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Modelling the impact of river morphology on nitrogen retention—A case study of the Weisse Elster River (Germany)

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  • Wagenschein, Dierk
  • Rode, Michael

Abstract

Denitrification is an important sink of nitrogen in riverine systems and mainly linked to interstitial sediments and hence to river morphology. Studies which quantify this relationship are rare. In this paper we analyse the effect of river morphology on nitrogen load of the 4th order river Weisse Elster (Germany). A modified version of the river water quality model WASP5 was applied to a 70.6km river reach and measurements of the relevant water constituents were carried out for summer low-flow conditions. It was shown that nitrogen retention amounted to 23.4% of the nitrogen load of the upper boundary and benthic denitrification was identified as the largest contributor to that sink. The retention varies significantly along the river section with amounts being almost 2.4 times higher in a natural reach compared with a heavy modified and channelized river section. The mean denitrification rate was 189mgN/(m2day). The impact of river structure restoration on nitrogen retention is relatively low. The model scenario representing the implementation of the most feasible measures can lead to an additional nitrogen load reduction of 5.4%.

Suggested Citation

  • Wagenschein, Dierk & Rode, Michael, 2008. "Modelling the impact of river morphology on nitrogen retention—A case study of the Weisse Elster River (Germany)," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 211(1), pages 224-232.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:211:y:2008:i:1:p:224-232
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2007.09.009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Richard B. Alexander & Richard A. Smith & Gregory E. Schwarz, 2000. "Effect of stream channel size on the delivery of nitrogen to the Gulf of Mexico," Nature, Nature, vol. 403(6771), pages 758-761, February.
    2. Rode, Michael & Suhr, Ursula & Wriedt, Gunter, 2007. "Multi-objective calibration of a river water quality model—Information content of calibration data," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 204(1), pages 129-142.
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    2. Ramesh P. Rudra & Balew A. Mekonnen & Rituraj Shukla & Narayan Kumar Shrestha & Pradeep K. Goel & Prasad Daggupati & Asim Biswas, 2020. "Currents Status, Challenges, and Future Directions in Identifying Critical Source Areas for Non-Point Source Pollution in Canadian Conditions," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-25, October.
    3. H. Boyacioglu & T. Vetter & V. Krysanova & M. Rode, 2012. "Modeling the impacts of climate change on nitrogen retention in a 4th order stream," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 981-999, August.
    4. Md Jahangir Alam & Dushmanta Dutta, 2016. "A Sub-Catchment Based Approach for Modelling Nutrient Dynamics and Transport at a River Basin Scale," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(14), pages 5455-5478, November.
    5. André Fonseca & Cidália Botelho & Rui A. R. Boaventura & Vítor J. P. Vilar, 2024. "Evaluating the Effects of Parameter Uncertainty on River Water Quality Predictions," Resources, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-19, July.

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