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Quantifying in-stream retention of nitrate at catchment scales using a practical mass balance approach

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Abstract

As field data on in-stream nitrate retention is scarce at catchment scales, this study aimed at quantifying net retention of nitrate within the entire river network of a fourth-order stream. For this purpose, a practical mass balance approach combined with a Lagrangian sampling scheme was applied and seasonally repeated to estimate daily in-stream net retention of nitrate for a 17.4 km long, agriculturally influenced, segment of the Steinlach River in southwestern Germany. This river segment represents approximately 70 % of the length of the main stem and about 32 % of the streambed area of the entire river network. Sampling days in spring and summer were biogeochemically more active than in autumn and winter. Results obtained for the main stem of Steinlach River were subsequently extrapolated to the stream network in the catchment. It was demonstrated that, for baseflow conditions in spring and summer, in-stream nitrate retention could sum up to a relevant term of the catchment’s nitrogen balance if the entire stream network was considered.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank J. H. Fleckenstein for helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. This work was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts of Baden-Württemberg (AZ Zu 33–721.3-2) and the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research, Leipzig (UFZ). The study was also supported by the EU FP7 Collaborative Project GLOBAQUA (Grant Agreement no 603629).

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  1. Benny Selle

    Present address: Department III - Civil Engineering and Geoinformation, Beuth University of Applied Sciences, Luxemburger Str. 10, 13353, Berlin, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Water & Earth System Science (WESS) Competence Cluster, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany

    Marc Schwientek

  2. Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 24-25, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany

    Benny Selle

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  1. Marc Schwientek
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Correspondence to Benny Selle.

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Schwientek, M., Selle, B. Quantifying in-stream retention of nitrate at catchment scales using a practical mass balance approach. Environ Monit Assess 188, 111 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5097-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5097-6

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