Nitrogen nutrients in a subtropical river: temporal variation and analysis at different spatial scales

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (10) ◽  
pp. 1935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Moncayo-Estrada ◽  
Carlos Escalera-Gallardo ◽  
Miriam Arroyo-Damián ◽  
Oswaldo Campos-Campos ◽  
José T. Silva-García

Herein we provide a framework for evaluating the spatiotemporal variation of nitrate and ammonium and their relationships with environmental and anthropogenic variables at different scales. Bimonthly samples were collected from 28 sites in the Duero River, Mexico, from May to December 2013. The river flow changed and lost connectivity during the dry season because more water was diverted for irrigation. Four sites had the highest nitrate and ammonium values (7.6 and 22.1mgL–1 respectively), which were related to direct waste water discharge. The remaining 24 sites were analysed using a multivariate approach. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, seasonal trends were identified with two groupings during July and five in December. Sites were grouped into those with constant discharge and nitrates affected by springs and those with poor water quality (high concentrations of ammonium). Non-metric multidimensional scaling simultaneously revealed the variation in time and space, organised sites into an environmental ammonium gradient and differentiated between seasons according to nitrate levels. Regression tree analysis established a relationship between nutrients and independent variables. At the landscape level, the agricultural area affected nitrate (75%) and urban area affected ammonium (45%); at the basin level, road density influenced both parameters (10.68km per 25km2).

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Pociecha ◽  
Agata Z. Wojtal ◽  
Ewa Szarek-Gwiazda ◽  
Anna Cieplok ◽  
Dariusz Ciszewski ◽  
...  

Mining is recognized to deeply influence invertebrate assemblages in aquatic systems, but different invertebrates respond in different ways to mining cessation. Here, we document the response of the cladoceran assemblage of the Chechło river, S. Poland (southern Poland) to the cessation of Pb-Zn ore mining. The aquatic system includes the river and associated subsidence ponds in the valley. Some ponds were contaminated during the period of mining, which ceased in 2009, while one of the ponds only appeared after mining had stopped. We used Cladocera to reveal how the cessation of mine water discharge reflected on the structure and density of organisms. A total of 20 Cladocera taxa were identified in the sediment of subsidence ponds. Their density ranged from 0 to 109 ind./1 cm3. The concentrations of Zn, Cd, Cu and Pb were much higher in sediments of the ponds formed during peak mining than in the ponds formed after the closure of the mine. Statistical analysis (CCA) showed that Alonella nana, Alona affinis, Alona sp. and Pleuroxus sp. strongly correlated with pond age and did not tolerate high concentrations of heavy metals (Cu and Cd). This analysis indicated that the rate of water exchange by the river flow and the presence of aquatic plants, affect species composition more than pond age itself.


1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Nienhüser ◽  
P. Braches

Refilling of the Kerspe-Talsperre reservoir after restoration of the dam caused severe problems in water quality and supply due to a long-lasting ice-cover period and minimal precipitation. Unusually short spring overturn, high algal mass in spring and certainly the overflooding of the sediment, which had not been removed, caused a tremendous oxygen deficit in early summer. The whole hypolimnion turned anoxic and even in the metalimnion oxygen declined to a minimum. Manganese and iron reached high concentrations. Despite the poor water quality, raw water was urgently needed for the water supply and was pumped from the epilimnion during the clear water phase and in July when algal biomass was low. In the middle of August holomixis was induced artificially in order to improve water quality. The decline in algal production during and after artificial mixing was probably caused by light limitation of the algae.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 1177-1195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huayang Cai ◽  
Hubert H. G. Savenije ◽  
Chenjuan Jiang ◽  
Lili Zhao ◽  
Qingshu Yang

Abstract. The mean water level in estuaries rises in the landward direction due to a combination of the density gradient, the tidal asymmetry, and the backwater effect. This phenomenon is more prominent under an increase of the fresh water discharge, which strongly intensifies both the tidal asymmetry and the backwater effect. However, the interactions between tide and river flow and their individual contributions to the rise of the mean water level along the estuary are not yet completely understood. In this study, we adopt an analytical approach to describe the tidal wave propagation under the influence of substantial fresh water discharge, where the analytical solutions are obtained by solving a set of four implicit equations for the tidal damping, the velocity amplitude, the wave celerity, and the phase lag. The analytical model is used to quantify the contributions made by tide, river, and tide–river interaction to the water level slope along the estuary, which sheds new light on the generation of backwater due to tide–river interaction. Subsequently, the method is applied to the Yangtze estuary under a wide range of river discharge conditions where the influence of both tidal amplitude and fresh water discharge on the longitudinal variation of the mean tidal water level is explored. Analytical model results show that in the tide-dominated region the mean water level is mainly controlled by the tide–river interaction, while it is primarily determined by the river flow in the river-dominated region, which is in agreement with previous studies. Interestingly, we demonstrate that the effect of the tide alone is most important in the transitional zone, where the ratio of velocity amplitude to river flow velocity approaches unity. This has to do with the fact that the contribution of tidal flow, river flow, and tide–river interaction to the residual water level slope are all proportional to the square of the velocity scale. Finally, we show that, in combination with extreme-value theory (e.g. generalized extreme-value theory), the method may be used to obtain a first-order estimation of the frequency of extreme water levels relevant for water management and flood control. By presenting these analytical relations, we provide direct insight into the interaction between tide and river flow, which will be useful for the study of other estuaries that experience substantial river discharge in a tidal region.


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