Land Use, Not Stream Order, Controls N2O Concentration and Flux in the Upper Mara River Basin, Kenya.

ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic activities have led to increases in nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from river systems, but there are large uncertainties in estimates due to lack of data in tropical rivers and rapid increase in human activity. We assessed the effects of land use and river size on N2O flux and concentration in 46 stream sites in the Mara River, Kenya, during the transition from the wet (short rains) to dry season, November 2017 to January 2018. Flux estimates were similar to other studies in tropical and temperate systems, but in contrast to other studies, land use was more related to N2O concentration and flux than stream size. Agricultural stream sites had the highest fluxes (26.38 ± 5.37 N2O-N μg·m-2·hr-1) compared to both forest and livestock sites (5.66 ± 1.38 N2O-N μg·m-2·hr-1 and 6.95 ±

SUBMITTER: Mwanake RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7185232 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature