Characterization of Rain and Stormwater Nitrogen Inputs to the Mississippi Sound: A Landscape Approach

<p>Urbanization in coastal watersheds is becoming an increasingly important issue in the world. Increased impervious surface cover, a factor of urbanization, has drawn more attention to stormwater runoff as a source of contamination to receiving waters. In this study, nitrogen species from rain and stormwater were analyzed across three different landscape types along the Mississippi Sound (hardened, residential, and pristine), as well as from drainage pipes that flow directly into to the Mississippi Sound. Nitrogen stable isotopes were used to trace the stormwater nitrogen to the surface waters and biota within the Sound.</p> <p>The objective of this study was to determine the contribution of rainwater and stormwater to the nitrogen pool of Mississippi coastal waters, and to the biota present within those waters. All landscape types were found to have variable nitrogen sources in addition to rainwater nitrogen. Stormwater ¹⁵NH₄ values were always enriched relative to rainwater ¹⁵NH₄ values. Stormwater in pristine sites consistently had the lowest concentrations of ammonium, nitrate, and phosphate. Surface water nutrient concentrations were generally higher in the more developed areas compared to waters near the pristine landscape.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Coastal Sciences, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Allen, Joshua Michael

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kevin Dillon
• Wei Wu
• Scott Milroy

• stormwater
• rainwater
• nitrogen
• Mississippi Sound
• stable isotopes
• biogeochemistry
• Earth Sciences
• Oceanography
• Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
• Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Repository record dc:identifier

https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/57

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:aquila.usm.edu:masters_theses-1032