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Riverine nitrogen export in Swedish catchments dominated by atmospheric inputs

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Abstract

We present the first estimates of net anthropogenic nitrogen input (NANI) in European boreal catchments. In Swedish catchments, nitrogen (N) deposition is a major N input (31–94%). Hence, we used two different N deposition inputs to calculate NANI for 36 major Swedish catchments. The relationship between riverine N export and NANI was strongest when using only oxidized deposition (NOy) as atmospheric input (r2 = 0.70) rather than total deposition (i.e., both oxidized and reduced nitrogen, NOy + NHx deposition, r2 = 0.62). The y-intercept (NANI = 0) for the NANI calculated with NOy is significantly different from zero (p = 0.0042*) and indicates a background flux from the catchment of some 100 kg N km−2 year−1 in addition to anthropogenic inputs. This agrees with similar results from North American boreal catchments. The slope of the linear regressions was 0.25 for both N deposition inputs (NOy and NOy + NHx), suggesting that on average, 25% of the anthropogenic N inputs is exported by rivers to the Baltic Sea. Agricultural catchments in central and southern Sweden have increased their riverine N export up to tenfold compared to the inferred background flux. Although the relatively unperturbed northernmost catchments receive significant N loads from atmospheric deposition, these catchments do not show significantly elevated riverine N export. The fact that nitrogen export in Swedish catchments appears to be higher in proportion to NANI at higher loads suggests that N retention may be saturating as loading rates increase. In northern and western Sweden the export of nitrogen is largely controlled by the hydraulic load, i.e., the riverine discharge normalized by water surface area, which has units of distance time−1. Besides hydraulic load the percent total forest cover also affects the nitrogen export primarily in the northern and western catchments.

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Abbreviations

BB:

Bothnian Bay

BP:

Baltic proper

BS:

Bothnian Sea

EMEP:

Co-operative programme for monitoring and evaluation of the long-range transmission of air pollutants in Europe; http://www.emep.int

EU:

European Union

FAO:

Food and agriculture organization of the United Nations; http://www.fao.org

HL:

Hydraulic load i.e., the average annual riverine flow per unit surface area of waters in the catchment

KT:

Kattegat

N:

Nitrogen

NANI:

Net anthropogenic nitrogen input

NOy :

Oxidized nitrogen deposition i.e., NO, NO2, HNO3, NO3 − and Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN)

NHx :

Reduced nitrogen deposition i.e., NH3, NH4 +

TN:

Total nitrogen

WFD:

Water framework directive

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Acknowledgments

We thank the EU BONUS plus project RECOCA (http://www.bonusportal.org) for financing this study. Further we extent our gratitude Elisabeth W. Boyer and Penny Johnes for help with the data calculation spreadsheets and for sharing their knowledge in budget calculations. The authors also express their gratitude to Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, SLU, Sweden for kindly providing river load data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Baltic Nest Institute (BNI), Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden

    H. Eriksson Hägg, C. Humborg & C.-M. Mörth

  2. Department of Geology and Geochemistry, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    H. Eriksson Hägg & C. Humborg

  3. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    D. P. Swaney

  4. Department of Applied Environmental Science (ITM), Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    C.-M. Mörth

Authors
  1. H. Eriksson Hägg
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  2. C. Humborg
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  3. D. P. Swaney
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  4. C.-M. Mörth
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Correspondence to H. Eriksson Hägg.

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Eriksson Hägg, H., Humborg, C., Swaney, D.P. et al. Riverine nitrogen export in Swedish catchments dominated by atmospheric inputs. Biogeochemistry 111, 203–217 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-011-9634-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-011-9634-7

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