1. Citizen science reveals unexpected solute patterns in semiarid river networks
- Author
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Monterey L. Nelson, Allison Tuttle Asay, Trevor Crandall, Carter D. Allred, Rebecca J. Frei, Elizabeth Kujanpaa, Maria Camila Vargas, Erin Jones, Jansen C. Howe, Rhetta Shoemaker, Joseph Tolworthy, Raymond Lee, Andrew P. Follett, Isabella M. Errigo, Adam J. Norris, Jordan D. Maxwell, Amber Call, Neil C. Hansen, Zachary T. Aanderud, Madeleine Malmfeldt, Madeline Buhman, Leslie Lange, Elysse Ostlund, Natasha A. Griffin, Gabriella M. Lawson, Benjamin W. Abbott, Kaylee Tanner, Rachel Watts, Hunter C Burbidge, Nicholas J. Suiter, and Emily L. Meadows
- Subjects
Topography ,Watershed ,Nitrogen ,Science ,Social Sciences ,Human Geography ,Freshwater ecosystem ,Geographical locations ,Water scarcity ,Rivers ,Surface Water ,Mountains ,Water Quality ,Utah ,Land Use ,Ecosystem ,Landforms ,Multidisciplinary ,Citizen Science ,Geography ,Aquatic ecosystem ,Ecology and Environmental Sciences ,Water Pollution ,Phosphorus ,Geomorphology ,Pollution ,Terrestrial Environments ,United States ,Spring ,Physical Geography ,North America ,Earth Sciences ,Environmental science ,Medicine ,Spatial variability ,Seasons ,Water quality ,Hydrology ,Watersheds ,People and places ,Water resource management ,Surface water ,Research Article ,Valleys - Abstract
Human modification of water and nutrient flows has resulted in widespread degradation of aquatic ecosystems. The resulting global water crisis causes millions of deaths and trillions of USD in economic damages annually. Semiarid regions have been disproportionately affected because of high relative water demand and pollution. Many proven water management strategies are not fully implemented, partially because of a lack of public engagement with freshwater ecosystems. In this context, we organized a large citizen science initiative to quantify nutrient status and cultivate connection in the semiarid watershed of Utah Lake (USA). Working with community members, we collected samples from ~200 locations throughout the 7,640 km2 watershed on a single day in the spring, summer, and fall of 2018. We calculated ecohydrological metrics for nutrients, major ions, and carbon. For most solutes, concentration and leverage (influence on flux) were highest in lowland reaches draining directly to the lake, coincident with urban and agricultural sources. Solute sources were relatively persistent through time for most parameters despite substantial hydrological variation. Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus species showed critical source area behavior, with 10–17% of the sites accounting for most of the flux. Unlike temperate watersheds, where spatial variability often decreases with watershed size, longitudinal variability showed an hourglass shape: high variability among headwaters, low variability in mid-order reaches, and high variability in tailwaters. This unexpected pattern was attributable to the distribution of human activity and hydrological complexity associated with return flows, losing river reaches, and diversions in the tailwaters. We conclude that participatory science has great potential to reveal ecohydrological patterns and rehabilitate individual and community relationships with local ecosystems. In this way, such projects represent an opportunity to both understand and improve water quality in diverse socioecological contexts.
- Published
- 2021