Rivermouth alteration of agricultural impacts on consumer tissue δ(15)N.

ABSTRACT: Terrestrial agricultural activities strongly influence riverine nitrogen (N) dynamics, which is reflected in the δ(15)N of riverine consumer tissues. However, processes within aquatic ecosystems also influence consumer tissue δ(15)N. As aquatic processes become more important terrestrial inputs may become a weaker predictor of consumer tissue δ(15)N. In a previous study, this terrestrial-consumer tissue δ(15)N connection was very strong at river sites, but was disrupted by processes occurring in rivermouths (the 'rivermouth effect'). This suggested that watershed indicators of N loading might be accurate in riverine settings, but could be inaccurate when considering N loading to the nearshore of large lakes and oceans. In this study, the rivermouth effect was examined on twenty-five sites

SUBMITTER: Larson JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3729966 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature