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Hydrologic Connectivity to Streams Increases Nitrogen and Phosphorus Inputs and Cycling in Soils of Created and Natural Floodplain Wetlands

Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Environmental Quality, July 2013
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Title
Hydrologic Connectivity to Streams Increases Nitrogen and Phosphorus Inputs and Cycling in Soils of Created and Natural Floodplain Wetlands
Published in
Journal of Environmental Quality, July 2013
DOI 10.2134/jeq2012.0466
Pubmed ID
Authors

Kristin L. Wolf, Gregory B. Noe, Changwoo Ahn

Abstract

Greater connectivity to stream surface water may result in greater inputs of allochthonous nutrients that could stimulate internal nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycling in natural, restored, and created riparian wetlands. This study investigated the effects of hydrologic connectivity to stream water on soil nutrient fluxes in plots ( = 20) located among four created and two natural freshwater wetlands of varying hydrology in the Piedmont physiographic province of Virginia. Surface water was slightly deeper; hydrologic inputs of sediment, sediment-N, and ammonium were greater; and soil net ammonification, N mineralization, and N turnover were greater in plots with stream water classified as their primary water source compared with plots with precipitation or groundwater as their primary water source. Soil water-filled pore space, inputs of nitrate, and soil net nitrification, P mineralization, and denitrification enzyme activity (DEA) were similar among plots. Soil ammonification, N mineralization, and N turnover rates increased with the loading rate of ammonium to the soil surface. Phosphorus mineralization and ammonification also increased with sedimentation and sediment-N loading rate. Nitrification flux and DEA were positively associated in these wetlands. In conclusion, hydrologic connectivity to stream water increased allochthonous inputs that stimulated soil N and P cycling and that likely led to greater retention of sediment and nutrients in created and natural wetlands. Our findings suggest that wetland creation and restoration projects should be designed to allow connectivity with stream water if the goal is to optimize the function of water quality improvement in a watershed.

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Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 88 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United States 3 3%
France 1 1%
Canada 1 1%
Unknown 83 94%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 17 19%
Student > Master 17 19%
Student > Ph. D. Student 13 15%
Student > Bachelor 10 11%
Student > Doctoral Student 5 6%
Other 12 14%
Unknown 14 16%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Environmental Science 33 38%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 14 16%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 10 11%
Engineering 5 6%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 3 3%
Other 3 3%
Unknown 20 23%