{"title":"Potential of different buffer zones as nature-based solutions to mitigate agricultural runoff nutrients in the subtropics","authors":"Clementina Calvo , Lorena Rodríguez-Gallego , Gastón de León , Lucía Cabrera-Lamanna , Andrés Castagna , Soledad Costa , Leticia González , Mariana Meerhoff","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107354","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Agriculture is a major driver of land-use change and nutrient leaching worldwide, promoting eutrophication of surface water bodies. A frequent strategy to reduce nutrient external loads is the maintenance or re-establishment of riparian zones. We conducted a year-long, in situ monitoring of surface and subsurface water in three buffer zones (grassland, shrubland, forest) and adjacent croplands around the major water reservoir in Uruguay to assess runoff dynamics and nutrient potential reduction across different precipitation levels. All three buffer zones delayed surface runoff by twofold, yielding lower runoff than croplands. Also, they effectively retained phosphate (P-PO<sub>4</sub>) loads in both surface and subsurface runoff but were less effective in reducing their concentrations. The forest achieved the highest surface water P-reduction (80%). The effect was variable for nitrate (N-NO<sub>3</sub>), with buffers acting as either nutrient sinks or sources depending on the vegetation and runoff layer. Surface N-NO<sub>3</sub> loads were lower in the buffers, with a maximum reduction in grassland (∼50%), when compared to crops. In the subsurface layer, a reduction was only observed for N-NO<sub>3</sub> concentration in grassland (30%). Surface TP and P-PO<sub>4</sub> loads increased linearly with runoff rate only in the buffers, while both N-NO<sub>3</sub> and ammonium (N-NH<sub>4</sub>) loads increased with runoff in both crops and buffers. Our results may indicate that riparian buffers comprised of herbaceous and woody vegetation have high phosphorus and nitrogen reduction rates, emphasizing their potential as nature-based solutions for nutrient mitigation and water storage. Future increased precipitation may, however, challenge buffer effectiveness.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"207 ","pages":"Article 107354"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ecological Engineering","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925857424001794","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Agriculture is a major driver of land-use change and nutrient leaching worldwide, promoting eutrophication of surface water bodies. A frequent strategy to reduce nutrient external loads is the maintenance or re-establishment of riparian zones. We conducted a year-long, in situ monitoring of surface and subsurface water in three buffer zones (grassland, shrubland, forest) and adjacent croplands around the major water reservoir in Uruguay to assess runoff dynamics and nutrient potential reduction across different precipitation levels. All three buffer zones delayed surface runoff by twofold, yielding lower runoff than croplands. Also, they effectively retained phosphate (P-PO4) loads in both surface and subsurface runoff but were less effective in reducing their concentrations. The forest achieved the highest surface water P-reduction (80%). The effect was variable for nitrate (N-NO3), with buffers acting as either nutrient sinks or sources depending on the vegetation and runoff layer. Surface N-NO3 loads were lower in the buffers, with a maximum reduction in grassland (∼50%), when compared to crops. In the subsurface layer, a reduction was only observed for N-NO3 concentration in grassland (30%). Surface TP and P-PO4 loads increased linearly with runoff rate only in the buffers, while both N-NO3 and ammonium (N-NH4) loads increased with runoff in both crops and buffers. Our results may indicate that riparian buffers comprised of herbaceous and woody vegetation have high phosphorus and nitrogen reduction rates, emphasizing their potential as nature-based solutions for nutrient mitigation and water storage. Future increased precipitation may, however, challenge buffer effectiveness.
期刊介绍:
Ecological engineering has been defined as the design of ecosystems for the mutual benefit of humans and nature. The journal is meant for ecologists who, because of their research interests or occupation, are involved in designing, monitoring, or restoring ecosystems, and can serve as a bridge between ecologists and engineers.
Specific topics covered in the journal include: habitat reconstruction; ecotechnology; synthetic ecology; bioengineering; restoration ecology; ecology conservation; ecosystem rehabilitation; stream and river restoration; reclamation ecology; non-renewable resource conservation. Descriptions of specific applications of ecological engineering are acceptable only when situated within context of adding novelty to current research and emphasizing ecosystem restoration. We do not accept purely descriptive reports on ecosystem structures (such as vegetation surveys), purely physical assessment of materials that can be used for ecological restoration, small-model studies carried out in the laboratory or greenhouse with artificial (waste)water or crop studies, or case studies on conventional wastewater treatment and eutrophication that do not offer an ecosystem restoration approach within the paper.