Regulation causes nitrogen cycling discontinuities in Mediterranean rivers
dc.contributor.author
dc.date.accessioned
2016-07-21T07:29:41Z
dc.date.available
2016-07-21T07:29:41Z
dc.date.issued
2016-01-01
dc.identifier.issn
0048-9697
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dc.description.abstract
River regulation has fundamentally altered large sections of the world's river networks. The effects of dams on the structural properties of downstream reaches are well documented, but less is known about their effect on river ecosystem processes. We investigated the effect of dams on river nutrient cycling by comparing net uptake of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), phosphorus (TDP) and organic carbon (DOC) in river reaches located upstream and downstream from three reservoir systems in the Ebro River basin (NE Iberian Peninsula). Increased hydromorphological stability, organic matter standing stocks and ecosystem metabolism below dams enhanced the whole-reach net uptake of TDN, but not that of TDP or DOC. Upstream from dams, river reaches tended to be at biogeochemical equilibrium (uptake. ≈. release) for all nutrients, whereas river reaches below dams acted as net sinks of TDN. Overall, our results suggest that flow regulation by dams may cause relevant N cycling discontinuities in rivers. Higher net N uptake capacity below dams could lead to reduced N export to downstream ecosystems. Incorporating these discontinuities could significantly improve predictive models of N cycling and transport in complex river networks
dc.description.sponsorship
This research was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER through the project SCARCE (Consolider-Ingenio CSD2009-00065), and by the European Union through the FP7
project GLOBAQUA (Grant agreement No 603629)
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application/pdf
dc.language.iso
eng
dc.publisher
Elsevier
dc.relation
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MICINN//CSD2009-00065/ES/Evaluación y predicción de los efectos del cambio global en la cantidad y la calidad del agua en ríos ibéricos/
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Reproducció digital del document publicat a: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.017
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Science of the Total Environment, 2016, vol. 540, p. 168-177
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Articles publicats (ICRA)
dc.rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain
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dc.subject
dc.title
Regulation causes nitrogen cycling discontinuities in Mediterranean rivers
dc.type
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.rights.accessRights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.embargo.terms
Cap
dc.relation.projectID
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/603629/EU/MANAGING THE EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE STRESSORS ON AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS UNDER WATER SCARCITY/GLOBAQUA
dc.type.version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
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dc.relation.ProjectAcronym