High-frequency monitoring of nitrogen and phosphorus response in three rural catchments to the end of the 2011–2012 drought in England

Outram, F. N., Lloyd, C. E. M., Jonczyk, J., Benskin, C. McW. H., Grant, F., Perks, M. T., Deasy, C., Burke, S. P., Collins, A. L., Freer, J., Haygarth, P. M., Hiscock, K. M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4505-1496, Johnes, P. J. and Lovett, A. L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0554-9273 (2014) High-frequency monitoring of nitrogen and phosphorus response in three rural catchments to the end of the 2011–2012 drought in England. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 18 (9). pp. 3429-3448. ISSN 1607-7938

Preview

PDF (hess-18-3429-2014) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

This paper uses high-frequency bankside measurements from three catchments selected as part of the UK government-funded Demonstration Test Catchments (DTC) project. We compare the hydrological and hydrochemical patterns during the water year 2011–2012 from the Wylye tributary of the River Avon with mixed land use, the Blackwater tributary of the River Wensum with arable land use and the Newby Beck tributary of the River Eden with grassland land use. The beginning of the hydrological year was unusually dry and all three catchments were in states of drought. A sudden change to a wet summer occurred in April 2012 when a heavy rainfall event affected all three catchments. The year-long time series and the individual storm responses captured by in situ nutrient measurements of nitrate and phosphorus (total phosphorus and total reactive phosphorus) concentrations at each site reveal different pollutant sources and pathways operating in each catchment. Large storm-induced nutrient transfers of nitrogen and or phosphorus to each stream were recorded at all three sites during the late April rainfall event. Hysteresis loops suggested transport-limited delivery of nitrate in the Blackwater and of total phosphorus in the Wylye and Newby Beck, which was thought to be exacerbated by the dry antecedent conditions prior to the storm. The high rate of nutrient transport in each system highlights the scale of the challenges faced by environmental managers when designing mitigation measures to reduce the flux of nutrients to rivers from diffuse agricultural sources. It also highlights the scale of the challenge in adapting to future extreme weather events under a changing climate.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 13 - climate action,sdg 15 - life on land ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Geosciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Water Security Research Centre Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	08 Oct 2014 08:50
Last Modified:	13 Apr 2023 13:46
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/50195
DOI:	10.5194/hess-18-3429-2014

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item