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Nitrogen Transformations in Flowpaths Leading from Soils to Streams in Amazon Forest and Pasture

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Abstract

The modification of large areas of tropical forest to agricultural uses has consequences for the movement of inorganic nitrogen (N) from land to water. Various biogeochemical pathways in soils and riparian zones can influence the movement and retention of N within watersheds and affect the quantity exported in streams. We used the concentrations of NO3 − and NH4 + in different hydrological flowpaths leading from upland soils to streams to investigate inorganic N transformations in adjacent watersheds containing tropical forest and established cattle pasture in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon Basin. High NO3 − concentrations in forest soil solution relative to groundwater indicated a large removal of N mostly as NO3 − in flowpaths leading from soil to groundwater. Forest groundwater NO3 − concentrations were lower than in other Amazon sites where riparian zones have been implicated as important N sinks. Based on water budgets for these watersheds, we estimated that 7.3–10.3 kg N ha−1 y−1 was removed from flowpaths between 20 and 100 cm, and 7.1–10.2 kg N ha−1 y−1 was removed below 100 cm and the top of the groundwater. N removal from vertical flowpaths in forest exceeded previously measured N2O emissions of 3.0 kg N ha−1 y−1 and estimated emissions of NO of 1.4 kg N ha−1 y−1. Potential fates for this large amount of nitrate removal in forest soils include plant uptake, denitrification, and abiotic N retention. Conversion to pasture shifted the system from dominance by processes producing and consuming NO3 − to one dominated by NH4 +, presumably the product of lower rates of net N mineralization and net nitrification in pasture compared with forest. In pasture, no hydrological flowpaths contained substantial amounts of NO3 − and estimated N removal from soil vertical flowpaths was 0.2 kg N ha−1 y−1 below the depth of 100 cm. This contrasts with the extent to which agricultural sources dominate N inputs to groundwater and stream water in many temperate regions. This could change, however, if pasture agriculture in the tropics shifts toward intensive crop cultivation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Alexandra A. Montebelo, Gustavo G. Baldi, and Maíra O. Bezerra at the Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura in Piracicaba for conducting the chemical analyses. Shelby Hayhoe, Sonya Remington, Mathew Shamey, Tobias Vetter, and Lisa Werther helped during the field work phase of this study. The subject editor and two anonymous reviewers provided helpful criticism and insights that greatly improved the final product. Support for this study was provided by the US National Science Foundation (DEB-0315656), the NASA LBA Program (NCC5-690) and by grants from Brazilian agencies FAPESP (# 03/13172-2) and CNPq (# 420199/2005-5). Special thanks to the Schmitz family for allowing us to work on their land.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, USA

    Joaquín Chaves & Christopher Neill

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA

    Joaquín Chaves

  3. Institut für Geoökologie, Universität Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Sonja Germer & Helmut Elsenbeer

  4. Laboratório de Ecologia Isotópica, CENA – USP, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil

    Sergio Gouveia Neto, Alex V. Krusche & Adriana Castellanos Bonilla

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  1. Joaquín Chaves
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  2. Christopher Neill
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  3. Sonja Germer
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  4. Sergio Gouveia Neto
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  6. Adriana Castellanos Bonilla
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Correspondence to Joaquín Chaves.

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Author Contributions

Chaves: Collected and analyzed isotope samples, constructed ecosystem budgets, and wrote paper. Neill: Designed study, co-wrote paper. Germer: Instrumented watersheds, collected field samples, analyzed flowpath chemistry, and contributed to data analyses. Neto: Instrumented watersheds, collected field samples, ran laboratory chemistry, and organized flowpath chemistry. Krusche: Assisted with watershed instrumentation and oversaw laboratory chemistry. Bonilla: Instrumented watersheds, collected field samples, ran laboratory chemistry, and organized flowpath chemistry. Elsenbeer: Co-designed study, supervised watershed instrumentation, and contributed to paper writing.

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Chaves, J., Neill, C., Germer, S. et al. Nitrogen Transformations in Flowpaths Leading from Soils to Streams in Amazon Forest and Pasture. Ecosystems 12, 961–972 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-009-9270-4

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