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.

Suggested Citation

Vlahos, P., Whitney, M., Menniti, C., Mullaney, J., Morrison, J., and Jia, Y., 2020, Nitrogen budgets of the Long Island Sound estuary: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, v. 232, 106493, 9 p., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2019.106493.

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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