In-stream denitrification

 

General Background:

•  Small, first and second order streams have been associated with substantial denitrification and nitrogen uptake.

• Previous studies have shown that streams vary markedly in their ability to cycle nitrogen, yet streams that have high removal rates may be important nitrogen sinks across the landscape.

 

What are we currently doing?

We are employing the isotope tracer method to assess the denitrification potential in first and second order New England streams. We hypothesize that streams with increased leaf and woody debris will have higher potential for denitrification.

 

See Alison Milliman's 2007 poster (pdf) for more information.