The import and export of organic nitrogen species at a Scottish ombrotrophic peatland

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Abstract

Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) contributes significantly to the overall nitrogen budget, but is not routinely measured in precipitation or stream water. In order to investigate the contribution of DON to the deposition and export of N, precipitation, stream and soil water samples were collected from an ombrotrophic peatland and analysed for DON over a 2-year period. In wet-only deposition DON contributed up to 10 % of the total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) and was the most dominant fraction in soil water (99 %) and stream water (75 %). NH4+ was the most dominate form of N in precipitation, with NO3- contributing the least to precipitation, soil water and stream water. Precipitation and stream DON were qualitatively analysed by a two-dimensional gas chromatograph coupled to a nitrogen chemiluminescence detector (GC × GC-NCD) after trapping onto C18 solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridges. Ten unique compounds were detected and five identified as pyrrole, benzonitrile, dodecylamine, N-nitrosodipropylamine and decylamine. Five compounds were present in both precipitation and stream samples: pyrrole, benzonitrile and three unidentified compounds. The SPE-extraction efficiency for DON was very low (11 %), but with improvements DON speciation could become a valuable tool to provide information on its sources and pathways and inform chemical transport models.

Figures

  • Figure 1. Schematic map of catchment and sampling sites at Auchencorth Moss. A points to the study catchment outlet and stream sampling site, B: monitoring station (wet-only analyser) and C: dip wells. Adapted from Dinsmore et al. (2010).
  • Figure 2. Volume-weighted monthly average concentrations of NH+ 4 (grey), NO− 3 (black) and DON (white) in wet-only precipitation.
  • Figure 3. Monthly concentrations of NH+ 4 (grey), NO− 3 (black) and DON (white) in soil water. The line represents monthly water table elevation. The June 2009 sample was misplaced and December 2009 and January 2010 were frozen; the remaining blank spaces indicate that the dip wells were dry on the day of collection.
  • Table 1. Statistics of annual concentrations of NH+ 4 , NO− 3 , DON and TDN for 2009 and 2010 in wet-only precipitation. Values are based on individual samples collected over the 2-year period. N∗ indicates the number of samples collected.
  • Table 2. Statistics of annual concentrations of NH+ 4 , NO− 3 , DON and TDN for 2009 and 2010 in soil water. Values are based on individual samples collected from dip wells over the 2-year period. N∗ indicates the number of samples collected.
  • Table 3. Statistics of annual concentrations of NH+ 4 , NO− 3 , DON and TDN for 2009 and 2010 in stream water. Values are based on individual samples collected over the 2-year period. N∗ indicates the number of samples collected.
  • Figure 4. Discharge-weighted monthly mean concentrations of NH+ 4 (grey), NO− 3 (black) and DON (white) in stream water. The line represents mean monthly air temperature.
  • Table 4. Summary of compounds and their concentrations (µmol N L−1) detected by the GC×GC-NCD, and overall DON concentrations (µmol N L−1) derived from TDN−DIN in precipitation samples. Samples collected on dates shaded in grey did not contain compounds at measurable concentrations by the GC×GC-NCD. Blank spaces indicate a value below the detection limit. Rt1 and Rt2 are retention times in seconds for the first and second GC columns.

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APA

McKenzie, R. M., Özel, M. Z., Cape, J. N., Drewer, J., Dinsmore, K. J., Nemitz, E., … Skiba, U. (2016). The import and export of organic nitrogen species at a Scottish ombrotrophic peatland. Biogeosciences, 13(8), 2353–2365. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2353-2016

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