽  
Landscape Patterns ◽  
Concentration Data

Nitrogen is one of the critical nutrients regulating terrestrial and aquatic productivity, and is linked to degradation of water quality of freshwater and marine ecosystems worldwide. The landscape patterns of stream nitrogen components, concentrations and loadings and their relationships with climate variability and landuse, were analyzed and quantified in this study. We used stream nitrogen concentration data collected at 2,125 sites and climate data at 301 weather stations during 1976 to 2005 in 30 eco-regions across British Columbia, Canada. While the patterns of stream nitrogen component, concentration, and loading distributions were found to be related to landscape patterns of climate variability, human activities, landuse, natural vegetation, and relief across British Columbia, the climate variability on both temporal a d spatial scales were found to be the dominant driver of variability in loading and concentrations of nitrogen. Elevated air temperature gradient across the landscape of British Columbia resulted in a significant increase in stream nitrogen loading from terrestrial into aquatic ecosystems. Precipitation, nitrogen deposition, population density and urban area also significantly affected the stream nitrogen components, concentrations and loadings. We suggest that climate change, especially shifts in temperature and precipitation, along with increased human activities tend to have important implications for loading of nitrogen from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems and associated water quality in aquatic ecosystems

scholarly journals Setting the Flow Accumulation Threshold Based on Environmental and Morphologic Features to Extract River Networks from Digital Elevation Models

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
HuiHui Zhang ◽  
Hugo A. Loáiciga ◽  
LuWei Feng ◽  
Jing He ◽  
QingYun Du
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Digital Elevation Models ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Drainage Density ◽  
River Network ◽  
Landscape Patterns ◽  
Estimation Methods ◽  
River Networks ◽  
Flow Accumulation ◽  
Digital Elevation

Determining the flow accumulation threshold (FAT) is a key task in the extraction of river networks from digital elevation models (DEMs). Several methods have been developed to extract river networks from Digital Elevation Models. However, few studies have considered the geomorphologic complexity in the FAT estimation and river network extraction. Recent studies estimated influencing factors’ impacts on the river length or drainage density without considering anthropogenic impacts and landscape patterns. This study contributes two FAT estimation methods. The first method explores the statistical association between FAT and 47 tentative explanatory factors. Specifically, multi-source data, including meteorologic, vegetation, anthropogenic, landscape, lithology, and topologic characteristics are incorporated into a drainage density-FAT model in basins with complex topographic and environmental characteristics. Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) was employed to evaluate the factors’ predictive performance. The second method exploits fractal geometry theory to estimate the FAT at the regional scale, that is, in basins whose large areal extent precludes the use of basin-wide representative regression predictors. This paper’s methodology is applied to data acquired for Hubei and Qinghai Provinces, China, from 2001 through 2018 and systematically tested with visual and statistical criteria. Our results reveal key local features useful for river network extraction within the context of complex geomorphologic characteristics at relatively small spatial scales and establish the importance of properly choosing explanatory geomorphologic characteristics in river network extraction. The multifractal method exhibits more accurate extracting results than the box-counting method at the regional scale.

scholarly journals Potential for Mycorrhizae-Assisted Phytoremediation of Phosphorus for Improved Water Quality

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Jessica A. Rubin ◽  
Josef H. Görres
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Phosphorus Uptake ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Landscape Patterns ◽  
Cyanobacterial Blooms ◽  
Terrestrial Plants ◽  
Source Reduction ◽  
Water Ecosystems

During this 6th Great Extinction, freshwater quality is imperiled by upland terrestrial practices. Phosphorus, a macronutrient critical for life, can be a concerning contaminant when excessively present in waterways due to its stimulation of algal and cyanobacterial blooms, with consequences for ecosystem functioning, water use, and human and animal health. Landscape patterns from residential, industrial and agricultural practices release phosphorus at alarming rates and concentrations threaten watershed communities. In an effort to reconcile the anthropogenic effects of phosphorus pollution, several strategies are available to land managers. These include source reduction, contamination event prevention and interception. A total of 80% of terrestrial plants host mycorrhizae which facilitate increased phosphorus uptake and thus removal from soil and water. This symbiotic relationship between fungi and plants facilitates a several-fold increase in phosphorus uptake. It is surprising how little this relationship has been encouraged to mitigate phosphorus for water quality improvement. This paper explores how facilitating this symbiosis in different landscape and land-use contexts can help reduce the application of fertility amendments, prevent non-point source leaching and erosion, and intercept remineralized phosphorus before it enters surface water ecosystems. This literature survey offers promising insights into how mycorrhizae can aid ecological restoration to reconcile humans’ damage to Earth’s freshwater. We also identify areas where research is needed.

Response of streamflow to climate variability and changes in human activities in the semiarid highlands of northern Ethiopia

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1229-1240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayele Almaw Fenta ◽  
Hiroshi Yasuda ◽  
Katsuyuki Shimizu ◽  
Nigussie Haregeweyn
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Northern Ethiopia

scholarly journals The consequences for stream water quality of long-term changes in landscape patterns: Implications for land use management and policies

2021 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 105679
Author(s):  
António Carlos Pinheiro Fernandes ◽  
Lisa Maria de Oliveira Martins ◽  
Fernando António Leal Pacheco ◽  
Luís Filipe Sanches Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Stream Water ◽  
Landscape Patterns ◽  
Land Use Management ◽  
Stream Water Quality ◽  
Long Term Changes

On methodological approaches to the improvement of surface water bodies and target indicators of the natural waters’ quality

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-14
Author(s):  
V. Zaslonovsky ◽  
◽  
N. Sharapov ◽  
M. Bosov ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Natural Water ◽  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Natural Waters ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
Surface Water Bodies ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Natural Water Bodies

The paper is devoted to the development of proposals concerning the improvement of surface water bodies and the appointment of target indicators of the natural waters’ quality. The paper considers a variety of problems of preserving, restoring and improving the quality of natural surface waters: from regional features of the formation of natural water composition, to differences in the requirements for the quality of water consumed. The object of the study is the qualitative indicators of the waters of natural water bodies, and the subject of the study is the methodological approaches to the normalization of these indicators. The purpose of the work is to identify the main shortcomings in the domestic system of rationing the quality of natural waters, and to form appropriate proposals. For this purpose, the following tasks were set and solved: to review the methodological approaches to assessing and rationing the quality of natural waters used in some foreign countries and in the Russian Federation, to identify the main causes and shortcomings; to make proposals for improving the current system of water quality rationing. The result of this work is the conclusions about the lack of impact of the strategy operating in Russia in the development of schemes of complex use and protection of water objects, standards of permissible impact on water bodies, the appointment of permissible discharge limits in terms of maintaining and improving the water quality of natural water bodies. The reasons that led to this are indicated. The necessity of taking into account, in addition to the physical and chemical composition, also hydrobiological parameters is shown. It is concluded that instead of fisheries management standards, environmental standards should serve as the basis for target indicators of water quality of natural water bodies, which determine the well-being of humans and the stable functioning of aquatic ecosystems, taking into account regional factors. Proposals were made to adjust the methodological approaches to the implementation of this strategy. According to the authors, these proposals will speed up the solution of the main objectives of the strategy – the ecological improvement of water bodies, the preservation of unique aquatic ecosystems and the environmentally safe development of territories that previously experienced relatively small anthropogenic impacts (Eastern Siberia and the Far East)

Water quality and climate variability of urban and tourism areas in Thailand and northern Vietnam: correlations and possible influences on nearby coastal shrimp farms

2021 ◽  
Vol 193 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nattakarn Kruatong ◽  
Soydoa Vinitnantharat ◽  
Hai The Pham ◽  
Pham Thai Giang ◽  
Nguyen Huu Nghia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Northern Vietnam ◽  
Shrimp Farms

Water Quality From Gualaxo Do Norte And Carmo Rivers (Minas Gerais, Brazil) After The Fundão Dam Failure

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Brandão Nogueira ◽  
Sabriny Melo Sousa ◽  
Camila Gonçalves Lobo Santos ◽  
Gustavo Simões Araújo ◽  
Laser Oliveira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Trace Elements ◽  
Rainy Season ◽  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Dam Failure ◽  
Subsistence Farming ◽  
Environmental Disaster ◽  
Uncertain Future ◽  
Toxic Potential

Mining waste is rich in trace elements, which present a high toxic potential and may represent a risk for aquatic ecosystems. The Fundão dam failure, considered the largest environmental disaster in the world, affected 663.2 km of watercourses, including Carmo and Gualaxo do Norte Rivers. The ore tail also affected the riverside communities, destroying villages, killing people and affecting the subsistence farming. To evaluate the influence of the mine tailing wave on the water quality of the Carmo and Gualaxo do Norte Rivers water samples were collected at nine points located in Barra Longa during the rainy season. Physicochemical parameters (conductivity, resistivity, EH, total dissolved solids, pH and temperature) and major, minor and trace elements concentrations (Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Sc, Sr, V, Zn, As, Pb, Al, Fe, Mn, Ca, K, Mg and P) were evaluated and compared with previous studies and conformity limits established by a national resolution (CONAMA Resolution N°357/2005). Only conductivity, Fe and Mn presented non-conformity values according to CONAMA Resolution N°357/2005. These results may be related not only to the dam burst but also to the rainy season and non-detectable pollution sources. Furthermore, the decreased levels in the toxic elements in the rivers over time, may be related to its association with sediments in addition to their flux to the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, after nearly six years, the environmental and social impacts are still alive and the minerals dragged to the riverbed could bring cumulative effects for the entire environment what means an uncertain future to the Rio Doce Basin and adjacent coastal zone.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document