Suchergebnisse

Sewage treatment systems are a common feature across the landscape of the United Kingdom, serving an estimated 96% of the population and discharging approximately eleven billion litres of treated wastewater daily. While large treatment facilities are ubiquitous across the landscape, they are not the only method employed in domestic wastewater treatment. This study investigates whether differences in nutrient export (carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus) and organic matter composition (determined by optical indices, SUVA 254 , S 350-400 and E 2 :E 3 ) from treated effluent could be detected between four of the most common facilities employed in the treatment of wastewater across the UK. Set in the context of the River Wylye, a small headwater catchment, treatment facilities studied included; a septic tank system, small packet treatment works, and two large sewage treatment works, one of which employed phosphorus stripping for phosphorus removal. Inorganic N and P concentrations ranged between 7.51 and 42.4 mg N l −1 and 0.22 and 8.9 mg P l −1 respectively, with DOC concentrations ranging between 1.63 and 11.8 mg C l −1 . Optical indices were comparable to those observed in catchments where organic matter is dominated by autochthonous production, suggesting the dominance of low molecular weight material when compared to values observed across temperate aquatic systems. Combining data from both the Environment Agency and Ordinance Survey we estimate that only 15% of domestic properties not connected to mains sewerage in the study catchment have an Environment Agency consent/exemption permit. This calculation suggests that the quantity of small point sources are significantly underestimated, undermining efforts under current legislation to improve stream ecosystem health.

Eutrophication, caused by excessive nutrient concentrations, is a major environmental issue and has significant impacts on both aquatic ecosystems and human health. Phosphorus (P) is a key element that contributes to this eutrophication response. As such, P concentrations are regulated under both the European Union Water Framework Directive (EU WFD) and Habitats Directive (EU HD). While P export to rivers from point sources is well-understood, diffuse sources, particularly that route through connected aquifer systems are less well characterised. Based on data from a catchment in southern England where an Upper Greensand aquifer controls river baseflow, we hypothesise that dynamic precipitation and dissolution of phosphorus in the form of hydroxyapatite occurs along the groundwater flow path, affecting P storage and export. In addition, P may also occur as the less-reactive mineral fluorapatite or sorb onto, or substitute into, Fe-oxides, which also occur in the aquifer. To investigate hydroxyapatite kinetics in this context, batch experiments were conducted to precipitate the mineral onto sand grains, and then dissolved in a continuousflow reactor under various pH and concentration conditions. The reactive transport of PO43- along a 1D flow path was modelled to simulate hydroxyapatite precipitation and dissolution. Fe-oxides were modelled as sorbing surfaces for phosphate under chemical conditions representative of the aquifer. Hydroxyapatite rapidly precipitated onto quartz sand grains from a solution that was supersaturated with respect to hydroxyapatite, thus demonstrating that an input of P to Ca rich, alkaline porewaters can result in the precipitation of secondary hydroxyapatite. The dissolution rate of hydroxyapatite is strongly pH dependent, however within the aquifer porewaters, the solution is often close to equilibrium with respect to hydroxyapatite, which causes the dissolution rate to have a greater dependence on the PO43- concentration. Within the range of measured pH and PO43- concentrations, the dissolution rate ranges between 10-12.25 to 10-9.15 mol kg-1 s-1, contributing P to the catchment headwaters. Over a 1D flow path, there is dynamic precipitation and dissolution of hydroxyapatite, as well as PO43- 37 sorption and desorption, over relatively short timescales. These results indicate that hydroxyapatite is likely to precipitate within the pore space of the aquifer, but can then dissolve and re-precipitate, adsorb and desorb, under expected spatial and temporal variations in pH and water chemistry within the aquifer. Hydroxyapatite may therefore represent temporary pool of anthropogenic P, sourced from P-fertilisers, which represents a previously unrecognised pathway for anthropogenic P transfer between the soil surface and surface waters.

The Demonstration Test Catchments (DTC) project is a UK Government funded initiative to test the effectiveness of on-farm mitigation measures designed to reduce agricultural pollution without compromising farm productivity. Three distinct catchments in England have been chosen to test the efficacy of mitigation measures on working farms in small tributary sub-catchments equipped with continuous water quality monitoring stations. The Hampshire Avon in the south is a mixed livestock and arable farming catchment, the River Wensum in the east is a lowland catchment with predominantly arable farming and land use in the River Eden catchment in the north-west is predominantly livestock farming. One of the many strengths of the DTC as a national research platform is that it provides the ability to investigate catchment hydrology and biogeochemical response across different landscapes and geoclimatic characteristics, with a range of differing flow behaviours, geochemistries and nutrient chemistries. Although numerous authors present studies of individual catchment responses to storms, no studies exist of multiple catchment responses to the same rainfall event captured with in situ high-resolution nutrient monitoring at a national scale. This paper brings together findings from all three DTC research groups to compare the response of the catchments to a major storm event in April 2012. This was one of the first weather fronts to track across the country following a prolonged drought period affecting much of the UK through 2011–2012, marking an unusual meteorological transition when a rapid shift from drought to flood risk occurred. The effects of the weather front on discharge and water chemistry parameters, including nitrogen species (NO3-N and NH4-N) and phosphorus fractions (total P (TP) and total reactive P (TRP)), measured at a half-hourly time step are examined. When considered in the context of one hydrological year, flow and concentration duration curves reveal that the weather fronts resulted in extreme flow, ...

We identify major knowledge gaps in the primary impacts of extreme weather and climate change across the UK's food system, its functioning and their interactions to provide information to support adaptation and resilience planning. Future shocks and stresses due to changes in weather and climate extremes will have significant impacts on the UK food system. Key knowledge gaps remain in our understanding of their impacts on non-cereal crops, livestock and fisheries production, on the food chain beyond primary production, on the longer-term impacts, and in an integrated, full system view of impacts that accounts for cumulative impacts, interactions, feedbacks and the interplay between domestic and overseas elements of the UK food system. These knowledge gaps need to be urgently addressed to ensure future climate resilience of the UK food system. There are several areas where research could better support decision-making towards increased resilience to weather and climate shocks in both food policy and business sectors. We note the need for a step change in the collection, quality, synthesis and application of a broad range of weather and food chain data and information across time and space. There is a need to develop tools to support the inclusion of the "missing middle" of food chain and policy discussions that incorporate weather and climate impacts: processing/packaging, transport, storage, wholesale, retail and disposing/reusing. Greater integration of climate, biophysical, social, political and economic research is required to characterise geo-political influences on food system climate resilience. Further work is needed to assess adaptation actions needed in response, and their knock-on trade-offs and consequences across sectors, and their interactions. The challenges identified here suggest the need for challenge-led, connective, interdisciplinary approaches to future funding initiatives in support of achieving food system resilience to weather and climate shocks.

A comprehensive cross-biome assessment of major nitrogen (N) species that includes dissolved organic N (DON) is central to understanding interactions between inorganic nutrients and organic matter in running waters. Here, we synthesize stream water N chemistry across biomes and find that the composition of the dissolved N pool shifts from highly heterogeneous to primarily comprised of inorganic N, in tandem with dissolved organic matter (DOM) becoming more N-rich, in response to nutrient enrichment from human disturbances. We identify two critical thresholds of total dissolved N (TDN) concentrations where the proportions of organic and inorganic N shift. With low TDN concentrations (0-1.3 mg/L N), the dominant form of N is highly variable, and DON ranges from 0% to 100% of TDN. At TDN concentrations above 2.8 mg/L, inorganic N dominates the N pool and DON rarely exceeds 25% of TDN. This transition to inorganic N dominance coincides with a shift in the stoichiometry of the DOM pool, where DOM becomes progressively enriched in N and DON concentrations are less tightly associated with concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). This shift in DOM stoichiometry (defined as DOC:DON ratios) suggests that fundamental changes in the biogeochemical cycles of C and N in freshwater ecosystems are occurring across the globe as human activity alters inorganic N and DOM sources and availability. Alterations to DOM stoichiometry are likely to have important implications for both the fate of DOM and its role as a source of N as it is transported downstream to the coastal ocean. ; National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Long-Term Ecological Research Network Office (LNO), National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), University of California-Santa Barbara [1545288]; NSFNational Science Foundation (NSF) [1556603]; New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station; USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture McIntire-Stennis Project [1006760, 1016163]; Natural Environment Research Council, UK Large Grant [NE/K010689/1] ; Published version ; This work was conducted as a part of the Stream Elemental Cycling Synthesis Group funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant DEB#1545288, through the Long-Term Ecological Research Network Office (LNO), National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), University of California-Santa Barbara. The authors acknowledge the efforts of Julien Brun for assistance with data synthesis and the efforts of multiple individuals who collected and analyzed samples. Partial support for ASW during data synthesis and manuscript preparation was provided by NSF grant DEB#1556603 (Deciphering Dissolved Organic Nitrogen). Partial funding was provided by the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station. This is Scientific Contribution 2880. This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture McIntire-Stennis Project 1006760. Support for AA was provided by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture McIntire-Stennis Project 1016163. Partial support for PJJ and CAY was provided by Natural Environment Research Council, UK Large Grant NE/K010689/1 (DOMAINE: Characterizing the Nature, Origins and Ecological Significance of DOM in Freshwater Ecosystems). The authors are also grateful for feedback from two anonymous reviewers whose comments significantly improved this manuscript. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Dr. John Schade, a friend, colleague, and mentor to many of us. John studied ecological stoichiometry in freshwater ecosystems and led the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) group at the US National Science Foundation. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee