Nitrate removal in two relict oxbow urban wetlands: a 15N mass-balance approach

A mass-balance approach was used to directly determine the flow of 15NO3- to plants, algae, and sediments,with unaccounted for 15N assumed to be denitrified. During the summer, plant and algal uptake accounted for 42%, of the added 15NO3 - in oxbow 1, less than 1% remained in the water column and 57% was unaccounted for. In oxbow 2 during the summer, plant and algal uptake accounted for 63% of the added 15NO3 -, with 1% remaining in the water column and 38% unaccounted for. During the early spring, plant and algal uptake were much lower in both oxbows, ranging from 0.05 to 13.3% of the 15N added, with 97 and 87% was unaccounted for in oxbow 1 and 2, respectively. The amount of unaccounted for 15N was equivalent to estimated areal denitrification rates of 12 and 6 mg N m-2 d-1 in the summer and 78 and 15 mg N m-2 d-1 in the spring, in oxbow 1 and oxbow 2, respectively. However, the uncertainty of these estimates is high as it was difficult to detect accumulation of 15N in the sediments which could have accounted for a very large percentage of the added 15N. Our results suggest that the two relict oxbow wetlands are sinks for NO3 - during both summer and spring. Plane view of Ox1 (A) and Ox2 (B) wetlands with closed contour intervals (color scale) and surrounding stream and upland elevations (labeled in black) located at Minebank Run, near Glen Arms, MD. 15N enrichment (atom %) of measured N pools prior to (Day 0) and after (Day 5) the end of the experiment in July 2009 and April 2010 for Ox1 and Ox2. Values are mean atom % (n = 2 algae, macrophytes and sediment; n = 6 for water samples).