Drivers of nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics in a groundwater-fed urban catchment revealed by high-frequency monitoring

Removing nitrogen from wastewater with side stream anammox: What are the trade-offs between environmental impacts?

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is a novel way to reduce nitrogen in ammonium rich wastewater. Although aquatic eutrophication will certainly be reduced, it is unknown how other environmental impacts may change by including anammox in the treatment of wastewater. Here, life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to assess the environmental...

High-resolution monitoring of nutrients in groundwater and surface waters: Process understanding, quantification of loads and concentrations, and management applications

Four sessions on "Monitoring Strategies: temporal trends in groundwater and surface water quality and quantity" at the EGU conferences in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 and a special issue of <i>HESS</i> form the background for this overview of the current state of high-resolution monitoring of nutrients. The overview includes a summary of...

River flooding and landscape changes impact ecological conditions of a scour hole lake in the Rhine-Meuse delta, The Netherlands

A 400-year sediment record from an 18 m deep scour hole lake (Haarsteegse Wiel) near the Meuse River in the Netherlands was investigated for past changes in water quality, flooding frequency and landscape change using geophysical, geochemical and micropaleontological information. The results are highly significant for determining long-term...

A method for improving Centre for Environmental Studies (CML) characterisation factors for metal (eco)toxicity - The case of zinc gutters and downpipes

Background, aim and scope: The environmental impact of building products made from heavy metals has been a topic of discussion for some years. This was fuelled by results of life cycle assessments (LCAs), where the emission of heavy metals strongly effected the results. An issue was that the characterisation factors of the Centre for...

Eutrophication of moderately deep Dutch lakes during the past century: Flaws in the expectations of water management?

We studied the trophic development of the past 30-100 years in eight moderately deep Dutch lakes based on their sedimentary fossil diatom assemblages. The dominant diatoms indicating meso- to eutrophic conditions were Aulacoseira subarctica, Cyclotella ocellata, C. cyclopuncta, C. meneghiniana, Puncticulata bodanica, Aulacoseira granulata,...

Climate-induced changes in the trophic status of a Central European lake

We present a case study of the development of Sacrower See, a stratified, eutrophic lake in northeastern Germany, over the past 13,000 years. Total epilimnetic phosphorus (TP) concentrations were reconstructed quantitatively using a diatom-TP transfer function. Fossil chironomid assemblages were used to support the trophic reconstruction and...

Seasonal and interannual dynamics of diatom assemblages in Sacrower See (NE Germany): A sediment trap study

Diatom assemblages from sediment trap samples collected during ten intervals between October 2003 and October 2005 in Sacrower See (NE Germany) were related to limnological and meteorological data. Sacrower See is a dimictic, 38 m deep, hypertrophic lowland lake (29.5 m a.s.l.). We identified distinct seasonal and interannual changes of diatom...

Temporal variability of foraminiferal densities in the northern Adriatic Sea

Over a period of two years (August 1996 to July 1998) foraminiferal abundances have been monitored at two stations in the northern Adriatic Sea. Environmental variables such as oxygen concentrations, salinity and temperature were measured and the trophic state of the seawater at both localities was calculated. Foraminiferal numbers fluctuated...

Atmospheric nitrogen inputs into the coastal ecosystem (ANICE): The southern North Sea as a study area

The Atmospheric Nitrogen Inputs into the Costal Ecosystem (ANICE) project was initiated to improve the accuracy and performance of model tools used to estimate the atmospheric nitrogen deposition to the sea. The experimental work includes the use of a ferry for long-term measurements of gaseous species, aerosols and rain water during one year,...

Assessment of the exposure and loads of acidifying and eutrophying pollutants and ozone, as well as their harmful influence on the vitality of the trees and the Speulder forest ecosystem as a whole

Within the framework of the Dutch Priority Program on Acidification, 10 yr of research was conducted in a Douglas fir stand at Speulder forest. Research was conducted to establish the loads and levels of acidifying and eutrophying pollutants and ozone, to determine forest vitality characteristics and follow growth parameters and nutrient status...

Nitrous oxide emissions from estuarine intertidal sediments

From September 1990 through December 1991 nitrous oxide flux measurements were made at 9 intertidal mud flat sites in the Scheldt Estuary. Nitrous oxide release rates were highly variable both between sites and over time at any one site. Annual nitrous oxide fluxes vary from about 10 mmol N m-2 at the tidal fresh-water end-member site to almost...

Modelling land atmosphere exchange of gaseous oxides of nitrogen in Europe

This review outlines current understanding of the exchange processes and methods used to estimate regional NOy deposition. Several methods have been used to measure dry deposition. Measurement artefacts such as non-stationarity caused by local sources, monitors responding to other gases than NO2 and the influence of photochemical reactions have...