Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2018
Riparian Corridors: A New Conceptual Framework for Assessing Nitrogen Buffering Across Biomes
Piney, Gilles; Bernal, Susana; Abbott, Benjamin W.; Lupon, Anna; Marti, Eugenia; Sabater, Francesc; Krause, StefanAbstract
Anthropogenic activities have more than doubled the amount of reactive nitrogen circulating on Earth, creating excess nutrients across the terrestrial-aquatic gradient. These excess nutrients have caused worldwide eutrophication, fundamentally altering the functioning of freshwater and marine ecosystems. Riparian zones have been recognized to buffer diffuse nitrate pollution, reducing delivery to aquatic ecosystems, but nutrient removal is not their only function in river systems. In this paper, we propose a new conceptual framework to test the capacity of riparian corridors to retain, remove, and transfer nitrogen along the continuum from land to sea under different climatic conditions. Because longitudinal, lateral, and vertical connectivity in riparian corridors influences their functional role in landscapes, we highlight differences in these parameters across biomes. More specifically, we explore how the structure of riparian corridors shapes stream morphology (the river's spine), their multiple functions at the interface between the stream and its catchment (the skin), and their biogeochemical capacity to retain and remove nitrogen (the kidneys). We use the nitrogen cycle as an example because nitrogen pollution is one of the most pressing global environmental issues, influencing directly and indirectly virtually all ecosystems on Earth. As an initial test of the applicability of our interbiome approach, we present synthesis results of gross ammonification and net nitrification from diverse ecosystems.Keywords
nitrogen cycling; buffering capacity; hydrosystem; river ecology; denitrification; nitrification; ammonificationPublished in
Frontiers in Environmental Science2018, volume: 6, article number: 47
Publisher: FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
Authors' information
Piney, Gilles
INRAE
Bernal, Susana
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC)
Abbott, Benjamin W.
Brigham Young University
Lupon, Anna
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Ecology and Management
Marti, Eugenia
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC)
Sabater, Francesc
University of Barcelona
Krause, Stefan
University of Birmingham
UKÄ Subject classification
Environmental Sciences
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2018.00047
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/112424