Nutrient Rich "Hot Spots" Across the Sierran Front to the - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Nutrient Rich "Hot Spots" Across the Sierran Front to the Cascades CABNR TEAM: Carinna Robertson (Graduate Research Assistant, University of Nevada, Reno) Dr. Wally Miller, Dr. Dale Johnson, Dr. Roger Walker , Casandra Woodward and Brooke Eustis trekaroo.com

Nutrient Rich "Hot Spots" Across the Sierran Front to the Cascades  Introduction  Biogeochemical “hot spots” or “hot moments”  Transport of Nutrients (Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P)  Calcium (Ca 2+ ), Magnesium (Mg 2+ ), Potassium (K + )  Past /Current Research  Biologically available N and P traveling from the O horizon along preferential flow paths (Miller et al., 2005)  Identified the periodic presence of nutrient rich “hot spots/moments” within the soil matrix; albeit the spatio-temporal scale was uncertain (Johnson et al., 2011).

Nutrient Rich "Hot Spots" Across the Sierran Front to the Cascades  Goal of this Research  To develop a better understanding of water flow and nutrient infiltration patterns across the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.  Potential Cause of Excess Nutrients  Management Strategies  Primary Objectives  Biogeochemical “Hot Spots”  Presence or absence  Chemical composition  Geographic distribution

Nutrient Rich "Hot Spots" Across the Sierran Front to the Cascades  Project Design - 5 Study Locations:  Castle Lake, CA  Sagehen, CA  Truckee, CA  Little Valley, NV  Kings River, CA

Project Design: Controlled Grid Analysis Lysimeter /Capsule Grid  Controlled Grid Plots 16 15 14 13  2-9m 2 , 16 points  Resin Lysimeters 12 10 11 9  Resin Capsules  2 Settings: Uphill  Upland Forested Ecotone Capsule 8 7 6 5 or Lysimeter  Transition/Variable Point Down-Gradient Ecotone 4 3 2 1 3 meters Runoff Collector Runoff Collector

1 st and 2 nd Year Capsule Results Moderate and Extreme Outliers ~ 9 m 2 Most Nutrients Would Correlate at a Grid Point Nutrient "Hot Spot" Detection at TR Nutrient "Hot Spot" Detection at the TR Site 2nd Yr. (umol/cm2) Site 1st Yr. (umol/cm2) 20 20 16 Vertical Grid Positions 16 Vertical Grid Positions Ca Ca Mg Mg 12 12 Ortho-P Ortho-P NH4-N NH4-N 8 8 NO3-N NO3-N 4 4 0 0 0 4 8 12 16 20 0 4 8 12 16 20 Horizontal Grid Positions Horizontal Grid Positions

Capsule Grid Results Moderate and Extreme Outliers ~ 256 Grid Points only 4 Points Detected Similar High Nutrient Fluxes (1.5%) Nutrient" Hot Spot" Detection at Nutrient "Hot Spot" Detection at the the LVJP Site 2nd Yr. (umol/cm2) LVJP Site 1st Yr. (umol/cm2) 20 20 16 16 Vertical Grid Positions Vertical Grid Positions Ca Ca 12 Mg 12 Mg NH4-N Ortho-P NO3-N NH4-N 8 8 Ortho-P NO3-N 4 4 0 0 0 4 8 12 16 20 0 4 8 12 16 20 Horizontal Grid Positions Horizontal Grid Positions

Capsule Grid Results Moderate and Extreme Outliers Nutrient "Hot Spot" Detection at the Nutrient "Hot Spot" Detection at the SL Site 1st Yr. (umol/cm2) SL Site 2nd Yr. (umol/cm2) 20 20 16 16 Vertical Grid Positions Vertical Grid Positions Ca Ca 12 12 Mg Mg Ortho-P Ortho-P 8 NO3-N 8 NH4-N NH4-N NO3-N 4 4 0 0 0 4 8 12 16 20 0 4 8 12 16 20 Horizontal Grid Positions Horizontal Grid positions

Capsule Grid Results Moderate and Extreme Outliers Nutrient" Hot spot" Detection at CL Nutrient "Hot Spot" Detection at CL Site 2nd Yr. (umol/cm2) Site 1st yr. (umol/cm2) 20 20 Vertical Grid Position Vertical Grid Positions 16 16 Ca Ca NO3-N Mg 12 12 Mg NO3-N NH4-N NH4-N 8 8 Ortho-P Ortho-P 4 4 0 0 0 4 8 12 16 20 0 4 8 12 16 20 Horizontal Grid Position Horizontal Grid Positions

Truckee Capsule Grids NH4-N (umol/cm 2 ) Fall Collection 2009 0m 1m 2m 3m Conc. NH 4 -N (ug/cm 2 ) 0m 1m 2m 3m NH4-N (umol/cm 2 ) Spring Collection 2010 0m 1m 2m 3m Fall , NH4-N Spring, NH4-N (umol/cm 2 ) (umol/cm 2 ) 0m 1m 2m 3m

Capsule Grid Fall Analysis Sagehen Upland Site Moderate and Extreme Outlier Sagehen Upland Site 25 20 ug/cm2 15 10 5 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 1st Yr. NO3-N ug/cm2 2nd Yr. NO3-N ug/cm2

Nutrient Trends Across Sites ortho-P umol/cm 2 . 1 st Yr. 2 nd Yr.

NO 3 -N umol/cm 2 NH 4 -N umol/cm 2 . 1 st Yr. 2 nd Yr.

Ca 2+ umol/cm 2 Mg 2+ umol/cm 2 . 1 st Yr. 2 nd Yr.

Conclusions  Biogeochemical “Hot Spots/Moments” are Variable  Spatial Variation  Seasonal and Annual Variation  9 m 2 all Nutrients will Possibly Correlate at a Single Grid  Water Flow and Nutrient Infiltration Patterns were Extremely Variable  Geographic Distribution

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