Vegetation and Residence Time Interact to Influence Metabolism and Net Nutrient Uptake in Experimental Agricultural Drainage Systems
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USDA-ARS Southeast Watershed Research Laboratory, Tifton, GA 31794, USA 2 USDA-ARS National Sedimentation Laboratory, Oxford, MS 38655, USA
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USDA-ARS National Sedimentation Laboratory, Oxford, MS 38655, USA
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Per-Erik Mellander
Water 2021, 13(10), 1416; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13101416
Received: 13 April 2021
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Revised: 29 April 2021
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Accepted: 13 May 2021
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Published: 19 May 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Quality and Ecological Aspects of Aquatic Ecosystems Influenced by Agricultural Activity)
Agricultural drainage networks within the Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB) have potential to attenuate nutrient loading to downstream aquatic ecosystems through best management practices. Nutrient uptake (nitrogen, phosphorus), gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and denitrification rates were estimated using a combination of sensor measurements and hourly discrete samples for dissolved nutrients and gases at three hydraulic residence times (2, 4, and 6 h) in three vegetated and three unvegetated ditches. We also measured vegetation and soil nutrient content. GPP and ER were significantly higher in vegetated drainages and increasing hydraulic residence time increased respiration rates. Shorter hydraulic residence times were associated with increased uptake rates for both N and P, and vegetation increased N uptake rates in all hydraulic residence time (HRT) treatments. Vegetation and sediment assimilated N and P over the course of the experiment. Overall, our experimental results demonstrate the strong role of emergent vegetation in nutrient retention and removal processes in agricultural drainage ditch networks.
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Keywords:
nitrogen; phosphorus; rice cutgrass; agriculture; ditches; soil; denitrification
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MDPI and ACS Style
Nifong, R.L.; Taylor, J.M. Vegetation and Residence Time Interact to Influence Metabolism and Net Nutrient Uptake in Experimental Agricultural Drainage Systems. Water 2021, 13, 1416. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13101416
AMA Style
Nifong RL, Taylor JM. Vegetation and Residence Time Interact to Influence Metabolism and Net Nutrient Uptake in Experimental Agricultural Drainage Systems. Water. 2021; 13(10):1416. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13101416
Chicago/Turabian StyleNifong, Rachel L., and Jason M. Taylor. 2021. "Vegetation and Residence Time Interact to Influence Metabolism and Net Nutrient Uptake in Experimental Agricultural Drainage Systems" Water 13, no. 10: 1416. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13101416
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