Premium
Exports of carbon and nitrogen from river basins in Canada's Atlantic Provinces
Author(s) -
Clair T. A.,
Pollock T. L.,
Ehrman J. M.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
global biogeochemical cycles
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.512
H-Index - 187
eISSN - 1944-9224
pISSN - 0886-6236
DOI - 10.1029/94gb02311
Subject(s) - drainage basin , total organic carbon , nitrogen , carbon fibers , environmental science , precipitation , structural basin , hydrology (agriculture) , streams , dissolved organic carbon , ecosystem , total inorganic carbon , carbon cycle , vegetation (pathology) , physical geography , oceanography , geology , environmental chemistry , ecology , carbon dioxide , geography , chemistry , geomorphology , cartography , organic chemistry , materials science , composite number , composite material , computer network , pathology , computer science , biology , medicine , geotechnical engineering , meteorology
The loss of carbon and organic nitrogen from the terrestrial ecosystem via streams and rivers is dependent on a number of factors such as basin vegetation, geography, geology, climate, and hydrology. We studied the export of dissolved carbon and nitrogen from 26 rivers varying in size from 45 to 92,500 km 2 located in Atlantic Canada. Twenty‐four of the basins studied were free of significant anthropogenic activity and were covered with coniferous and mixed hardwood forests. Our results showed that total organic carbon loss from the region, normalized for area, was approximately 29 kg ha −1 yr −1 , while inorganic C was considerably lower at 4.3 kg ha −1 yr −1 . We developed predictive statistical models using total precipitation, basin size, and basin slope to predict the export of organic carbon and nitrogen. Our results suggest that increases in regional precipitation will most likely increase the loss of organic carbon and nitrogen from terrestrial systems. We also found that inorganic carbon and nitrogen were not influenced by precipitation. Inorganic carbon seemed more influenced by geology, and inorganic nitrogen seemed more influenced by basin slope.