Biogeochemistry

, Volume 120, Issue 1–3, pp 23–36 | Cite as

Sources of nitrate export during rain-on-snow events at forested catchments

Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Rain-on-snow (ROS) events are major drivers of nitrate (NO3-N) export from seasonally snow-covered forested catchments and may cause episodic declines in stream pH. High intensity monitoring of throughfall, snow pack and stream water draining two proximal catchments (Harp 3A and Harp 6A) with very different NO3-N export revealed that a very small percentage of ROS-induced stream discharge originates from throughfall and melting snow (new water; average = 6.4 %). However, this new water has a very high concentration of NO3-N (throughfall/snowmelt average = 498 μg/L) compared with baseflow (average = 7.3 μg/L in Harp 6A; average = 41 μg/L in Harp 3A) and as a result, throughfall and snowmelt contribute the majority of NO3-N export (average = 62 %) during ROS events. In contrast, concentrations of sulphate, dissolved organic carbon and calcium in rain and snowpack are similar to baseflow and therefore ROS-induced declines in pH (often to below pH 6.0) are attributed entirely to increases in NO3-N concentration. Differences in absolute magnitude of ROS NO3-N export between catchments are explained through differences in baseflow NO3-N concentrations. The frequency and magnitude of ROS events in this region are affected by both NO3-N deposition and winter temperature, and thus the impact of these events in the future depends on changes in both atmospheric deposition and winter climate.

Keywords

Nitrate Forested catchment Oxygen isotopes Hydrograph separation Rain-on-snow 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Shanel Raney, Matt Maloney, Denis Sweeney, Dorothy Howard, Jean-Francois Koprivnjak and Liana Orlovskaya for field and laboratory assistance. Thank you to Jim Buttle for assistance with the hydrograph separation and snowpack modelling. Access to the Harp Lake sites was graciously facilitated by the Ontario Ministry of Environment Dorset Environmental Science Center. Funding for the project was provided by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grant to MCE and a Canada Graduate Scholarship to NJC.

References

  1. Alewell C, Gehre W (1999) Patterns of stable S isotopes in a forested catchment as indicators for biological S turnover. Biogeochemistry 47:319–333CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Brooks PD, Williams MW (1999) Snowpack controls on nitrogen cycling and export in seasonally snow-covered catchments. Hydrol Process 13:2177–2190CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Burns DA, Boyer EW, Elliott EM, Kendall C (2009) Sources and transformations of nitrate from streams draining varying land uses: evidence from dual isotope analysis. J Environ Qual 38:1149–1159CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Buttle JM (1994) Isotope hydrograph separations and rapid delivery of pre-event water from drainage basins. Prog Phys Geogr 18:16–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Buttle JM (2009) Using a temperature-based model of snow accumulation and melt to assess the long-term hydrologic behaviour of forested headwater basins in south-central Ontario. In: Proceedings of the 66th Eastern Snow Conference, p 5–71Google Scholar
  6. Campbell JL, Rustad LE, Boyer EW, Christopher SF, Driscoll CT, Fernandez IJ, Groffman PM, Houle D, Kiekbusch J, Magill AH, Mitchell MJ, Ollinger SV (2009) Consequences of climate change for biogeochemical cycling in forests of northeastern North America. Can J For Res 39:264–284CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Casson NJ, Eimers MC, Buttle JM (2010) The contribution of rain-on-snow events to nitrate export in the forested landscape of south-central Ontario, Canada. Hydrol Process 24:1985–1993Google Scholar
  8. Casson NJ, Eimers MC, Watmough SA (2012) Impact of winter warming on the timing of nutrient export from forested catchments. Hydrol Process 26:1085–1099Google Scholar
  9. Colombo SJ, McKenney DW, Lawrence KM, Gray PA (2007) Climate change projections for Ontario: practical information for policymakers and planners. Applied Research and Development Branch, Sault Ste MarieGoogle Scholar
  10. Davies TD, Brimblecombe P, Tranter M, Tsiouris S, Vincent CE, Abrahams PW, Blackwood I (1987) The removal of soluble ions from melting snowpacks. In: Seasonal Snowpacks: Processes of compositional change. NATO ASI Series G 28. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, p 337–392Google Scholar
  11. Devito KJ, Westbrook CJ, Schiff SL (1999) Nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in upland and peatland forest soils in two Canadian Shield catchments. Can J For Res 29:1793–1804CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Edwards PJ, Gregory JD, Allen HL (1999) Seasonal sulfate deposition and export patterns for a small Appalachian watershed. Water Air Soil Poll 110:137–155CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Eimers MC, Buttle JM, Watmough SA (2007) The contribution of rain-on-snow events to annual NO3–N export from a forested catchment in south-central Ontario, Canada. Appl Geochem 22:1105–1110CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Fitzhugh RD, Driscoll CT, Groffman PM, Tierney GL, Fahey TJ, Hardy JP (2001) Effects of soil freezing disturbance on soil solution nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon chemistry in a northern hardwood ecosystem. Biogeochemistry 56:215–238CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Genereux D (1998) Quantifying uncertainty in tracer-based hydrograph separations. Water Resour Res 34(4):915–919CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Holt CA, Yan ND, Somers K (2003) pH 6 as the threshold to use in critical load modelling for zooplankton community change with acidification in lakes of south-central Ontario: accounting for morphometry and geography. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 60:151–158CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Huntington TG, Richardson AD, McGuire KJ, Hayhoe K (2009) Climate and hydrological changes in the northeastern United States: recent trends and implications for forested and aquatic ecosystems. Can J For Res 39:199–212CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Jeffries DS, Snyder WS (1983) Geology and geochemistry of the Muskoka-Haliburton study area. Ontario Ministry of Environment Data Report DR 83/2, TorontoGoogle Scholar
  19. Kendall C, Silva SR, Chang CCY, Burns DA, Campbell DH, Shanley JB (1995a) Use of the δ18O and δ15N of nitrate to determine sources of nitrate in early spring runoff in forested catchments. In: IAEA, Symposium on Isotopes in Water Resources Management, Vienna, Austria, 20–24 March 1995 1, p 167–176Google Scholar
  20. Kendall C, Campbell DH, Burns DA, Shanley JB, Silva SR, Chang CCY (1995b) Tracing sources of nitrate in snowmelt runoff using the oxygen and nitrogen isotopic compositions of nitrate. In: Tonnessen KA, Williams MW, Tranter M (eds) Biogeochemistry of seasonally snow-covered catchments, vol 228. IAHS publication, Boulder, pp 339–347Google Scholar
  21. Kothawala DN, Watmough SA, Futter MN, Zhang L, Dillon PJ (2011) Stream nitrate responds rapidly to decreasing nitrate deposition. Ecosystems 14:274–286CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Mitchell MJ, Driscoll CT, Kahl JS, Murdoch PS, Pardo LH (1996) Climatic control of nitrate loss from forested watersheds in the northeast United States. Environ Sci Technol 30:2609–2612CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. O’Connor EM, Dillon PJ, Molot LA, Creed IF (2009) Modelling dissolved organic carbon mass balances for lakes of the Muskoka river watershed. Hydrol Res 40:273–290CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Ohte N, Sebestyen SD, Shanley JB, Doctor DH, Kendall C, Wankel SD, Boyer EW (2004) Tracing sources of nitrate in snowmelt runoff using a high-resolution isotopic technique. Geophys Res Lett 31:L21506CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Pardo LH, Kendall C, Pett-Ridge J, Chang CCY (2004) Evaluating the source of streamwater nitrate using delta N-15 and delta O-18 in nitrate in two watersheds in New Hampshire, USA. Hydrol Process 18:2699–2712CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Pellerin BA, Saraceno JF, Shanley JB, Sebestyen SD, Aiken GR, Wollheim WM, Bergamaschi BA (2012) Taking the pulse of snowmelt: in situ sensors reveal seasonal, event and diurnal patterns of nitrate and dissolved organic matter variability in an upland forest stream. Biogeochemistry 108:183–198CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Piatek KB, Mitchell MJ, Silva SR, Kendall C (2005) Sources of nitrate in snowmelt discharge: evidence from water chemistry and stable isotopes of nitrate. Water Air Soil Pollut 165:13–35CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Richardson MC (2012) Contributions of streamflow variability, concentration–discharge shifts and forested wetlands to terrestrial–aquatic solute export in Precambrian Shield headwater catchments. Ecohydrol 5:561–596CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Scheider WA, Logan LA, Geobel MJ (1983) A comparison of two models to predict snowmelt in Muskoka-Haliburton, Ontario. In: Proceedings of 40th the Eastern Snow Conference, vol 28. p 157–168Google Scholar
  30. Schiff SL, Devito KJ, Elgood RJ, McCrindle PM, Spoelstra J, Dillon PJ (2002) Two adjacent forested catchments: dramatically different NO3 − export. Water Resour Res 38(12):1292. doi: 10.1029/2000WR000170 Google Scholar
  31. Sebestyen SD, Boyer EW, Shanley JB, Kendall C, Doctor DH, Aiken GR, Ohte N (2008) Sources, transformations, and hydrological processes that control stream nitrate and dissolved organic matter concentrations during snowmelt in an upland forest. Water Resour Res 44:W12410Google Scholar
  32. Semkin RG, Jeffries DS (1998) Chemistry of atmospheric deposition, the snowpack and snowmelt in the Turkey Lakes Watershed. Can J Fish Aq Sci 45:38–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Soil Classification Working Group (1998) The Canadian system of soil classification Publ. 1646 (Revisted):187Google Scholar
  34. Watmough SA, Dillon PJ (2003) Base cation and nitrogen budgets for a mixed hardwood catchment in South-Central Ontario. Ecosystems 6:675–693CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Watmough SA, Aherne J, Alewell C, Arp P, Bailey S, Clair T, Dillon PJ, Duchesne L, Eimers MC, Fernandez I, Foster N, Larseen T, Miller E, Mitchell MJ, Page S (2005) Sulphate, nitrogen and base cation budgets at 21 forested catchments in Canada, the United States and Europe. Environ Monitor Assess 109:1–36CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Williams MW, Brooks PD, Mosier A, Tonnessen KA (1996) Mineral nitrogen transformations in and under seasonal snow in a high-elevation catchment in the Rocky Mountains, United States. Water Resour Res 32(10):3161–3171. doi: 10.1029/96WR02240 Google Scholar
  37. Ye H, Yang D, Robinson D (2008) Winter rain on snow and its association with air temperature in northern Eurasia. Hydrol Process 22:2728–2736CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate ProgramTrent UniversityPeterboroughCanada
  2. 2.Department of GeographyTrent UniversityPeterboroughCanada
  3. 3.Environmental and Resource StudiesTrent UniversityPeterboroughCanada

Personalised recommendations