Relationship between river size and nutrient removal

Wollheim, Wilfred M.; Vorosmarty, Charles J.; Peterson, Bruce J.; Seitzinger, Sybil P.; Hopkinson, Charles S.

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Figure S1: Proportion of total inputs to the river network removed by the entire seventh-order river network for various levels of νf, using the hydrologic and geomorphic characteristics of the base scenario. (5.015Kb)

Figure S2: Sensitivity of nutrient removal by the entire seventh-order network to changes in runoff and selected hydraulic and geomorphic parameters using the model in equation (3). (6.173Kb)

Table S1: Characteristics of typical streams defined by order within the seventh-order basin. (893bytes)

Table S2: Transition probabilities from one stream order to the next based on GUH methods. (580bytes)

Date

2006-03-30

Author

Wollheim, Wilfred M.

Vorosmarty, Charles J.

Peterson, Bruce J.

Seitzinger, Sybil P.

Hopkinson, Charles S.

DOI

10.1029/2006GL025845

Abstract

We present a conceptual approach for evaluating the biological and hydrological controls of nutrient removal in different sized rivers within an entire river network. We emphasize a per unit area biological parameter, the nutrient uptake velocity (νf), which is mathematically independent of river size in benthic dominated systems. Standardization of biological parameters from previous river network models to νf reveals the nature of river size dependant biological activity in these models. We explore how geomorphic, hydraulic, and biological factors control the distribution of nutrient removal in an idealized river network, finding that larger rivers within a basin potentially exert considerable influence over nutrient exports.

Description

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2006. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 33 (2006): L06410, doi:10.1029/2006GL025845.

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