What We Study:
- Understanding the role of nitrogen "sinks", including riparian areas, streams and reservoirs, on the landscape reducing the export of nitrate from coastal watersheds.
- Understanding the role of watershed features and human activities on streamflow regimes.
Our recent and ongoing projects:
- Groundwater nitrate cycling in riparian zones
- Groundwater nitrate cycling in salt marshes
- In-stream denitrification
- Advancing watershed nitrogen management at the local level
- Effect of woody debris on fluvial system nitrogen
- Artificial nitrogen sinks
- Watersheds and streamflow regimes
Why do we study nitrate processing?
• Nitrate leaching to
groundwater is greatly increased by human inputs, such as fertilizer
use
and leaking septic systems.
• There is evidence of high nitrate concentrations
in groundwater all over the North East US.
• Excessive nitrogen (N) can cause unsightly algae
blooms in coastal ponds and estuaries which consume available
oxygen
and
cause other
organisms to die.
• Great uncertainty surrounds N cycling within coastal watersheds.
Not all N entering the watershed can be traced, leaving unidentified
N sinks. The fate of the remainder N is a major challenge to
coastal managers.
