The Water Quality Consequences of Restoring Wetland Hydrology to a Large Agricultural Watershed in the Southeastern Coastal Plain

To ameliorate local and coastal eutrophication, management agencies are increasingly turning to wetland restoration. A large portion of restoration is occurring in areas that were drained for agriculture. To recover wetland function these areas must be reflooded and disturbances to soils, including high nutrient content due to past fertilizer use, loss of organic matter and soil compaction, must be reversed. Here, we quantified nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) retention and transformation in a unique large-scale (440 ha) restored wetland in the North Carolina coastal plain, the Timberlake Restoration Project (TLRP). For 2 years following restoration, we quantified water and nutrient budgets for this former agricultural field. We anticipated that TLRP would export high concentrations of inorganic P immediately following reflooding, while retaining or transforming inorganic N. In the first 2 years after a return to the precipitation and wind-driven hydrology, TLRP retained or transformed 97% of NO₃–N, 32% of TDN, 25% of NH₄–N, and 53% of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) delivered from inflows and precipitation, while exporting 20% more dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), and 13% more total P (inorganic, organic, and particulate P) than inputs. Areal mass retention rates of N and P at TLRP were low compared to other restored wetlands; however, the site efficiently retained pulses of fertilizer NO₃–N derived from an upstream farm. This capacity for retaining N pulses indicates that the potential nutrient removal capacity of TLRP is much higher than measured annual rates. Our results illustrate the importance of considering both organic and inorganic forms of N and P when assessing the benefits of wetland restoration. We suggest that for wetland restoration to be an efficient tool in the amelioration of coastal eutrophication a better understanding of the coupled movement of the various forms of N and P is necessary.     

Changes in Nutrient Loading in an Agricultural Watershed and Its Effects on Water Quality and Stream Biota

Non-point-sources of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are recognized as major causes of eutrophication of surface waters. Adoption of policies to reduce pollution in the former German Democratic Republic following re-unification of Germany in 1990 provided an opportunity to examine how taking agricultural land out of production affected nutrient loads and aquatic biota in a small rural watershed. Between 1994 and 1996, soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) loads in a first-order agricultural stream decreased by >90% while instream concentrations decreased by 89% for DIN and 40% for SRP. This reduction in nutrients coincided with a decrease in precipitation (from 760 to 440 mm between 1994 and 1996) and an increase in the area of land set aside from agricultural production (from 0.3% in 1990 to a maximum of 8% in 1994). The biomass of primary producers (episammic algae) showed no clear response to this decrease in nutrient concentrations. However, benthic invertebrate composition shifted from a chironomid–amphipod to an oligochaete–gastropod dominated community in response to the decrease in DIN and changes in episammic algal abundance and sediment organic carbon concentrations. Results from our 4-year study showed reductions in soil nutrient losses combined with less precipitation resulted in less P and N in a rural stream and a change in benthic invertebrate community composition and abundance.     

The Influence of Land Use on Lake Nutrients Varies with Watershed Transport Capacity

Nutrient loading to lakes depends on both the availability of nutrients in a watershed and their potential for movement to a lake. Many studies have demonstrated that variation in watershed land use can translate to differences in lake water quality by affecting nutrient availability. There have been few attempts, however, to understand how loading to surface waters is affected by land use when there are differences in watershed transport capacity. We compared the relationship between land use/cover and lake nutrients in lakes draining watersheds that exhibited high and low transport capacity using a 5 year (2001–2005) dataset describing the chemistry of 101 lakes and reservoirs in a region of intensive agriculture. We measured watershed transport capacity by compositing the hydrologic, geologic, and topographic variables correlated with interannual variability in lake total nitrogen (TN) or phosphorus (TP) because the hydrologic permeability of watersheds amplifies downstream responses to rainfall events. Factors describing watershed transport capacity differed for TN and TP, consistent with differences in nutrient mobility and biogeochemistry. Partial least squares regression revealed that watershed transport capacity influenced the nature of the association between land use/cover and lake chemistry. In watersheds with low transport capacity, in-lake processes and near-shore land use/cover tended to be more influential, whereas, in watersheds with high transport capacity, land use/cover across the entire watershed was important for explaining lake chemistry. Thus, although land use is a key driver of nutrient loading to lakes, the extent to which it influences water quality can vary with watershed transport capacity. JMF conceived the study and analyzed the data. JAD collected the data. JMF and JAD wrote the paper.     

Agricultural Landscape Transformation Needed to Meet Water Quality Goals in the Yahara River Watershed of Southern Wisconsin

Ecosystems - Balancing agricultural production with other ecosystem services is a vexing challenge. The Yahara River watershed in southern Wisconsin is a place where tensions among farmers,...     

Effects of Land Use,Topography and Socio-Economic Factors on River Water Quality in a Mountainous Watershed with Intensive Agricultural Production in East China

Understanding the primary effects of anthropogenic activities and natural factors on river water quality is important in the study and efficient management of water resources. In this study, analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Principal component analysis (PCA), Pearson correlations, Multiple regression analysis (MRA) and Redundancy analysis (RDA) were applied as an integrated approach in a GIS environment to explore the temporal and spatial variations in river water quality and to estimate the influence of watershed land use, topography and socio-economic factors on river water quality based on 3 years of water quality monitoring data for the Cao-E River system. The statistical analysis revealed that TN, pH and temperature were generally higher in the rainy season, whereas BOD₅, DO and turbidity were higher in the dry season. Spatial variations in river water quality were related to numerous anthropogenic and natural factors. Urban land use was found to be the most important explanatory variable for BOD₅, COD_Mn, TN, DN, NH₄⁺-N, NO₃⁻-N, DO, pH and TP. The animal husbandry output per capita was an important predictor of TP and turbidity, and the gross domestic product per capita largely determined spatial variations in EC. The remaining unexplained variance was related to other factors, such as topography. Our results suggested that pollution control of animal waste discharge in rural settlements, agricultural runoff in cropland, industrial production pollution and domestic pollution in urban and industrial areas were important within the Cao-E River basin. Moreover, the percentage of the total overall river water quality variance explained by an individual variable and/or all environmental variables (according to RDA) can assist in quantitatively identifying the primary factors that control pollution at the watershed scale.     

The Role of Fish Communities in Water Quality Management of a Large Shallow Lake

Management measures of Lake Balaton such as wetland reconstruction at the main inflow to the lake along with the “unplanned” commercial fishery led to great changes in the density and biomass of fish populations. There was no significant difference in CPUE data between the two, eastern and western, basins. Biomass of total fish stock in Lake Balaton has decreased substantially, 2–3 times between 1991–1999, and ranges between 120–194 kg ha⁻¹. Bottom‐up effects are more important than the top‐down effects due to the impact of internal nutrient load. Changes in the biomass and thus the activity of omnivorous fish in the lake lowered the intensity of various indirect effects and feedback mechanisms causing changes in the nutrient metabolism of the lake. Intensified fishery effort in Lake Balaton did not result in an increased stock of piscivores. The ratio of piscivores and omnivores remained at 5% during the whole study period. Despite this low piscivores to omnivores ratio, the water quality has improved in all basins.     

Agricultural Risk Factors Influence Microbial Ecology in Honghu Lake

Agricultural activities, including stock-farming, planting industry, and fish aquaculture,can affect the physicochemical and biological characters of freshwater lakes. However, the effects of pollution producing by agricultural activities on microbial ecosystem of lakes remain unclear.Hence, in this work, we selected Honghu Lake as a typical lake that is influenced by agriculture activities. We collected water and sediment samples from 18 sites, which span a wide range of areas from impacted and less-impacted areas. We performed a geospatial analysis on the composition of microbial communities associated with physicochemical properties and antibiotic pollution of samples. The co-occurrence networks of water and sediment were also built and analyzed. Our results showed that the microbial communities of impacted and less-impacted samples of water were largely driven by the concentrations of TN, TP, NO_3^--N, and NO_2^--N, while those of sediment were affected by the concentrations of Sed-OM and Sed-TN. Antibiotics have also played important roles in shaping these microbial communities: the concentrations of oxytetracycline and tetracycline clearly reflected the variance in taxonomic diversity and predicted functional diversity between impacted and less-impacted sites in water and sediment samples, respectively. Furthermore, for samples from both water and sediment, large differences of network topology structures between impacted and less-impacted were also observed. Our results provide compelling evidence that the microbial community can be used as a sentinel of eutrophication and antibiotics pollution risk associated with agricultural activity; and that proper monitoring of this environment is vital to maintain a sustainable environment in Honghu Lake.     

Causal Connections between Water Quality and Land Use in a Rural Tropical Island Watershed

We examined associations between riparian canopy cover, presence or absence of cattle, rainfall, solar radiation, month of year, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, salinity, and Enterococcus concentrations in riparian surface soils with Enterococcus geometric mean in-stream water concentrations at Waipā watershed on the north side of the Hawaiian island Kaua’i. Each 1% decrease in riparian canopy cover was associated with a 4.6 most probable number (MPN)/100 ml increase of the geometric mean of Enterococcus in stream water (P < 0.05). Each unit decrease in salinity (ppt) was associated with an increase of Enterococcus by 68.2 MPN/100 ml in-stream water geometric mean concentrations (P < 0.05). Month of year was also associated with increases in stream water Enterococcus geometric mean concentrations (P < 0.05). Reducing riparian canopy cover is associated with Enterococcus increases in stream water, suggesting that decreasing riparian vegetation density could increase fecal bacteria surface runoff.     

香溪河流域浮游植物调查与水质评价

报道了1996年10月～1997年7月和2003年对香溪河流域浮游植物2周年的调查结果。数据显示,香溪河流域的浮游植物主要由硅藻、绿藻和蓝藻组成。1996-1997年硅藻的种类最多,绿藻次之,蓝藻居第3位;2003年绿藻的种类数跃居首位,硅藻次之,其它藻类亦有不同程度的变化。藻类的细胞密度表现出明显的季节变化．最高、最低值分别出现在夏季和冬季。应用Margalef多样性指数和Menkinick多样性指数对香溪河流域的水质进行评价的结果显示：2003年该流域的水质营养等级为中一富营养型,水环境质量较6年前有所下降。     

问天湖水质监测及其治理对策

对武汉生物工程学院问天湖湖水的水质进行监测,其中氨氮0.03～0.19 mg/L,总磷0.08～1.01 mg/L,化学需氧量(COD)22.26～58.22 mg/L,溶解氧(DO)2.79～4.31 mg/L,pH 7.60～8.25。由监测结果可知,pH值在正常范围内,氨氮与DO达标,总磷与COD超标,问天湖水质污染原因主要是有机物污染及磷引起的富营养化现象,并对如何改善水质提出了相应的治理对策。     

Impact of Yangtze River Water Transfer on the Water Quality of the Lixia River Watershed,China

To improve water quality and reduce the negative impacts of sudden inputs of water pollution in the Lixia River watershed, China, a series of experimental water transfers from the Yangtze River to the Lixia River were conducted from 2 December 2006 to 7 January 2007. Water samples were collected every six days at 55 monitoring sites during this period. Eight water parameters (water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD), potassium permanganate index (COD_Mn), ammonia nitrogen (NH₄ ⁺-N), electrical conductivity (EC), and water transparency (WT)) were analyzed to determine changes in nutrient concentrations during water transfers. The comprehensive pollution index (Pi) and single-factor (Si) evaluation methods were applied to evaluate spatio-temporal patterns of water quality during water transfers. Water quality parameters displayed different spatial and temporal distribution patterns within the watershed. Water quality was improved significantly by the water transfers, especially for sites closer to water intake points. The degree of improvement is positively related to rates of transfer inflow and drainage outflow. The effects differed for different water quality parameters at each site and at different water transfer times. There were notable decreases in NH₄ ⁺-N, DO, COD, and COD_Mn across the entire watershed. However, positive effects on EC and pH were not observed. It is concluded that freshwater transfers from the Yangtze River can be used as an emergency measure to flush pollutants from the Lixia River watershed. Improved understanding of the effects of water transfers on water quality can help the development and implementation of effective strategies to improve water quality within this watershed.     

流域水质管理系统构建的理论、方法和实践

随着工农业的发展及乡村都市化 ,淡水资源的短缺成为全球性的问题。淡水资源的短缺 ,一方面是对淡水需求量增加 ,供不应求。另一方面是水体水质恶化 ,水资源退化。保护淡水资源是一项持久性的艰巨任务 ,其中水资源管理工具评价预测各种管理措施对水资源的影响 ,是必不可缺少的。工业和生活废水对水体的点源污染问题 ,早在2 0世纪 2 0年代就被意识到 ,并开展了一些水资源的保护和管理研究工作。自 192 5第一个水质数学模型Ｓｔｒｅｅｔｅｒ Ｐｈｅｌｐｓ[1] 用于模拟水环境中ＢＯＤ和ＤＯ的动态变化研究以来 ,出现了许多水质模型并用于河流、…     

引水后杭州西湖主要水质参数的因子分析

利用2000年西湖常规监测数据,通过聚类分析选取三个具有代表性的采样点,用因子分析方法探讨了西湖水质各个参数之间的相互影响,结果表明,西湖水质主要受水温和营养盐的影响,各水域由于所处的地理位置和受到钱塘江引水影响程度的不同又有各自的主要水质影响因子,说明引水工程对改善西湖水质具有一定的作用。     

青海湖流域生态补偿标准研究

以"3S"技术为支撑,利用影子工程法、市场价格法、费用支出法、碳税法、能量替代法和NPP模型,分析了青海湖流域生态系统的功能变化和景观结构,在生态系统服务功能价值和区域景观价值评估的基础上,首次尝试提出了青海湖流域区域生态补偿的上下限标准。初步分析了青海湖地区生态补偿的上限为841.95亿元,生态补偿的下限为250.73亿元,其结果将为青海湖流域区域生态补偿的实施提供科学依据。     

红湖水质对模型动物致突变性的研究

目的:以微核技术及精子畸变率为指示,探讨新疆大学红湖水质对模型动物致突变性作用。方法:采用小鼠嗜多染红细胞(PCE)微核率(MCN)及精子畸变率检测方法,研究红湖水质及其潜在的致突变性。结果:3个水样点的污水都能引起小白鼠嗜多染红细胞及精子细胞不同程度的遗传毒性。与对照组(自来水)喂养的小白鼠相比具有明显的差异(P<0.005)。结论:红湖水质已经被严重污染,对人体及动物具有潜在的危害。     

The C-biogeochemistry of a Midwestern USA agricultural impoundment in context: Lake Decatur in the intensively managed landscape critical zone observatory

The damming of rivers has created hotspots for organic carbon sequestration and methane production on a global scale as the reservoirs intercept fluvial suspended and dissolved loads. To better understand how the C-biogeochemistry of a reservoir responds to watershed processes and evolves over time, Lake Decatur, located in the Intensively Managed Landscape Critical Zone Observatory (IML-CZO) was studied. Solid phase analyses (% organic C, C/N, δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) of soils and sediments sampled from stream bank exposures, river suspensions, and the lake bottom were conducted to characterize organic C (OC) sources throughout the sedimentary system. Agriculturally-driven soil erosion rapidly altered lake bathymetry causing an evolution of sedimentary and OC deposition patterns, which in turn shaped where and when methane production occurred. A positive correlation between OC accumulation rate and porewater dissolved inorganic C (DIC) δ¹³C profiles indicates that methane generation is strongly influenced by OC burial rate. The sources of the lake bed particulate organic C (POC) have also evolved over time. Drowned vegetation and/or shoreline inputs were dominant initially in areas adjacent to the original river channel but were rapidly overwhelmed by the deposition of sediments derived from eroded agricultural soils. Eutrophication of the lake followed with the onset of heavy fertilizer application post-1960. This succession of sources is expected to be commonplace for reservoirs greater than?~?50–60 years old in agricultural settings because of the relative timing of tillage and fertilizer practices. The ¹³C/¹²C ratios of methane from Lake Decatur were more depleted in ¹³C than what is commonly expected for freshwater sedimentary environments. The ¹³C-depletion suggests that CO₂-reduction is the dominant methanogenic pathway rather than the anticipated acetate dissimilation process. The isotopic observations reveal that commonly held assumptions about methane production and its C-isotopic signature in freshwater systems are over-simplified and not strictly applicable to this system.     

滆湖轮虫群落结构与水质生态学评价

研究了浅水湖泊--滆湖的轮虫群落结构,并用轮虫污染指示种类、E/O值、QB/T值和生物多样性指数评价滆湖的水质和营养状况.在两周年的研究中,共发现轮虫69种,污染指示轮虫39种.优势种为萼花臂尾轮虫(Brachionua calyciflorus)、前节晶囊轮虫(Asplanchna priodonta)、针簇多肢轮虫(Polyarthra trigla)、长三肢轮虫(Filinia longiseta)和裂足臂尾轮虫(B.diversicornis).轮虫密度年平均值为1584 ind./L,生物量年平均值为5.982 1 mg/L.密度秋季最高,生物量夏季较高.轮虫物种多样性较低,多样性指数与其密度及生物量正相关.滆湖三个生态功能区轮虫的种类相似;湖区北部与中部的轮虫现存量差异不显著,与南部的差异显著,中部与南部间差异极显著.根据指示生物法、生物指数法和多样性指数法评价滆湖水质及营养类型,涌湖为富营养型.     

上海市淀山湖底栖动物群落结构及水质评价

2004年1～12月,对上海市淀山湖底栖动物进行了调查.经鉴定,共采集到底栖动物17种,隶属于3门14属.优势种类为疣吻沙蚕Tylorrhynchus heterochaeta、克拉泊水丝蚓Limnodrilus claparedeianus、湖球蚬Sphaerium lacustre、蜾蠃蜚Corophium sp..底栖动物年均密度为177.58 ind./m2,沙蚕对密度的贡献最大,占年均密度的45.85%,最大密度出现在7月,1月最低,St1年均密度显著高于其他站点;年均生物量为19.60 g/m2,软体动物对生物量的贡献最大,占年均生物量的97.25%,9月生物量最大,St3年均生物量明显高于另5个站点.Shannon-Wiener多样性指数、Margalef物种丰富度指数和Pielou指数值表明,淀山湖水体处于中度到重度污染状态.能量估算法估算出淀山湖底栖动物的渔产潜力为5.198×103 kg.     

苏南太湖流域水稻经济生态适宜施氮量研究

针对苏南太湖流域无机体,高氮量施肥方式,造成氮肥利用率下降、水环境污染日益严重这种现象,研究了不同氮肥施用水平下水稻的产量、氮肥利用率及氮肥水环境损失。并在以下研究结果的基础上,引入环境经济学的Ｃｏａｓｅ原理和主效益比较合理的水稻施肥量,相应的经济、生态２适宜产量为７３７９．５～７５４８．６ｋｇ／ｈｍ＾２。