Nitrogen and Phosphorus Uptake Dynamics in Tropical Cerrado Woodland Streams

Abstract

Pollution abatement through phosphorus and nitrogen retention is a key ecosystem service provided by streams. Human activities have been changing in-stream nutrient concentrations, thereby altering lotic ecosystem functioning, especially in developing countries. We estimated nutrient uptake metrics (ambient uptake length, areal uptake rate, and uptake velocity) for nitrate (NO3-N), ammonium (NH4-N), and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) in four tropical Cerrado headwater streams during 2017, through whole-stream nutrient addition experiments. According to multiple regression models, ambient SRP concentration was an important explanatory variable of nutrient uptake. Further, best models included ambient NO3-N and water velocity (for NO3-N uptake metrics), dissolved oxygen (DO) and canopy cover (for NH4-N) and DO, discharge, water velocity, and temperature (for SRP). The best kinetic models describing nutrient uptake were efficiency-loss (R-2 from 0.47-0.88) and first-order models (R-2 from 0.60-0.85). NO3-N, NH4-N, and SRP uptake in these streams seemed coupled as a result of complex interactions of biotic P limitation, abiotic P cycling processes, and the preferential uptake of NH4-N among N-forms. Global change effects on these tropical streams, such as temperature increase and nutrient enrichment due to urban and agricultural expansion, may have adverse and partially unpredictable impacts on whole-stream nutrient processing.