Context is Everything: Interacting Inputs and Landscape Characteristics Control Stream Nitrogen

Abstract

To understand the environmental and anthropogenic drivers of stream nitrogen (N) concentrations across the conterminous US, we combined summer low-flow data from 4997 streams with watershed information across three survey periods (2000-2014) of the US EPA's National Rivers and Streams Assessment. Watershed N inputs explained 51% of the variation in log-transformed stream total N (TN) concentrations. Both N source and input rates influenced stream NO₃/TN ratios and N concentrations. Streams dominated by oxidized N forms (NO₃/TN ratio > 0.50) were more strongly responsive to the N input rate compared to streams dominated by other N forms. NO₃ proportional contribution increased with N inputs, supporting N saturation-enhanced NO₃ export to aquatic ecosystems. By combining information about N inputs with climatic and landscape factors, random forest models of stream N concentrations explained 70, 58, and 60% of the spatial variation in stream concentrations of TN, dissolved inorganic N, and total organic N, respectively. The strength and direction of relationships between watershed drivers and stream N concentrations and forms varied with N input intensity. Model results for high N input watersheds not only indicated potential contributions from contaminated groundwater to high stream N concentrations but also the mitigating role of wetlands.