Effects of Urban Stormwater Control Measures on Denitrification in Receiving Streams
Urban areas are increasingly adopting the use of ecologically-based technologies for stormwater management to mitigate the effects of impervious surface runoff on receiving water bodies. While stormwater control measures (SCMs) reduce runoff, their ability to influence ecosystem function in receivin...
Main Authors: | , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2018-11-01
|
Series: | Water |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/10/11/1582 |
id |
doaj-fa76a4655145468fa84e8b37c0d09c94 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-fa76a4655145468fa84e8b37c0d09c942020-11-25T02:32:14ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412018-11-011011158210.3390/w10111582w10111582Effects of Urban Stormwater Control Measures on Denitrification in Receiving StreamsErin N. Rivers0Sara K. McMillan1Colin D. Bell2Sandra M. Clinton3School of the Environment, Portland State University, 1719 SW 10th Ave., Portland, OR 97201, USADepartment of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, 225 S. University St., West Lafayette, IN 47907, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, 1500 Illinois St., Golden, CO 80401, USADepartment of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USAUrban areas are increasingly adopting the use of ecologically-based technologies for stormwater management to mitigate the effects of impervious surface runoff on receiving water bodies. While stormwater control measures (SCMs) reduce runoff, their ability to influence ecosystem function in receiving streams is not well known. To understand the effect of SCMs on net ecosystem function in stream networks, we measured sediment denitrification in four streams across a gradient of urban and suburban residential development in Charlotte, NC. We evaluated the influence of SCM inputs on actual (DNF) and potential (DEA) denitrification activity in stream sediments at the SCM-stream confluence to quantify microbial processes and the environmental factors that control them. DNF was variable across sites, ranging from 0⁻6.60 mg-N·m<sup>−2</sup>·h<sup>−1</sup> and highly correlated with in-stream nitrate (NO<sub>3</sub>-N) concentrations. Sites with a greater impervious area showed a pattern of significantly higher DEA rates upstream of the SCM compared to downstream, while sites with less imperviousness showed the opposite trend. We hypothesize that this is because of elevated concentrations of carbon and nitrogen provided by pond and wetland outflows, and stabilization of the benthic habitat by lower peak discharge. These results suggest that SCMs integrated into the watershed have the potential to create cascading positive effects on in-stream nutrient processing and thereby improve water quality; however, at higher levels of imperviousness, the capacity for SCMs to match the scale of the impacts of urbanization likely diminishes.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/10/11/1582nitrogenstormwater control measuresdenitrifying enzyme activitydenitrificationurban streams |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Erin N. Rivers Sara K. McMillan Colin D. Bell Sandra M. Clinton |
spellingShingle |
Erin N. Rivers Sara K. McMillan Colin D. Bell Sandra M. Clinton Effects of Urban Stormwater Control Measures on Denitrification in Receiving Streams Water nitrogen stormwater control measures denitrifying enzyme activity denitrification urban streams |
author_facet |
Erin N. Rivers Sara K. McMillan Colin D. Bell Sandra M. Clinton |
author_sort |
Erin N. Rivers |
title |
Effects of Urban Stormwater Control Measures on Denitrification in Receiving Streams |
title_short |
Effects of Urban Stormwater Control Measures on Denitrification in Receiving Streams |
title_full |
Effects of Urban Stormwater Control Measures on Denitrification in Receiving Streams |
title_fullStr |
Effects of Urban Stormwater Control Measures on Denitrification in Receiving Streams |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of Urban Stormwater Control Measures on Denitrification in Receiving Streams |
title_sort |
effects of urban stormwater control measures on denitrification in receiving streams |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Water |
issn |
2073-4441 |
publishDate |
2018-11-01 |
description |
Urban areas are increasingly adopting the use of ecologically-based technologies for stormwater management to mitigate the effects of impervious surface runoff on receiving water bodies. While stormwater control measures (SCMs) reduce runoff, their ability to influence ecosystem function in receiving streams is not well known. To understand the effect of SCMs on net ecosystem function in stream networks, we measured sediment denitrification in four streams across a gradient of urban and suburban residential development in Charlotte, NC. We evaluated the influence of SCM inputs on actual (DNF) and potential (DEA) denitrification activity in stream sediments at the SCM-stream confluence to quantify microbial processes and the environmental factors that control them. DNF was variable across sites, ranging from 0⁻6.60 mg-N·m<sup>−2</sup>·h<sup>−1</sup> and highly correlated with in-stream nitrate (NO<sub>3</sub>-N) concentrations. Sites with a greater impervious area showed a pattern of significantly higher DEA rates upstream of the SCM compared to downstream, while sites with less imperviousness showed the opposite trend. We hypothesize that this is because of elevated concentrations of carbon and nitrogen provided by pond and wetland outflows, and stabilization of the benthic habitat by lower peak discharge. These results suggest that SCMs integrated into the watershed have the potential to create cascading positive effects on in-stream nutrient processing and thereby improve water quality; however, at higher levels of imperviousness, the capacity for SCMs to match the scale of the impacts of urbanization likely diminishes. |
topic |
nitrogen stormwater control measures denitrifying enzyme activity denitrification urban streams |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/10/11/1582 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT erinnrivers effectsofurbanstormwatercontrolmeasuresondenitrificationinreceivingstreams AT sarakmcmillan effectsofurbanstormwatercontrolmeasuresondenitrificationinreceivingstreams AT colindbell effectsofurbanstormwatercontrolmeasuresondenitrificationinreceivingstreams AT sandramclinton effectsofurbanstormwatercontrolmeasuresondenitrificationinreceivingstreams |
_version_ |
1724820474025738240 |