Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Seasonal Disconnect Between Streamflow and Retention Shapes Riverine Nitrogen Export in the Willamette River Basin, Oregon

  • Published:
Ecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aber JD, Nadelhoffer KJ, Steudler P, Melillo JM. 1989. Nitrogen saturation in northern forest ecosystems. BioScience 39:378–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beltran BJ, Amatya DM, Youssef M, Jones M, Callahan TJ, Skaggs RW, Nettles JE. 2010. Impacts of fertilization on water quality of a drained pine plantation: A worst case scenario. Journal of Environmental Quality 39:293–303.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berger PA, Bolte JP. 2004. Evaluating the impact of policy options on agricultural landscapes: An alternative-futures approach. Ecological Applications 14:342–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binkley D, Burnham H, Allen HL. 1999. Water quality impacts of forest fertilization with nitrogen and phosphorus. Forest Ecology and Management 121:191–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binkley D, Cromack K Jr, Baker DD. 1994. Nitrogen fixation by red alder: Biology, rates, and controls. The biology and management of red alder. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press. p 57–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyer EW, Goodale CL, Jaworski NA, Howarth RW. 2002. Anthropogenic nitrogen sources and relationships to riverine nitrogen export in the northeastern USA. Biogeochemistry 57(58):137–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandi-Dohrn FM, Hess M, Selker JS, Dick RP, Kauffman SM, Hemphill DD. 1997. Nitrate leaching under a cereal rye cover crop. Journal of Environmental Quality 26:181–8.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks JR, Wigington PJ, Phillips DL, Comeleo R, Coulombe R. 2012. Willamette River Basin surface water isoscape (δ18O and δ2H): temporal changes of source water within the river. Ecosphere 3:1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell JL, Hornbeck JW, Mitchell MJ, Adams MB, Castro MS, Driscoll CT, Kahl JS, Kochenderfer JN, Likens GE, Lynch JA, Murdoch PS. 2004. Input-output budgets of inorganic nitrogen for 24 forest watersheds in the northeastern United States: a review. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 151:373–96.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cao P, Lu C, Yu Z. 2018. Historical nitrogen fertilizer use in agricultural ecosystems of the contiguous United States during 1850–2015: Application rate, timing, and fertilizer types. Earth System Science Data 10:969.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caraco NF, Cole JJ. 1999. Human impact on nitrate export: An analysis using major world rivers. Ambio 28:167–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleveland CC, Townsend AR, Schimel DS, Fisher H, Howarth RW, Hedin LO, Perakis SS, Latty EF, Von Fischer JC, Elseroad A, Wasson MF. 1999. Global patterns of terrestrial biological nitrogen (N2) fixation in natural ecosystems. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 13:623–45.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Compton JE, Church MR, Larned ST, Hogsett WE. 2003. Nitrogen export from forested watersheds in the Oregon Coast Range: The role of N2-fixing red alder. Ecosystems 6:773–85.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • David MB, Gentry LE. 2000. Anthropogenic inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus and riverine export for Illinois, USA. Journal of Environmental Quality 29:494–508.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • David MB, Gentry LE, Kovacic DA, Smith KM. 1997. Nitrogen balance in and export from an agricultural watershed. Journal of Environmental Quality 26:1038–48.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson EA, David MB, Galloway JN, Goodale CL, Haeuber R, Harrison JA, Howarth RW, Jaynes DB, Lowrance RR, Thomas NB, Peel JL. 2011. Excess nitrogen in the US environment: Trends, risks, and solutions. Issues in Ecology No. 15. Ecological Society of America.

  • De Girolamo AM, Balestrini R, D’Ambrosio E, Pappagallo G, Soana E, Porto AL. 2017. Antropogenic input of nitrogen and riverine export from a Mediterranean catchment. The Celone, a temporary river case study. Agricultural Water Management 187:190–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowd BM, Press D, Los Huertos M. 2008. Agricultural nonpoint source water pollution policy: The case of California’s Central Coast. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 128:151–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Earl SR, Valett HM, Webster JR. 2006. Nitrogen saturation in stream ecosystems. Ecology 87:3140–51.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feaga JB, Selker JS, Dick RP, Hemphill DD. 2010. Long-term nitrate leaching under vegetable production with cover crops in the Pacific Northwest. Soil Science Society of America Journal 74:186–95.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fraterrigo JM, Downing JA. 2008. The influence of land use on lake nutrients varies with watershed transport capacity. Ecosystems 11:1021–34.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goffin D, Birnie J, Dettwyler B, Harper M, Knudsen M, Kraemer A, Redon L, Rosa J, Schweickert T, Zuber J, Harper ASJ. 2010. Molalla-Pudding-French Prairie-North Santiam Subbasins Agricultural Water Quality Management Area Plan. Molalla-Pudding-French Prairie-North Santiam Subbasins Local Advisory Committee. 80p.

  • Goyette JO, Bennett EM, Maranger R. 2019. Differential influence of landscape features and climate on nitrogen and phosphorus transport throughout the watershed. Biogeochemistry. 142:155–74.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Greathouse EA, Compton JE, Van Sickle J. 2014. Linking landscape characteristics and high stream nitrogen in the Oregon Coast range: Red alder complicates use of nutrient criteria. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 50:1383–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groffman PM, Law NL, Belt KT, Band LE, Fisher GT. 2004. Nitrogen fluxes and retention in urban watershed ecosystems. Ecosystems 7:393–403.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gronberg JM, Spahr NE. 2012. County-level estimates of nitrogen and phosphorus from commercial fertilizer for the Conterminous United States, 1987–2006: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5207, 20 p.

  • Hobbie SE, Finlay JC, Janke BD, Nidzgorski DA, Millet DB, Baker LA. 2017. Contrasting nitrogen and phosphorus budgets in urban watersheds and implications for managing urban water pollution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1618536114.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe B, White D, Harding A, Mueller-Warrant G, Hope B, Main E. 2014. High resolution modeling of agricultural nitrogen to identify private wells susceptible to nitrate contamination. Journal of Water and Health 12:702–14.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Horn KJ, Thomas RQ, Clark CM, Pardo LH, Fenn ME, Lawrence GB, Perakis SS, Smithwick EA, Baldwin D, Braun S, Nordin A. 2018. Growth and survival relationships of 71 tree species with nitrogen and sulfur deposition across the conterminous US. PloS one. 13:e0205296.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Howarth RW, Billen G, Swaney D, Townsend A, Jaworski N, Lajtha K, Downing JA, Elmgren R, Caraco N, Jordan T, Berendse F. 1996. Regional nitrogen budgets and riverine N & P fluxes for the drainages to the North Atlantic Ocean: Natural and human influences. Biogeochemistry 35:75–139.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Howarth R, Swaney D, Billen G, Garnier J, Hong B, Humborg C, Johnes P, Mörth CM, Marino R. 2012. Nitrogen fluxes from the landscape are controlled by net anthropogenic nitrogen inputs and by climate. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 10:37–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howarth RW, Swaney DP, Boyer EW, Marino R, Jaworski N, Goodale C. 2006. The influence of climate on average nitrogen export from large watersheds in the Northeastern United States. In: Nitrogen Cycling in the Americas: Natural and Anthropogenic Influences and Controls (pp. 163-186). Springer, Dordrecht.

  • Jaeger WK, Amos A, Bigelow DP, Chang H, Conklin DR, Haggerty R, Langpap C, Moore K, Mote PW, Nolin AW, Plantinga AJ. 2017. Finding water scarcity amid abundance using human–natural system models. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114:11884–9.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly V.J, Lynch DD, Rounds S. 1999. Sources and transport of phosphorus and nitrogen during low-flow conditions in the Tualatin River, Oregon, 1991-93. US Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2465-C.

  • Legg TD, Fletcher JJ, Easter KW. 1989. Nitrogen budgets and economic efficiency: A case study of southeastern Minnesota. Journal of Production Agriculture 2:10–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin J, Compton JE, Leibowitz SG, Mueller-Warrant G, Matthews W, Schoenholtz SH, Evans DM, Coulombe RA. 2019. Seasonality of nitrogen balances in a Mediterranean climate watershed, Oregon, US. Biogeochemistry 142:247–64.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liptzin D, Dahlgren R. 2016. A California Nitrogen Mass Balance for 2005. In: The California Nitrogen Assessment. Tomich TP, Brodt SB, Dahlgren RA, Scow KM, editors. University of California Press. pp. 79-112.

  • Maaz T, Pan W. 2017. Residual fertilizer, crop sequence, and water availability impact rotational nitrogen balances. Agronomy Journal 109:2839–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mote PW, Salathé EP. 2010. Future climate in the Pacific Northwest. Climatic Change 102:29–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller-Warrant GW, Whittaker GW, Griffith SM, Banowetz GM, Dugger BD, Garcia TS, Giannico G, Boyers KL, McComb BC. 2011. Remote sensing classification of grass seed cropping practices in western Oregon. International Journal of Remote Sensing 32:2451–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niu S, Classen AT, Dukes JS, Kardol P, Liu L, Luo Y, Rustad L, Sun J, Tang J, Templer PH, Thomas RQ. 2016. Global patterns and substrate-based mechanisms of the terrestrial nitrogen cycle. Ecology letters 19:697–709.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • ODEQ (Oregon Department of Environmental Quality). 2009. Willamette Basin Rivers and Streams assessment.

  • Ohmann JL, Gregory MJ, Henderson EB, Roberts HM. 2011. Mapping gradients of community composition with nearest-neighbour imputation: Extending plot data for landscape analysis. Journal of Vegetation Science 22:660–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ohte N. 2012. Implications of seasonal variation in nitrate export from forested ecosystems: a review from the hydrological perspective of ecosystem dynamics. Ecological Research 27:657–65.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pardo LH, Fenn ME, Goodale CL, Geiser LH, Driscoll CT, Allen EB, Baron JS, Bobbink R, Bowman WD, Clark CM, Emmett B. 2011. Effects of nitrogen deposition and empirical nitrogen critical loads for ecoregions of the United States. Ecological Applications 21:3049–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson JJ, Smith C, Bellamy J. 2013. Understanding enabling capacities for managing the ‘wicked problem’ of nonpoint source water pollution in catchments: a conceptual framework. Journal of Environmental Management 128:441–52.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perakis SS. 2002. Nutrient limitation, hydrology and watershed nitrogen loss. Hydrological Processes 16:3507–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poor CJ, McDonnell JJ, Bolte J. 2008. Testing the hydrological landscape unit classification system and other terrain analysis measures for predicting low-flow nitrate and chloride in watersheds. Environmental Management 42:877–93.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ribaudo MO, Delgado J, Hansen L, Livingston M, Mosheim R, Wiliamson J. 2011. Nitrogen in agricultural systems: Implications for conservation policy. Economic Research Rep. 127. USDA, Washington, DC.

  • Runkel RL, Crawford CG, Cohn TA. 2004. Load Estimator (LOADEST): A FORTRAN program for estimating constituent loads in streams and rivers. Techniques and Methods Book 4 Chapter A5. U.S. Geological Survey. 69 p.

  • SAB [Science Advisory Board to the US Environmental Protection Agency]. 2011. Reactive Nitrogen in the United States; an analysis of inputs, flows, consequences, and management options. Washington, DC: US Environmental Protection Agency.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaefer SC, Alber M. 2007. Temperature controls a latitudinal gradient in the proportion of watershed nitrogen exported to coastal ecosystems. Biogeochemistry 85:333–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaefer S, Hollibaugh J, Alber M. 2009. Watershed nitrogen input and riverine export on the west coast of the US. Biogeochemistry 93:219–33.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger WH. 2009. On the fate of anthropogenic nitrogen. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106:203–8.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schwede DB, Lear GG. 2014. A novel hybrid approach for estimating total deposition in the United States. Atmospheric Environment 92:207–20.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seitzinger S, Harrison JA, Böhlke JK, Bouwman AF, Lowrance R, Peterson B, Tobias C, Drecht GV. 2006. Denitrification across landscapes and waterscapes: a synthesis. Ecological Applications 16:2064–90.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sigleo AC, Frick WE. 2007. Seasonal variations in river discharge and nutrient export to a Northeastern Pacific estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 73:368–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinha E, Michalak AM. 2016. Precipitation dominates interannual variability of riverine nitrogen loading across the continental United States. Environmental science & technology 50:12874–84.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sobota DJ, Compton JE, Harrison JA. 2013. Reactive nitrogen inputs to US lands and waterways: how certain are we about sources and fluxes? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 11:82–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sobota DJ, Compton JE, McCrackin ML, Singh S. 2015. Cost of reactive nitrogen release from human activities to the environment in the United States. Environmental Research Letters. 10:025006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sobota DJ, Harrison JA, Dahlgren RA. 2009. Influences of climate, hydrology, and land use on input and export of nitrogen in California watersheds. Biogeochemistry 94:43–62.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg PD, Brett MT, Bechtold JS, Richey JE, Porensky LM, Smith SN. 2011. The influence of watershed characteristics on nitrogen export to and marine fate in Hood Canal, Washington, USA. Biogeochemistry 106:415–33.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Swaney DP, Howarth RW, Hong B. 2018. Nitrogen use efficiency and crop production: Patterns of regional variation in the United States, 1987–2012. Science of The Total Environment 635:498–511.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • USDA-NASS. 2013. United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service: Quick Stats.

  • Vanderbilt KL, Lajtha K, Swanson FJ. 2003. Biogeochemistry of unpolluted forested watersheds in the Oregon Cascades: temporal patterns of precipitation and stream nitrogen fluxes. Biogeochemistry 62:87–117.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wise DR, Johnson HM. 2011. Surface-Water Nutrient Conditions and Sources in the United States Pacific Northwest. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 47:1110–35.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wise DR, Johnson HM. 2013. Application of the SPARROW model to assess surface-water nutrient conditions and sources in the United States Pacific Northwest. Scientific Investigations Report 2013–5103. US Geological Survey.

  • Wollheim WM, Vörösmarty CJ, Peterson BJ, Seitzinger SP, Hopkinson CS. 2006. Relationship between river size and nutrient removal. Geophysical Research Letters. 33:L06410.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dan Wise and Hank Johnson of the USGS Oregon Water Science Center for sharing stream data and SPARROW results. We thank John Hart and Mark Mellbye, formerly of Oregon State University extension, and Susanna Pearlstein for guidance on crop fertilizer rates. We thank Jim Wigington, Scott Leibowitz and Lynne McWhorter for early discussions of the project and input on the study design. Philip Caruso and Jackie Brenner assisted in the crop fertilizer N input estimates, and George Mueller-Warrant provided the USDA-ARS crop data layer. Donna Schwede and Kristen Foley conducted the downscaled 4-km Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling. We thank John Harrison and three anonymous reviewers for helpful feedback on the manuscript. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Ecology Division, US Environmental Protection Agency, 200 SW 35th St., Corvallis, Oregon, 97333, USA

    Jana E. Compton

  2. Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, District of Columbia, 20460, USA

    Kara E. Goodwin

  3. Water Quality Program, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Portland, Oregon, 97232, USA

    Daniel J. Sobota

  4. National Research Council based at US EPA Western Ecology Division, 200 SW 35th St., Corvallis, Oregon, 97333, USA

    Jiajia Lin

Authors
  1. Jana E. Compton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kara E. Goodwin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Daniel J. Sobota
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jiajia Lin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jana E. Compton.

Additional information

Author's Contributions

JEC conceived the study and drafted the manuscript. KEG and DJS were involved in the conception and design of the study, creation of the spatial input layers, interpretation of results and writing the manuscript. KEG conducted the stream and river load modeling. JL conducted the final input calculations and contributed to interpretation and writing the manuscript.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 27 kb)

Predicted concentrations and loads for the Willamette River at Portland, OR, USA (JPEG 841 kb)

10021_2019_383_MOESM3_ESM.jpg

Fractional export of total N from WRB sub-watersheds. Fractional export presented as the riverine export divided by the total N inputs for each sub-watershed (JPEG 574 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Compton, J.E., Goodwin, K.E., Sobota, D.J. et al. Seasonal Disconnect Between Streamflow and Retention Shapes Riverine Nitrogen Export in the Willamette River Basin, Oregon. Ecosystems 23, 1–17 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00383-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00383-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation