Managing nitrogen legacies to accelerate water quality improvement

Section 1: Publication

Publication Type

Authorship

Basu, N., Van Meter, K. J., Byrnes, D. K., Van Cappellen, P., Brouwer, R., Jacobsen, B. H., Jarsjö, J., Rudolph, D. L., Cunha, M. C., Nelson, N., Bhattacharya, R., Destouni, G., and Olsen, S. B.

Title

Managing nitrogen legacies to accelerate water quality improvement

Year

2022

Publication Outlet

Nature Geoscience, 15, 97–105

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00889-9

ISBN

ISSN

Citation

Basu, N., Van Meter, K. J., Byrnes, D. K., Van Cappellen, P., Brouwer, R., Jacobsen, B. H., Jarsjö, J., Rudolph, D. L., Cunha, M. C., Nelson, N., Bhattacharya, R., Destouni, G., and Olsen, S. B. (2022). Managing nitrogen legacies to accelerate water quality improvement, Nature Geoscience, 15, 97–105. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00889-9

Abstract

Increasing incidences of eutrophication and groundwater quality impairment from agricultural nitrogen pollution are threatening humans and ecosystem health. Minimal improvements in water quality have been achieved despite billions of dollars invested in conservation measures worldwide. Such apparent failures can be attributed in part to legacy nitrogen that has accumulated over decades of agricultural intensification and that can lead to time lags in water quality improvement. Here, we identify the key knowledge gaps related to landscape nitrogen legacies and propose approaches to manage and improve water quality, given the presence of these legacies.

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