Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Control of nitrogen and phosphorus transport by reservoirs in agricultural landscapes

Biogeochemistry volume 124, pages 417–439 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Reservoirs often receive excess nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) lost from agricultural land, and may subsequently influence N and P delivery to inland and coastal waters through internal processes such as nutrient burial, denitrification, and nutrient turnover. Currently there is a need to better understand how reservoirs affect nutrient transport in agricultural landscapes, where few prior studies have provided joint views on the variation in net retention/loss among reservoirs, the role of reservoirs apart from natural lakes, and differences in effects on N versus P, especially over time frames >1 year. To address these needs, we compiled water quality data from many rivers in intermediate-to-large drainages of the Midwestern US, including tributaries to the Upper Mississippi River, Great Lakes, and Ohio River Basins, where cropland often covers >50 % of the contributing area. Incorporating 18 years of data (1990–2007), effects of reservoirs on river nutrient transport were examined using comparisons between reservoir outflow sites and unimpeded river sites (N = 869, including 100 reservoir outflow sites) supported by mass balance analysis of individual reservoirs (n = 17). Reservoir outflows sites commonly had 20 % lower annual yields (mass per catchment area per year) of total N and total P (TP) than unimpeded rivers after accounting for cropland coverage. Reservoir outflow sites also had lower interannual variability in TP yields. The mass balance approach confirmed net N losses in reservoirs, suggesting denitrification of agricultural N, or N burial in sediments. Net retention of P ranged more widely, and multiple systems showed net P export, providing new evidence that legacy P within reservoir systems may mobilize over the long-term. Our results indicate that reservoirs broadly influence the downstream transport of N and P through agricultural river networks, including networks where natural lakes and wetlands are relatively scarce. This calls for a more complete understanding of agricultural reservoirs as open, connected features of river networks where biogeochemical processes are often influential to downstream water quality, but potentially sensitive to changes associated with sedimentation, eutrophication, infrastructure aging, and reservoir management.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

References

  • Akaike H (1974) A new look at the statistical model identification. IEEE Trans Autom Control Ac19:716–723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander RB, Smith RA, Schwarz GE (2000) Effect of stream channel size on the delivery of nitrogen to the Gulf of Mexico. Nature 403:758–761

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartrons M, Papes M, Diebel MW, Gratton C, Vander Zanden MJ (2013) Regional-level inputs of emergent aquatic insects from water to land. Ecosystems 16:1353–1363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernot MJ, Dodds WK (2005) Nitrogen retention, removal, and saturation in lotic ecosystems. Ecosystems 8:442–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosch NS, Allan JD (2008) The influence of impoundments on nutrient budgets in two catchments of Southeastern Michigan. Biogeochemistry 87:325–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brett MT, Benjamin MM (2008) A review and reassessment of lake phosphorus retention and the nutrient loading concept. Freshw Biol 53:194–211

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown JB, Sprague LA, Dupree JA (2011) Nutrient sources and transport in the Missouri River basin, with emphasis on the effects of irrigation and reservoirs. J Am Water Resour Assoc 47:1034–1060

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruesewitz DA, Tank JL, Hamilton SK (2012) Incorporating spatial variation of nitrification and denitrification rates into whole-lake nitrogen dynamics. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 117:1–12

  • Carpenter SR (2005) Eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems: bistability and soil phosphorus. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:10002–10005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter SR, Bennett EM (2011) Reconsideration of the planetary boundary for phosphorus. Environ Res Lett 6:014009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole JJ, Prairie YT, Caraco NF, McDowell WH, Tranvik LJ, Striegl RG, Duarte CM, Kortelainen P, Downing JA, Middelburg JJ, Melack J (2007) Plumbing the global carbon cycle: integrating inland waters into the terrestrial carbon budget. Ecosystems 10:171–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook PLM, Wenzhofer F, Rysgaard S, Galaktionov OS, Meysman FJR, Eyre BD, Cornwell J, Huettel M, Glud RN (2006) Quantification of denitrification in permeable sediments: insights from a two-dimensional simulation analysis and experimental data. Limnol Oceanogr Methods 4:294–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • David MB, Wall LG, Royer TV, Tank JL (2006) Denitrification and the nitrogen budget of a reservoir in an agricultural landscape. Ecol Appl 16:2177–2190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dendy FE (1968) Sedimentation in the nation’s reservoirs. J Soil Water Conserv 23:135–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Dillon PJ, Evans HE (1993) A comparison of phosphorus retention in lakes determined from mass balance and sediment core calculations. Water Res 27:659–668

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dillon PJ, Evans RD, Molot LA (1990) Retention and resuspension of phosphorus, nitrogen, and iron in a Central Ontario Lake. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 47:1269–1274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodds WK, Lopez AJ, Bowden WB, Gregory S, Grimm NB, Hamilton SK, Hershey AE, Martí E, McDowell WH, Meyer JL, Morrall D, Mulholland PJ, Peterson BJ, Tank JL, Valett HM, Webster JR, Wollheim W (2002) N uptake as a function of concentration in streams. J N Am Benthol Soc 21:206–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Downing JA, Prairie YT, Cole JJ, Duarte CM, Tranvik LJ, Striegl RG, McDowell WH, Kortelainen P, Caraco NF, Melack JM, Middelburg JJ (2006) The global abundance and size distribution of lakes, ponds, and impoundments. Limnol Oceanogr 51:2388–2397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Downing JA, Cole JJ, Middelburg JJ, Striegl RG, Duarte CM, Kortelainen P, Prairie YT, Laube KA (2008) Sediment organic carbon burial in agriculturally eutrophic impoundments over the last century. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 22:GB1018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Essington TE, Carpenter SR (2000) Nutrient cycling in lakes and streams: insights from a comparative analysis. Ecosystems 3:131–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finlay JC, Small GE, Sterner RW (2013) Human influences on nitrogen removal in lakes. Science 342:247–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher SG, Likens GE (1973) Energy flow in Bear Brook, New Hampshire—integrative approach to stream ecosystem metabolism. Ecol Monogr 43:421–439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goolsby DA, Battaglin WA (2001) Long-term changes in concentrations and flux of nitrogen in the Mississippi River Basin, USA. Hydrol Process 15:1209–1226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graf WL, Wohl E, Sinha T, Sabo JL (2010) Sedimentation and sustainability of western American reservoirs. Water Resour Res 46:W12535

    Google Scholar 

  • Grantz EM, Kogo A, Scott JT (2012) Partitioning whole-lake denitrification using in situ dinitrogen gas accumulation and intact sediment core experiments. Limnol Oceanogr 57:925–935

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grantz EM, Haggard BE, Scott JT (2014) Stoichiometric imbalance in rates of nitrogen and phosphorus retention, storage, and recycling can perpetuate nitrogen deficiency in highly-productive reservoirs. Limnol Oceanogr 59:2203–2216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton SK (2012) Biogeochemical time lags may delay responses of streams to ecological restoration. Freshw Biol 57:43–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanson GC, Groffman PM, Gold AJ (1994) Denitrification in riparian wetlands receiving high and low groundwater nitrate inputs. J Environ Qual 23:917–922

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison JA, Maranger RJ, Alexander RB, Giblin AE, Jacinthe PA, Mayorga E, Seitzinger SP, Sobota DJ, Wollheim WM (2009) The regional and global significance of nitrogen removal in lakes and reservoirs. Biogeochemistry 93:143–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedin LO, von Fischer JC, Ostrom NE, Kennedy BP, Brown MG, Robertson GP (1998) Thermodynamic constraints on nitrogen transformations and other biogeochemical processes at soil–stream interfaces. Ecology 79:684–703

    Google Scholar 

  • Homer C, Dewitz J, Fry J, Coan M, Hossain N, Larson C, Herold N, McKerrow A, VanDriel JN, Wickham J (2007) Completion of the 2001 national land cover database for the conterminous United States. Photogramm Eng Remote Sens 73:337–341

    Google Scholar 

  • Howarth RW, Billen G, Swaney D, Townsend A, Jaworski N, Lajtha K, Downing JA, Elmgren R, Caraco N, Jordan T, Berendse F, Freney J, Kudeyarov V, Murdoch P, Zhu ZL (1996) Regional nitrogen budgets and riverine N&P fluxes for the drainages to the North Atlantic Ocean: natural and human influences. Biogeochemistry 35:75–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordan SJ, Stoffer J, Nestlerode JA (2011) Wetlands as sinks for reactive nitrogen at continental to global scales: a meta-analysis. Ecosystems 14:144–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kadlec RH, Wallace SD (2009) Treatment wetlands. CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Koiv T, Noges T, Laas A (2011) Phosphorus retention as a function of external loading, hydraulic turnover time, area and relative depth in 54 lakes and reservoirs. Hydrobiologia 660:105–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magnuson JJ (1990) Long-term ecological research and the invisible present—uncovering the processes hidden because they occur slowly or because effects lag years behind causes. Bioscience 40:495–501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald CP, Rover JA, Stets EG, Striegl RG (2012) The regional abundance and size distribution of lakes and reservoirs in the United States and implications for estimates of global lake extent. Limnol Oceanogr 57:597–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monfreda C, Ramankutty N, Foley JA (2008) Farming the planet: 2. Geographic distribution of crop areas, yields, physiological types, and net primary production in the year 2000. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 22:GB1022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulholland PJ, Helton AM, Poole GC, Hall RO, Hamilton SK, Peterson BJ, Tank JL, Ashkenas LR, Cooper LW, Dahm CN, Dodds WK, Findlay SEG, Gregory SV, Grimm NB, Johnson SL, McDowell WH, Meyer JL, Valett HM, Webster JR, Arango CP, Beaulieu JJ, Bernot MJ, Burgin AJ, Crenshaw CL, Johnson LT, Niederlehner BR, O’Brien JM, Potter JD, Sheibley RW, Sobota DJ, Thomas SM (2008) Stream denitrification across biomes and its response to anthropogenic nitrate loading. Nature 452:202–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nowlin WH, Evarts JL, Vanni MJ (2005) Release rates and potential fates of nitrogen and phosphorus from sediments in a eutrophic reservoir. Freshw Biol 50:301–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien JM, Dodds WK (2010) Saturation of NO3 − uptake in prairie streams as a function of acute and chronic N exposure. J N Am Benthol Soc 29:627–635

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmieri A, Shah F, Dinar A (2001) Economics of reservoir sedimentation and sustainable management of dams. J Environ Manag 61:149–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Persson J, Somes NLG, Wong THF (1999) Hydraulics efficiency of constructed wetlands and ponds. Water Sci Technol 40:291–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powers SM, Johnson AH, Stanley EH (2012) Nutrient retention and the problem of hydrologic disconnection in streams and wetlands. Ecosystems 15:435–449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powers SM, Julian JP, Doyle MW, Stanley EH (2013) Retention and transport of nutrients in a mature agricultural impoundment. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 118:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powers SM, Robertson DM, Stanley EH (2014) Effects of lakes and reservoirs on annual export of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment in agricultural and forested landscapes. Hydrol Process 28:5919–5937

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Renwick WH, Smith SV, Bartley JD, Buddemeier RW (2005) The role of impoundments in the sediment budget of the conterminous United States. Geomorphology 71:99–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Risgaard-Petersen N, Skarup S, Nielsen LP (1999) Denitrification in a soft bottom lake: evaluation of laboratory incubations. Aquat Microb Ecol 17:279–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson DM, Saad DA (2011) Nutrient inputs to the Laurentian Great Lakes by sources and watershed estimated using SPARROW watershed models. J Am Water Resour Assoc 47:1011–1033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson DM, Saad DA (2013) SPARROW models used to understand nutrient sources in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin. J Environ Qual 42:1422–1440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saad DA, Schwarz GE, Robertson DM, Booth NL (2011) A multi-agency nutrient dataset used to estimate loads, improve monitoring design, and calibrate regional nutrient SPARROW models. J Am Water Resour Assoc 47:933–949

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders DL, Kalff J (2001) Denitrification rates in the sediments of Lake Memphremagog, Canada–USA. Water Res 35:1897–1904

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schindler DW (1980) The effect of fertilization with phosphorus and nitrogen versus phosphorus alone on eutrophication of experimental lakes. Limnol Oceanogr 25:1149–1152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz GE, Hoos AB, Alexander RB, Smith RA (2006) The SPARROW surface water-quality model: theory, application, and user documentation. U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods Report, 6-B3

  • Seitzinger SP, Styles RV, Boyer EW, Alexander RB, Billen G, Howarth RW, Mayer B, Van Breemen N (2002) Nitrogen retention in rivers: model development and application to watersheds in the northeastern USA. Biogeochemistry 57:199–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharpley A, Jarvie HP, Buda A, May L, Spears B, Kleinman P (2013) Phosphorus legacy: overcoming the effects of past management practices to mitigate future water quality impairment. J Environ Qual 42:1308–1326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shostell J, Bukaveckas PA (2004) Seasonal and interannual variation in nutrient fluxes from tributary inputs, consumer recycling and algal growth in a eutrophic river impoundment. Aquat Ecol 38:359–373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RA, Schwarz GE, Alexander RB (1997) Regional interpretation of water-quality monitoring data. Water Resour Res 33:2781–2798

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith SV, Renwick WH, Bartley JD, Buddemeier RW (2002) Distribution and significance of small, artificial water bodies across the United States landscape. Sci Total Environ 299:21–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith SV, Swaney DP, Talaue-McManus L, Bartley JD, Sandhei PT, McLaughlin CJ, Dupra VC, Crossland CJ, Buddemeier RW, Maxwell BA, Wulff F (2003) Humans, hydrology, and the distribution of inorganic nutrient loading to the ocean. Bioscience 53:235–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soranno PA, Carpenter RC, Lathrop RC (1997) Internal phosphorus loading in Lake Mendota: response to external loads and weather. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 54:1883–1893

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stenback GA, Crumpton WG, Schilling KE, Helmers MJ (2011) Rating curve estimation of nutrient loads in Iowa rivers. J Hydrol 396:158–169

  • Straskraba M, Tundisi JG, Duncan A (1993) Comparative reservoir limnology and water quality management. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Teodoru C, Wehrli B (2005) Retention of sediments and nutrients in the Iron Gate I Reservoir on the Danube River. Biogeochemistry 76:539–565

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornton KW, Kimmel BL, Payne FE (1990) Reservoir limnology: ecological perspectives. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner RE, Rabalais NN, Justic D, Dortch Q (2003) Global patterns of dissolved N, P and Si in large rivers. Biogeochemistry 64:297–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • USACE (2013) In: Engineers USACo (ed) National inventory of dams. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

  • Wall LG, Tank JL, Royer TV, Bernot MJ (2005) Spatial and temporal variability in sediment denitrification within an agriculturally influenced reservoir. Biogeochemistry 76:85–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wetzel RG (2001) Limnology: lake and river ecosystems. Academic, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Wollheim WM, Vorosmarty CJ, Bouwman AF, Green P, Harrison J, Linder E, Peterson BJ, Seitzinger SP, Syvitski JPM (2008) Global N removal by freshwater aquatic systems using a spatially distributed, within-basin approach. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 22:GB2026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wurtsbaugh WA, Baker MA, Gross HP, Brown PD (2005) Lakes as nutrient “sources” for watersheds: a landscape analysis of the temporal flux of nitrogen through subalpine lakes and streams. Verh Int Ver Limnol 29:645–649

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative (ND-ECI). We also thank the numerous personnel of the U.S. Geological Survey and partner State agencies who have helped collect and compile discharge and water quality records over the years.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Change Initiative, University of Notre Dame, 1400 East Angela Boulevard, Unit 117, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA

    S. M. Powers & J. L. Tank

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 192 Galvin Hall, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA

    J. L. Tank

  3. Wisconsin Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, 8505 Research Way, Middleton, WI, 53562, USA

    D. M. Robertson

Authors
  1. S. M. Powers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. L. Tank
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. D. M. Robertson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. M. Powers.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: James Sickman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Powers, S.M., Tank, J.L. & Robertson, D.M. Control of nitrogen and phosphorus transport by reservoirs in agricultural landscapes. Biogeochemistry 124, 417–439 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0106-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0106-3

Keywords

search

Navigation