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Relative importance of P and N in macrophyte and epilithic algae biomass in a wastewater-impacted oligotrophic river

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Abstract

The role of nutrient loading on biomass growth in wastewater-impacted rivers is important in order to effectively optimize wastewater treatment to avoid excessive biomass growth in the receiving water body. This paper directly relates wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent nutrients (including ammonia (NH3-N), nitrate (NO3-N) and total phosphorus (TP)) to the temporal and spatial distribution of epilithic algae and macrophyte biomass in an oligotrophic river. Annual macrophyte biomass, epilithic algae data and WWTP effluent nutrient data from 1980 to 2012 were statistically analysed. Because discharge can affect aquatic biomass growth, locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS) was used to remove the influence of river discharge from the aquatic biomass (macrophytes and algae) data before further analysis was conducted. The results from LOWESS indicated that aquatic biomass did not increase beyond site-specific threshold discharge values in the river. The LOWESS-estimated biomass residuals showed a variable response to different nutrients. Macrophyte biomass residuals showed a decreasing trend concurrent with enhanced nutrient removal at the WWTP and decreased effluent P loading, whereas epilithic algae biomass residuals showed greater response to enhanced N removal. Correlation analysis between effluent nutrient concentrations and the biomass residuals (both epilithic algae and macrophytes) suggested that aquatic biomass is nitrogen limited, especially by NH3-N, at most sampling sites. The response of aquatic biomass residuals to effluent nutrient concentrations did not change with increasing distance to the WWTP but was different for P and N, allowing for additional conclusions about nutrient limitation in specific river reaches. The data further showed that the mixing process between the effluent and the river has an influence on the spatial distribution of biomass growth.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all the technical and professional staff at the city of Calgary and Alberta Environment and Parks for providing the data. The Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada Industrial Postgraduate Scholarship Program (NSERC IPS), in partnership with the city of Calgary, provided the funds to conduct this research which is greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geoscience, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N1N4, Canada

    Nadine Taube & M. Cathryn Ryan

  2. Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N1N4, Canada

    Jianxun He

  3. Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, 1700 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, V8W 2Y2,, Canada

    Caterina Valeo

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  1. Nadine Taube
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  2. Jianxun He
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  3. M. Cathryn Ryan
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Correspondence to M. Cathryn Ryan.

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Taube, N., He, J., Ryan, M.C. et al. Relative importance of P and N in macrophyte and epilithic algae biomass in a wastewater-impacted oligotrophic river. Environ Monit Assess 188, 494 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5493-y

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