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Modelling primary production and environmental thresholds: an example of a UK lowland river

Modelling primary production and environmental thresholds: an example of a UK lowland river
Modelling primary production and environmental thresholds: an example of a UK lowland river
Nutrient enrichment and drought conditions are major threats to lowland rivers causing ecosystem degradation and composition changes in plant communities. The controls on primary producer composition in chalk rivers are investigated using a new model and existing data from the River Frome (UK) to explore abiotic and biotic interactions. The growth and interaction of four primary producer functional groups (suspended algae, macrophytes, epiphytes, sediment biofilm) were successfully linked with flow, nutrients (N, P), light and water temperature such that the modelled biomass dynamics of the four groups matched that of the observed. Simulated growth of suspended algae was limited mainly by the residence time of the river rather than in-stream phosphorus concentrations. The simulated growth of the fixed vegetation (macrophytes, epiphytes, sediment biofilm) was overwhelmingly controlled by incoming solar radiation and light attenuation in the water column. Nutrients and grazing have little control when compared to the other physical controls in the simulations. A number of environmental threshold values were identified in the model simulations for the different producer types. The simulation results highlighted the importance of the pelagic–benthic interactions within the River Frome and indicated that process interaction defined the behaviour of the primary producers, rather than a single, dominant driver. The model simulations pose interesting questions to be considered in the next iteration of field- and laboratory-based studies
1420-2026
125-148
Lazar, Attila N.
d7f835e7-1e3d-4742-b366-af19cf5fc881
Wade, Andrew J.
dcaa2b09-ab33-420a-a590-53fe07781bfb
Moss, Brian
b89c10f0-5cfd-4b5d-9025-c2d72faa981e
Lazar, Attila N.
d7f835e7-1e3d-4742-b366-af19cf5fc881
Wade, Andrew J.
dcaa2b09-ab33-420a-a590-53fe07781bfb
Moss, Brian
b89c10f0-5cfd-4b5d-9025-c2d72faa981e

Lazar, Attila N., Wade, Andrew J. and Moss, Brian (2016) Modelling primary production and environmental thresholds: an example of a UK lowland river. Environmental Modeling & Assessment, 21 (1), 125-148. (doi:10.1007/s10666-015-9473-3).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Nutrient enrichment and drought conditions are major threats to lowland rivers causing ecosystem degradation and composition changes in plant communities. The controls on primary producer composition in chalk rivers are investigated using a new model and existing data from the River Frome (UK) to explore abiotic and biotic interactions. The growth and interaction of four primary producer functional groups (suspended algae, macrophytes, epiphytes, sediment biofilm) were successfully linked with flow, nutrients (N, P), light and water temperature such that the modelled biomass dynamics of the four groups matched that of the observed. Simulated growth of suspended algae was limited mainly by the residence time of the river rather than in-stream phosphorus concentrations. The simulated growth of the fixed vegetation (macrophytes, epiphytes, sediment biofilm) was overwhelmingly controlled by incoming solar radiation and light attenuation in the water column. Nutrients and grazing have little control when compared to the other physical controls in the simulations. A number of environmental threshold values were identified in the model simulations for the different producer types. The simulation results highlighted the importance of the pelagic–benthic interactions within the River Frome and indicated that process interaction defined the behaviour of the primary producers, rather than a single, dominant driver. The model simulations pose interesting questions to be considered in the next iteration of field- and laboratory-based studies

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Accepted/In Press date: 9 June 2015
e-pub ahead of print date: 7 July 2015
Published date: January 2016
Organisations: Civil Maritime & Env. Eng & Sci Unit

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 381713
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/381713
ISSN: 1420-2026
PURE UUID: 85824662-96f6-498e-a380-16775c48d7a2
ORCID for Attila N. Lazar: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2033-2013

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 19 Oct 2015 08:11
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:45

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Contributors

Author: Attila N. Lazar ORCID iD
Author: Andrew J. Wade
Author: Brian Moss

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