Nitrogen budgets of the Long Island Sound estuary

Penny Vlahos; Michael Whitney; Christina Menniti; John R. Mullaney; Jonathan Morrison; Yan Jia

doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2019.106493

Nitrogen budgets of the Long Island Sound estuary

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

By: Penny Vlahos, Michael Whitney, Christina Menniti, John R. Mullaney, Jonathan Morrison, and Yan Jia

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2019.106493

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Data Release: USGS data release - Nitrogen concentrations and loads and seasonal nitrogen loads in selected Long Island Sound tributaries, water years 1995-2016
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Abstract

Nitrogen (N) inputs to coastal ecosystems have significant impacts on coastal community structure. In N limited systems, increases in N inputs may lead to excess productivity and hypoxia. Like many temperate estuaries, Long Island Sound (LIS), a major eastern U.S. estuary, is a N limited system which has experienced seasonal hypoxia since the 1800s. This study is the first effort to constrain the total N cycle in this estuary. The approach utilizes data collected over the last two decades in the LIS time series with hydrodynamic model results to generate both monthly and annual N budgets between 1995 and 2016. Of the total N that is delivered to LIS through rivers and atmospheric inputs, 40% is exported to the adjacent continental shelf on the order of 10.8 ± 8.9 × 10⁶ kg N/year. Of this export, 41% is dissolved organic N, 29% is particulate organic N, 32% is nitrate + nitrite, and −3% is ammonium. The remaining 60% of the N delivered to LIS is either buried in sediments or lost through denitrification. This inferred internal loss rate is equivalent to 5.4 g N/(m²year). This study serves as an example of the significant inter-annual variations that estuarine budgets undergo as efforts to understand coastal biogeochemical cycles move forward.

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Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Nitrogen budgets of the Long Island Sound estuary
Series title	Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
DOI	10.1016/j.ecss.2019.106493
Volume	232
Year Published	2020
Language	English
Publisher	Elsevier
Contributing office(s)	New England Water Science Center
Description	106493, 9 p.
Country	United States
State	Connecticut, New York
Other Geospatial	Long Island Sound
Google Analytic Metrics	Metrics page