Effects of long-term flooding on biogeochemistry and vegetation development in floodplains – a mesocosm experiment to study interacting effects of land use and water quality

Abstract. The frequent occurrence of summer floods in Eastern Europe, possibly related to climate change, urges the need to understand the consequences of combined water storage and nature rehabilitation as an alternative safety measure instead of raising and reinforcing dykes, for floodplain biogeochemistry and vegetation development. We used a mesocosm design to investigate the possibilities for the creation of permanently flooded wetlands along rivers, in relation to water quality (nitrate, sulphate) and land use (fertilization). Flooding resulted in severe eutrophication of both sediment pore water and surface water, particularly for more fertilized soil and sulphate pollution. Vegetation development was mainly determined by soil quality, resulting in a strong decline of most species from the highly fertilized location, especially in combination with higher nitrate and sulphate concentrations. Soils from the less fertilized location showed, in contrast, luxurious growth of target Carex species regardless water quality. The observed interacting effects of water quality and agricultural use are important in assessing the consequences of planned measures for ecosystem functioning (including peat formation) and biodiversity in river floodplains.

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Effects of long-term flooding on biogeochemistry and vegetation development in floodplains; a mesocosm experiment to study interacting effects of land use and water quality

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-6-1325-2009 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 6 (7) ◽

pp. 1325-1339 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

A. M. Banach ◽

K. Banach ◽

R. C. J. H. Peters ◽

R. H. M. Jansen ◽

E. J. W. Visser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Land Use ◽

Floodplain Wetlands ◽

Vegetation Development ◽

River Floodplains ◽

Fertilized Soil ◽

Agricultural Use ◽

Effects Of Land Use

Abstract. Raising safety levees and reinforcing dykes is not a sufficient and sustainable solution to the intense winter and summer floods occurring with increasing frequency in Eastern Europe. An alternative, creating permanently flooded floodplain wetlands, requires improved understanding of ecological consequences. A 9 month mesocosm study (starting in January), under natural light and temperature conditions, was initiated to understand the role of previous land use (fertility intensity) and flooding water quality on soil biogeochemistry and vegetation development. Flooding resulted in severe eutrophication of both sediment pore water and surface water, particularly for more fertilized soil and sulphate pollution. Vegetation development was mainly determined by soil quality, resulting in a strong decline of most species from the highly fertilized location, especially in combination with higher nitrate and sulphate concentrations. Soils from the less fertilized location showed, in contrast, luxurious growth of target Carex species regardless water quality. The observed interacting effects of water quality and agricultural use are important in assessing the consequences of planned measures for ecosystem functioning and biodiversity in river floodplains.

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Effects of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change on Nitrogen Transport in Northern Taihu Basin, China during 1990–2017

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12093895 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (9) ◽

pp. 3895

Author(s):

Xi Chen ◽

Yanhua Wang ◽

Zucong Cai ◽

Changbin Wu ◽

Chun Ye

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Land Surface ◽

Nitrogen Transport ◽

Overlying Water ◽

Rapid Urbanization ◽

Taihu Basin ◽

Effects Of Land Use

Different land uses have varying degrees of impact on nitrogen transport in the catchments. In recent decades, rapid urbanization has dramatically changed the Earth’s land surface, which may cause excessive nitrogen losses and a negative influence on the environment. In the long-term scale, it is important to explore how the nitrogen transport responds to land use change and its effects on aquatic habitats. In this study, the water and sediment samples were collected from northern Taihu Basin, and nine periods of land use data were obtained using the techniques of supervised classification. Results revealed that the proportion of farmland area decreased from 28.33% to 7.09%, while that of constructed land area increased from 23.85% to 61.72% during 1990–2017. Most of the constructed land originated from farmland, which makes it the dominant land use type due to rapid urbanization. In spatial distribution, high total nitrogen (TN) losses regions remain distributed over constructed land and farmland, which may aggravate the trend of local water quality deterioration. Of these regions, constructed land was the dominant contributor (46.29%–63.62%) of TN losses from surface runoff. In temporal variation, the TN losses of runoff decreased by 47% from 175 t N·a−1 in 1990. However, they increased by 2.91% from 75.28 t N·a−1 after 2013 with rapid population growth and high fertilizer application (>570 kg·ha−1). The nitrogen load in sediments also has a significant response (t = 2.43, p = 0.02) to the effects of land use change on the overlying water, indicating that the role of nitrogen in the sediment as a source and/or sink to the waterbody may change frequently. Given the increasing accumulation of nitrogen loads in highly urbanized regions, water quality would cause more aggravation in the long-term without reasonable land management measures.

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ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF LAND USE CONVERSION ON RUNOFF AND NUTRIENT LOAD

Malaysian Journal of Civil Engineering ◽

10.11113/mjce.v30n3.519 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Khairul Anuar Mohamad ◽

Noorbaharim Hashim ◽

Ilya Khairanis Othman ◽

Mohd Syazwan Faisal Mohd

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Land Use ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Fold Increase ◽

Base Flow ◽

Point Sources ◽

Plant Management ◽

Water Quality And Quantity ◽

Effects Of Land Use

An agricultural land with intensive cultivation, large catchments with extended rivers and agricultural population of high-density are the primary reasons for higher pollutant loads in freshwater. However, there are problems in pursuing nutrient losses since several parameters, such as variability in soils and climate are associated with heavy rainfall, especially in tropic regions; plant management, limited resources, and insufficient technical support are not consistent in every crop management. Changes in agricultural practices and unmonitored point sources discharge from watershed, have led to algal bloom in abundance, and thus generated eutrophication at the downstream. The complex watershed processes and forecasting the effects of land use change on water quality can be determined by using tools of watershed models. The Hydrological Simulation Programme-FORTRAN (HSPF) uses lumped parameters, continuous model to predict the long-term evaluation, and deterministic for simulating the water quality and quantity process that occur at the watershed. Pervious land segments (PERLND), impervious land segments (IMPLND), and channel reach (RCHRES) modules were used to determine the general water quality and quantity on Johor watershed. Based on calibration and validation, the HSPF model was capable of simulating different runoff seasons. An increment of 60% in agricultural land had increased the annual mean total phosphorus (TP) load and total nitrogen (TN) load by 3.82% and 5.34%, respectively. A 2-fold increase in agricultural land would result in an approximately 2-fold increase in the quantity of annual TN and TP loads. Between TN and TP loads, TP load has potentially increased more than TN load during the dry, wet, and base-flow years. Upon the long-term of water quality and quantity simulation, this study provides essential knowledge for a method-based runoff and nutrient management plan for the Johor watershed.

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