Humans have altered nitrogen (N) cycling on a global scale, and elevated nitrogen levels are characteristic of urban ecosystems. The major reasons that N is higher in cities include imports of food, fuel and fertilizer. High N export from both point- and nonpoint-sources is common in large cities. While N cycling has been studied in large urban areas, less is known about its cycling in medium-sized cities, such as Binghamton, N.Y. We found that point-source N exported from the Binghamton-Johnson City Wastewater Treatment Plant (B-JC WWTP) was greater than nonpoint-source N exported from eight urban streams to the Susquehanna River, which runs through the Binghamton area. The point-source N fluxes we measured from the B-JC WWTP were high because its function was impaired during the study, causing major environmental impacts on the Susquehanna River. Nonpoint-source N exported from eight urban streams was low, and comparable to N exported from streams of forested watersheds in the region. In an experiment in a roadside ecosystem, experimental deposition of N and road salt (NaCl) did not affect N cycling in roadside soils. However, NaCl negatively impacted C mineralization and soil respiration in situ. In a final experiment, we found that the microbial community of urban stream sediment had the capacity to substantially reduce NO3- through denitrification.
","abstract_html":"<p>Humans have altered nitrogen (N) cycling on a global scale, and elevated nitrogen levels are characteristic of urban ecosystems. The major reasons that N is higher in cities include imports of food, fuel and fertilizer. High N export from both point- and nonpoint-sources is common in large cities. While N cycling has been studied in large urban areas, less is known about its cycling in medium-sized cities, such as Binghamton, N.Y. We found that point-source N exported from the Binghamton-Johnson City Wastewater Treatment Plant (B-JC WWTP) was greater than nonpoint-source N exported from eight urban streams to the Susquehanna River, which runs through the Binghamton area. The point-source N fluxes we measured from the B-JC WWTP were high because its function was impaired during the study, causing major environmental impacts on the Susquehanna River. Nonpoint-source N exported from eight urban streams was low, and comparable to N exported from streams of forested watersheds in the region. In an experiment in a roadside ecosystem, experimental deposition of N and road salt (NaCl) did not affect N cycling in roadside soils. However, NaCl negatively impacted C mineralization and soil respiration in situ. In a final experiment, we found that the microbial community of urban stream sediment had the capacity to substantially reduce NO3- through denitrification.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Craig, Stephanie"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Biological Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Weixing Zhu"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-10-27T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-10-27T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:10:09Z","subjects":["Biological sciences","Earth sciences","Biogeochemistry","Nitrogen","Roadside","Urban ecology","Urban ecosystem","Urban streams","Biology","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://orb.binghamton.edu/dissertation_and_theses/68","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Weixing Zhu"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Craig, Stephanie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biological Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Biological sciences","Earth sciences","Biogeochemistry","Nitrogen","Roadside","Urban ecology","Urban ecosystem","Urban streams","Biology","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://orb.binghamton.edu/dissertation_and_theses/68"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Humans have altered nitrogen (N) cycling on a global scale, and elevated nitrogen levels are characteristic of urban ecosystems. The major reasons that N is higher in cities include imports of food, fuel and fertilizer. High N export from both point- and nonpoint-sources is common in large cities. While N cycling has been studied in large urban areas, less is known about its cycling in medium-sized cities, such as Binghamton, N.Y. We found that point-source N exported from the Binghamton-Johnson City Wastewater Treatment Plant (B-JC WWTP) was greater than nonpoint-source N exported from eight urban streams to the Susquehanna River, which runs through the Binghamton area. The point-source N fluxes we measured from the B-JC WWTP were high because its function was impaired during the study, causing major environmental impacts on the Susquehanna River. Nonpoint-source N exported from eight urban streams was low, and comparable to N exported from streams of forested watersheds in the region. In an experiment in a roadside ecosystem, experimental deposition of N and road salt (NaCl) did not affect N cycling in roadside soils. However, NaCl negatively impacted C mineralization and soil respiration in situ. In a final experiment, we found that the microbial community of urban stream sediment had the capacity to substantially reduce NO3- through denitrification.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Nitrogen biogeochemistry in Binghamton, NY, a medium-sized urban ecosystem"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Weixing Zhu"],"dc:creator":["Craig, Stephanie"],"dc:description.abstract":["Humans have altered nitrogen (N) cycling on a global scale, and elevated nitrogen levels are characteristic of urban ecosystems. The major reasons that N is higher in cities include imports of food, fuel and fertilizer. High N export from both point- and nonpoint-sources is common in large cities. While N cycling has been studied in large urban areas, less is known about its cycling in medium-sized cities, such as Binghamton, N.Y. We found that point-source N exported from the Binghamton-Johnson City Wastewater Treatment Plant (B-JC WWTP) was greater than nonpoint-source N exported from eight urban streams to the Susquehanna River, which runs through the Binghamton area. The point-source N fluxes we measured from the B-JC WWTP were high because its function was impaired during the study, causing major environmental impacts on the Susquehanna River. Nonpoint-source N exported from eight urban streams was low, and comparable to N exported from streams of forested watersheds in the region. In an experiment in a roadside ecosystem, experimental deposition of N and road salt (NaCl) did not affect N cycling in roadside soils. However, NaCl negatively impacted C mineralization and soil respiration in situ. In a final experiment, we found that the microbial community of urban stream sediment had the capacity to substantially reduce NO3- through denitrification.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://orb.binghamton.edu/dissertation_and_theses/68"],"dc:subject":["Biological sciences","Earth sciences","Biogeochemistry","Nitrogen","Roadside","Urban ecology","Urban ecosystem","Urban streams","Biology","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology"],"dc:title":["Nitrogen biogeochemistry in Binghamton, NY, a medium-sized urban ecosystem"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biological Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:10:09Z"}