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Sediment chemistry of urban stormwater ponds and controls on denitrification

Publication ,  Journal Article
Blaszczak, JR; Steele, MK; Badgley, BD; Heffernan, JB; Hobbie, SE; Morse, JL; Rivers, EN; Hall, SJ; Neill, C; Pataki, DE; Groffman, PM; Bernhardt, ES
Published in: Ecosphere
June 1, 2018

Stormwater ponds and retention basins are ubiquitous features throughout urban landscapes. These ponds are potentially important control points for nitrogen (N) removal from surface water bodies via denitrification. However, there are possible trade-offs to this water quality benefit if high N and contaminant concentrations in stormwater pond sediments decrease the complete reduction of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, to dinitrogen (N2) during denitrification. This may occur through decreasing the abundance or efficiency of denitrifiers capable of producing the N2O reductase enzyme. We predicted that ponds draining increasingly urbanized landscapes would have higher N and metal concentrations in their sediments, and thereby greater N2O yields. We measured potential denitrification rates, N2O reductase (nosZ) gene frequencies, as well as sediment and porewater chemistry in 64 ponds distributed across eight U.S. cities. We found almost no correlation between the proportion of urban land cover surrounding ponds and the nutrient and contaminant concentrations in the stormwater pond sediments within or across all cities. Regression analysis revealed that the proportion of potential N2 and N2O production that could be explained was under different environmental controls. Our survey raises many new questions about why N fluxes and transformations vary so widely both within and across urban environments, but also allays the concern that elevated metal concentrations in urban stormwater ponds will increase N2O emissions. Urban stormwater ponds are unlikely to be a problematic source of N2O to the atmosphere, no matter their denitrification potential.

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Published In

Ecosphere

DOI

EISSN

2150-8925

Publication Date

June 1, 2018

Volume

9

Issue

6

Related Subject Headings

  • 4102 Ecological applications
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 0608 Zoology
  • 0602 Ecology
  • 0501 Ecological Applications
 

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Blaszczak, J. R., Steele, M. K., Badgley, B. D., Heffernan, J. B., Hobbie, S. E., Morse, J. L., … Bernhardt, E. S. (2018). Sediment chemistry of urban stormwater ponds and controls on denitrification. Ecosphere, 9(6). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2318
Blaszczak, J. R., M. K. Steele, B. D. Badgley, J. B. Heffernan, S. E. Hobbie, J. L. Morse, E. N. Rivers, et al. “Sediment chemistry of urban stormwater ponds and controls on denitrification.” Ecosphere 9, no. 6 (June 1, 2018). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2318.
Blaszczak JR, Steele MK, Badgley BD, Heffernan JB, Hobbie SE, Morse JL, et al. Sediment chemistry of urban stormwater ponds and controls on denitrification. Ecosphere. 2018 Jun 1;9(6).
Blaszczak, J. R., et al. “Sediment chemistry of urban stormwater ponds and controls on denitrification.” Ecosphere, vol. 9, no. 6, June 2018. Scopus, doi:10.1002/ecs2.2318.
Blaszczak JR, Steele MK, Badgley BD, Heffernan JB, Hobbie SE, Morse JL, Rivers EN, Hall SJ, Neill C, Pataki DE, Groffman PM, Bernhardt ES. Sediment chemistry of urban stormwater ponds and controls on denitrification. Ecosphere. 2018 Jun 1;9(6).

Published In

Ecosphere

DOI

EISSN

2150-8925

Publication Date

June 1, 2018

Volume

9

Issue

6

Related Subject Headings

  • 4102 Ecological applications
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 0608 Zoology
  • 0602 Ecology
  • 0501 Ecological Applications