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Effects of urban stream burial on nitrogen uptake and ecosystem metabolism: implications for watershed nitrogen and carbon fluxes

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Abstract

Urbanization has resulted in the extensive burial and channelization of headwater streams, yet little is known about the impacts of stream burial on ecosystem functions critical for reducing downstream nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) exports. In order to characterize the biogeochemical effects of stream burial on N and C, we measured NO3 − uptake (using 15N-NO3 − isotope tracer releases) and gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) (using whole stream metabolism measurements). Experiments were carried out during four seasons, in three paired buried and open stream reaches, within the Baltimore Ecosystem Study Long-term Ecological Research site. Stream burial increased NO3 − uptake lengths by a factor of 7.5 (p < 0.01) and decreased NO3 − uptake velocity and areal NO3 − uptake rate by factors of 8.2 (p < 0.05) and 9.6 (p < 0.001), respectively. Stream burial decreased GPP by a factor of 11.0 (p < 0.01) and decreased ER by a factor of 5.0 (p < 0.05). From fluorescence Excitation Emissions Matrices analysis, buried streams were found to have significantly altered C quality, showing less labile dissolved organic matter. Furthermore, buried streams had significantly lower transient storage (TS) and water temperatures. Differences in NO3 − uptake, GPP, and ER in buried streams, were primarily explained by decreased TS, light availability, and C quality, respectively. At the watershed scale, we estimate that stream burial decreases NO3 − uptake by 39 % and C production by 194 %. Overall, our results suggest that stream burial significantly impacts NO3 − uptake, stream metabolism, and the quality of organic C exported from watersheds. Given the large impacts of stream burial on stream ecosystem processes, daylighting or de-channelization of streams, through hydrologic floodplain reconnection, may have the potential to alter ecosystem functions in urban watersheds, when used appropriately.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by EPA NNEMS Award 2010-309, the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. DGE-1144243, NSF Awards DBI 0640300 and CBET 1058502, NASA grant NASA NNX11AM28G, Maryland Sea Grant Awards SA7528085-U, R/WS-2 and NA05OAR4171042, and Baltimore Ecosystem Study LTER project (NSF DEB-0423476). We thank Kevin Danaher, Kevin Magerr, Evan Smith and Benjamin Wu for field assistance. Tammy Newcomer and Rose Smith provided help in the field and helpful comments on a previous version of the manuscript. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, through its Office of Research and Development, funded and managed, or partially funded and collaborated in, the research described herein. It has been subjected to the Agency’s administrative review and has been approved for external publication. Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author (s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency, therefore, no official endorsement should be inferred. Any mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine-Estuarine Environmental Studies Department, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, 21250, USA

    Michael J. Pennino

  2. Department of Geology and Earth Systems Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20740, USA

    Sujay S. Kaushal

  3. National Risk Management Laboratory, US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, OH, 45268, USA

    Jake J. Beaulieu

  4. Western Ecology Division, US EPA, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA

    Paul M. Mayer

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA, 98926, USA

    Clay P. Arango

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  1. Michael J. Pennino
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  2. Sujay S. Kaushal
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  3. Jake J. Beaulieu
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  4. Paul M. Mayer
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Correspondence to Michael J. Pennino.

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Pennino, M.J., Kaushal, S.S., Beaulieu, J.J. et al. Effects of urban stream burial on nitrogen uptake and ecosystem metabolism: implications for watershed nitrogen and carbon fluxes. Biogeochemistry 121, 247–269 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-014-9958-1

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