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Some of the completed research projects in the Natural Resources Department & the Environment include examining the influence of ecosystem properties, land use patterns, human population density, and property values on water quality by examining differences in both surface water and groundwater quality among sub-basins. We are also addressing long-term changes in water quality associated with changes in these watershed attributes over time in the entire Lamprey River basin and are assessing total N inputs and outputs. Results to date show a strong influence of population density on nitrate in stream water and also groundwater (see graph), but no effect on phosphate or dissolved organic matter. Property values also affect nitrogen levels, with higher property value per ha associated with higher nitrate and ammonium concentration (see graph) and flux. Monthly average nitrate concentration is increasing in the Lamprey River and we suspect this is due to suburbanization (see graph). There is also a large amount of nitrogen retention in the Lamprey River basin (78 to 93 % from 2000 to 2006; see PDF), but we do not fully understand the mechanisms that control N storage or loss within the basin. Other projects under way include measuring in-stream changes in nitrogen along the main stem, changes in nitrogen in the riparian zone of small tributaries and in-stream changes in nitrogen gas along a small tributary with a suburbanized watershed.
Completed Projects
Current Projects
Ongoing Projects
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