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Intensive agriculture and growing human populations are important nitrogen (N) sources thought to be associated with eutrophication. However, the contribution and seasonality of N delivery to streams from human activities is poorly understood and knowledge of the role of stream communities in the assimilation of N from human activities is limited. We used N and oxygen stable isotope ratios of dissolved inorganic N (DIN) and concentrations of artificial sweeteners to identify the relative contribution of key sources of anthropogenic N (i.e., fertilizers, human, and livestock waste) to tributaries of the Red River Valley (RRV), Manitoba, Canada. Water and algae were sampled in 14 RRV tributaries during snowmelt, spring, summer, and autumn; and water was sampled at three locations in the Red River in spring, summer, and autumn. δ 15 N values of DIN in tributary water differed seasonally and were greatest during snowmelt. Incorporation of ammonium δ 15 N provided evidence for the importance of manure N to tributaries during snowmelt. Fertilizer and municipal lagoons served as principal sources of N to streams in spring and summer. Human and livestock waste sources of N were the dominant contributor to algae at greater than 90% of sites and algae δ 15 N was greatest at sites downstream of municipal lagoons. We also showed that the tributaries contribute human and livestock waste N to the Red River, though much of the nitrate in the river originates outside of Manitoba. Overall, our study determined that the anthropogenic sources of N to RRV streams vary seasonally, likely due to regional hydrologic conditions. Our study also showed the potential of artificial sweeteners and ammonium δ 15 N as tools for identifying N sources to rivers. Moreover, we demonstrate the need for the management of N sources and the protection of stream function to control downstream transfer of N from landscapes to waterbodies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Crown Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Small watersheds in the Canadian Prairies are characterized by seasonally disconnected hydrologic networks whereby stream channels are hydrologically connected during snowmelt but have disconnected reaches throughout the remainder of the year. Snowmelt is the most significant hydrological event in the Canadian Prairies, yet few studies have investigated the role of snowmelt in the nutrient budget of prairie streams. We quantified hydrologic and nutrient dynamics during snowmelt for ten agricultural subwatersheds distributed along a gradient of human activity in the Red River Valley, Canada, to evaluate the timing of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) export. Elevated concentrations of total P (TP) and total N (TN) were observed during the snowmelt peak, with maximum concentrations reaching 3.23 mg TP L(-1) and 18.50 mg TN L(-1). Dissolved P and N dominated the total nutrient pool throughout snowmelt, likely due to reduced erosion and sediment transport resulting from the combination of the flat topography, frozen soil and stream banks, and gradual snow cover melt. Significant correlations were observed between snowmelt N load (r=0.91; p<0.05) and both agricultural land cover and fertilizer usage, with a weaker correlation between snowmelt P load (r=0.81; p<0.05) and agricultural area. Our results showed that snowmelt plays a key role in nutrient export to prairie aquatic ecosystems and this may have serious impacts on downstream ecosystems. Land use management practices need to consider the snowmelt period to control nutrient loads to Lake Winnipeg and other waterbodies in the Great Plains.

Nutrient management in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin has focused on the reduction of tributary phosphorus inputs to control lake eutrophication. However, the regional implications of nutrient enrichment on stream eutrophication and management remain understudied. We compared nutrient concentrations and stoichiometric ratios of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus to evaluate spatial and temporal patterns in the potential for nutrient limitation in streams of the lower Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin in Ontario, Canada. Monitoring data from 127 streams was used to describe macronutrient concentrations and stoichiometry over a 10-year period (2007–2016). Nutrient enrichment was widespread as 65% and 68% of studied streams had nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations above regional guidelines, respectively. Macronutrient stoichiometry indicated that 35% of streams were depleted for phosphorus and 65% were co-depleted for nitrogen and phosphorus relative to the Redfield ratio. However, algal production in most streams was likely nutrient saturated such that only 2% of streams showed the potential for phosphorus limitation and 21% for nitrogen and phosphorus co-limitation. Temporal assessment of individual nutrients that were depleted indicated minimal variation within most streams. In contrast, macronutrient stoichiometry was associated with spatial patterns in catchment land-cover whereby a shift from nitrogen and phosphorus co-depletion to phosphorus depletion occurred with increasing agriculture and decreasing natural and wetland cover. Our results suggest that phosphorus reductions alone may be insufficient to manage stream eutrophication in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin and that dual nutrient reductions needed to improve stream conditions may be achievable through land-cover management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal variation may influence the ability of best management practices (BMPs) to mitigate the loss of agricultural pollutants to streams. Our goal was to assess variation in mitigation effects of BMPs by examining the associations between instream nutrient concentrations and the abundance and location of four structural BMPs over a hydrologic year. Water samples were collected monthly (Nov. 2013–Oct. 2014) in 15 headwater streams representing a gradient of BMP use in Southern Ontario, Canada. Partial least squares (PLS) regression models were used to associate two groups of collinear nutrient forms with the abundance and location of BMPs, antecedent precipitation and time of year. BMP metrics in PLS models were associated with instream concentrations of major phosphorus forms and ammonium throughout the year. In contrast, total nitrogen and nitrate-nitrite were only associated with BMPs during snowmelt. BMP metrics associated with reductions of phosphorus and ammonium included greater abundances of riparian buffers and manure storage structures, but not livestock restriction fences. Likewise, the abundance and location riparian vegetation in areas capturing more surface runoff were associated with decreased stream nitrogen concentrations during snowmelt. However, the amount of tile drainage was associated with increased nitrogen concentrations following snowmelt, as well as with greater phosphorus and ammonium concentrations throughout the year. Overall, our findings indicate that increasing the abundance of riparian buffers and manure storage structures may decrease instream nutrient concentrations in agricultural areas. Additionally, the implementation of these structural BMPs appear to be an effective year-round strategy to assist management objectives in reducing phosphorus concentrations in small agricultural streams and thus loadings to downstream tributaries. Further mitigation measures, such as managerial BMPs and controlled tile drainage, may be required to further reduce instream nutrient concentrations during baseflow periods and snowmelt events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Human activities in the subcatchments of Lake Winnipeg''s contributing basins are hypothesized to be an important cause of the increased nutrient loadings intensifying eutrophication processes in Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. This study used a geographic information system (GIS) and available human activity data to describe the types and extents of nutrient producing human activities in subcatchments of the Red River Valley, Manitoba. The goal of the study was to estimate variation in the relative amount of nitrogen and phosphorus produced by human activities and thus potentially available for release to aquatic environments. Estimates of nutrient production indicated that agricultural activities, particularly through synthetic fertilizer application, were by far the largest potential source of anthropogenic nutrients to aquatic ecosystems in most subcatchments. Residential sources in these subcatchments contributed less than 1% of the total amount of nutrients produced. Assessment of spatial variation in nutrient production demonstrated that estimated nutrient production from fertilizer application in subcatchments on the west side of the Red River Valley was up to two orders of magnitude higher than that found in subcatchments on the east side. In contrast, high livestock densities in several eastern subcatchments of the Red River Valley produced more than five times the annual areal mass of nitrogen and phosphorus of most western subcatchments. Our findings demonstrate the importance of quantifying, a priori, the potential sources of nutrients to river tributaries so that future sampling sites can be stratified to include catchments where different nutrient producing activities are most extensive. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Cumulative effects of human activities are widespread in developed regions. • We assessed effects of agriculture and sewage effluent on stream communities. • Macroinvertebrate and diatom assemblage conditions declined with nutrient enrichment. • Enrichment effects were conditional on upstream nutrient status. • Assessment design needs to account for complexities in multi-use catchments. Human impacts on stream ecosystems are expected to intensify with population growth and climate change. Decisive information on how stream communities respond to cumulative human impacts is therefore integral for protecting streams draining multi-use catchments. To determine cumulative influences of nutrient enrichment and assess more nuanced approaches for the evaluation of human impacts, we present results from one factorial and two gradient assessment designs applied to benthic algae and macroinvertebrate data from 14 mid-order streams in southern Ontario, Canada with pre-existing human impacts (i.e., sewage effluent and agriculture). We found that among stream variability in ecological indicators measured downstream of sewage effluent outfalls confounded our generalized factorial assessment and provided inconclusive information on a known human impact. Despite our gradient assessment also not having strong statistical support, accounting for the extent of nutrient enrichment associated with differences in sewage effluent and agricultural inputs revealed that larger longitudinal changes in stream communities were associated with increased nutrient enrichment. However, re-weighting our nutrient enrichment gradient based on upstream nutrient concentrations to account for nonlinearities in the response of stream communities to nutrient enrichment produced more robust assessment results that were consistent with predicted effects of nutrients on stream ecosystems. Thus, while our factorial assessment suggests that the communities are resistant to nutrients from cumulative human impacts, our targeted gradient assessment demonstrates that the effects of nutrient enrichment are highly conditional on upstream ecosystem conditions. Future assessments may need to go beyond traditional approaches (i.e., impact presence/absence) and more explicitly consider the environmental stressors and their associated complexities related to the impact under investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]