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Spatial and temporal patterns of river metabolism along the Cahaba River, AL

Spatial and temporal patterns of river metabolism along the Cahaba River, AL. Elise Chapman, Ryan Sponseller & Jennifer Edmonds The University of Alabama Department of Biological Sciences. Continuing pressure on water resources.

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Spatial and temporal patterns of river metabolism along the Cahaba River, AL

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  1. Spatial and temporal patterns of river metabolism along the Cahaba River, AL Elise Chapman, Ryan Sponseller & Jennifer Edmonds The University of Alabama Department of Biological Sciences

  2. Continuing pressure on water resources • Growing urbanization and agricultural demands on our landscape occur due to population growth. • These demands often result in physical and chemical changes to waterways. • Eutrophication • Loss of species diversity • Harmful Algal Blooms Randy Haddock, Cahaba River Society

  3. Stream mitigation of nutrient loading Small Streams Rivers Longer transport distance and water residence time (Wollhiem et al. 2006, Mulhollnad et al. 2008) Elevated nutrient concentrations • Lower ratio of water volume to sediment area (Alexander et al. 2000) • Account for majority of stream length (Leopold et al. 1964)

  4. Ecosystem metabolism Reaeration (k) O2 Gross Primary Production (GPP) Ecosystem Respiration (ER)

  5. Estimating metabolic parameters Bayesian Metabolism Model

  6. Valley & Ridge The Cahaba River Valley & Ridge Valley & Ridge Mobile River Basin Mobile River Basin Fall Line Fall Line Fall Line Gulf Coastal Plain Gulf Coastal Plain Gulf Coastal Plain Modified from USGS map Modified from USGS map

  7. Research Objective Identify spatial and temporal patterns of ecosystem metabolism in a mid-sized river. Hypothesis: GPP & ER will be highest along the Fall Line due to highly heterogeneous channel form.

  8. Spatial patterns of GPP & ER VR FL CP VR FL CP VR FL CP VR FL CP

  9. Spatial patterns of GPP:ER VR FL CP VR FL CP VR FL CP VR FL CP

  10. Conclusions Both GPP and ER were higher in spring and summer compared to fall and winter. In most cases ER exceeded GPP indicating net heterotrophy. Hypothesis: GPP and ER will be highest along the Fall Line due to highly heterogeneous channel form. No and Yes VR FLCP VR FL CP

  11. Acknowledgments Field Help

  12. Questions?

  13. Comparison to other rivers • Townsend et al. 2011

  14. Example ecosystem metabolism parameter estimates from BaMM Gross primary production (GPP, g O2 m-2 day-1), respiration (R, g O2 m-2 day-1), P/R, and gas exchange (k, day-1) estimated by BaMM in winter along the Cahaba River , AL.

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