Where Did All the Fertilizer Go? Nutrient Legacies and Time Lags in Anthropogenic Landscapes
Human modification of the nitrogen (N) cycle has resulted in increased flows of reactive N, with growing evidence that planetary boundaries for maintaining human and ecosystem health have been exceeded. Best management practices (BMPs) to minimize impacts of N pollution often don’t deliver expected benefits at the watershed scale. Our study shows that one reason of the apparent failure of BMPs is the accumulation of legacy N in anthropogenic landscapes leading to time lags between implementation of BMPs and water quality benefits. Current research includes watershed scale mass balance studies to quantify the magnitude of legacy N, and modeling to quantify the time lags.
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Relevant Publications
Ilampooranan, I., Van Meter, K., Basu, N.B. (2019). A race against time: Modelling time lags in watershed response. Water Resources Research. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR023815
Van Meter, K. J., Van Cappellen, P., & Basu, N. B. (2018). Legacy nitrogen may prevent achievement of water quality goals in the Gulf of Mexico. Science. http://doi.org/10.1126/science.aar4462
Van Meter, K. J., & Basu, N. B. (2015). Catchment legacies and time lags: A parsimonious watershed model to predict the effects of legacy storage on nitrogen export. PLOS ONE, 10(5), e0125971. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125971
Van Meter, K. J., Basu, N. B., Veenstra, J. J., & Burras, C. L. (2016). The nitrogen legacy: emerging evidence of nitrogen accumulation in anthropogenic landscapes. Environmental Research Letters, 11(3), 035014. http://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/3/035014
Van Meter, K. J., & Basu, N. B. (2017). Time lags in watershed-scale nutrient transport: an exploration of dominant controls. Environmental Research Letters, 12(8), 084017. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7bf4
Vero, S. E., Basu, N. B., Meter, K. V., Richards, K. G., Mellander, P.-E., Healy, M. G., & Fenton, O. (2017). Review: The environmental status and implications of the nitrate time lag in Europe and North America. Hydrogeology Journal, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-017-1650-9
Van Meter, K. J., Basu, N. B., & Van Cappellen, P. (2017). Two Centuries of Nitrogen Dynamics: Legacy Sources and Sinks in the Mississippi and Susquehanna River Basins. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GB005498
News and Press Releases
uWaterloo | Newsweek | CBC Podcast Quirks and Quarks
Ilampooranan, I., Van Meter, K., Basu, N.B. (2019). A race against time: Modelling time lags in watershed response. Water Resources Research. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR023815
Van Meter, K. J., Van Cappellen, P., & Basu, N. B. (2018). Legacy nitrogen may prevent achievement of water quality goals in the Gulf of Mexico. Science. http://doi.org/10.1126/science.aar4462
Van Meter, K. J., & Basu, N. B. (2015). Catchment legacies and time lags: A parsimonious watershed model to predict the effects of legacy storage on nitrogen export. PLOS ONE, 10(5), e0125971. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125971
Van Meter, K. J., Basu, N. B., Veenstra, J. J., & Burras, C. L. (2016). The nitrogen legacy: emerging evidence of nitrogen accumulation in anthropogenic landscapes. Environmental Research Letters, 11(3), 035014. http://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/3/035014
Van Meter, K. J., & Basu, N. B. (2017). Time lags in watershed-scale nutrient transport: an exploration of dominant controls. Environmental Research Letters, 12(8), 084017. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7bf4
Vero, S. E., Basu, N. B., Meter, K. V., Richards, K. G., Mellander, P.-E., Healy, M. G., & Fenton, O. (2017). Review: The environmental status and implications of the nitrate time lag in Europe and North America. Hydrogeology Journal, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-017-1650-9
Van Meter, K. J., Basu, N. B., & Van Cappellen, P. (2017). Two Centuries of Nitrogen Dynamics: Legacy Sources and Sinks in the Mississippi and Susquehanna River Basins. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GB005498
News and Press Releases
uWaterloo | Newsweek | CBC Podcast Quirks and Quarks