Nitrate elimination by denitrification in hardwood forest soils of the Upper Rhine floodplain - correlation with redox potential and organic matter

Denitrification in floodplains is a major issue for river- and groundwater quality. In the Upper Rhine valley, floodplain forests are about to be restored to serve as flood retention areas (polders). Besides flood attenuation in downstream areas, improvement of water quality became recently a major...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrobiologia 2002-02, Vol.469 (1-3), p.11-21
Main Authors: Brettar, Ingrid, Sanchez-perez, José-miguel, Trémolières, Michèle
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Denitrification
Earth Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Experiments
Flooding
Floodplains
Floods
Forest soils
Freshwater
Global Changes
Hydrology
In situ measurement
Nitrate reduction
Nitrogen
Organic matter
Polders
Redox potential
Retention
Sciences of the Universe
Valleys
Water quality
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Summary:Denitrification in floodplains is a major issue for river- and groundwater quality. In the Upper Rhine valley, floodplain forests are about to be restored to serve as flood retention areas (polders). Besides flood attenuation in downstream areas, improvement of water quality became recently a major goal for polder construction. Redox potential monitoring was suggested as a means to support assessment of nitrogen elimination in future floodplains by denitrification during controlled flooding. To elucidate the relationship between redox potential and denitrification, experiments with floodplain soils and in situ measurements were done. Floodplain soil of two depth profiles from a hardwood forest of the Upper Rhine valley was incubated anaerobically with continuous nitrate supply. Reduction of nitrate was followed and compared with redox potential and organic matter content. The redox potential under denitrifying conditions ranged from 10 to 300 mV. Redox potential values decreased with increasing nitrate reduction rates and increasing organic matter content. Furthermore, a narrow correlation between organic matter and nitrate reduction was observed. Experiments were intended to help interpreting redox potentials generated under in situ conditions as exemplified by in situ observations for the year 1999. Results obtained by experiments and in situ observations showed that monitoring of redox potential could support management of the flooding regime to optimize nitrogen retention by denitrification in future flood retention areas.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0018-8158
1573-5117
DOI:10.1023/A:1015527611350