N : P stoichiometry in a forested runoff during storm events: comparisons with regions and vegetation types.

Nitrogen and phosphorus are considered the most important limiting elements in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. however, very few studies have focused on which is from forested streams, a bridge between these two systems. To fill this gap, we examined the concentrations of dissolved N and P in storm waters from forested watersheds of five regions in Japan, to characterize nutrient limitation and its potential controlling factors. First, dissolved N and P concentrations and the N : P ratio on forested streams were higher during storm events relative to baseflow conditions. Second, significantly higher dissolved inorganic N concentrations were found in storm waters from evergreen coniferous forest streams than those from deciduous broadleaf forest streams in Aichi, Kochi, Mie, Nagano, and with the exception of Tokyo. Finally, almost all the N : P ratios in the storm water were generally higher than 34, implying that the storm water should be P-limited, especially for Tokyo.

Elemental composition of sediments in Lake Jinzai, Japan: assessment of sources and pollution.

Bottom sediments from Lake Jinzai in southwest Japan were analyzed to determine their chemical compositions and to assess the potential for ecological harm by comparison with sediment quality guidelines. The pollution status of lake sediments was evaluated by employing contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), and geoaccumulation index (I(geo)), focusing on a suite of elements in lakebed and core sediments. Elevated concentrations of As, Pb, Zn, Cu, TOC, N, and P were present in several layers of the upper core and other surface sediments. The elevated metal concentrations are likely related to the fine-grained nature of the sediments, reducing bottom conditions produced by abundant organic matter, and possibly minor non-point anthropogenic sources. Moreover, correlations between the concentrations of trace metals and organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron, suggest that these elements play a role in controlling abundances. Calculated CF, PLI, and I(geo) indicate that the sediments are strongly polluted with respect to As, moderately to strongly polluted with Zn, and moderately polluted with Pb and Cu. Metal concentrations exceed the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) lowest effect level and the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) interim sediment quality guidelines that indicate moderate impact on aquatic organisms in the study area.

Baseflow concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in forested headwaters in Japan.

A comprehensive investigation on all dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus components at both local and regional scales in the headwaters from forested watersheds is valuable to improve our understanding of the factors controlling water quality. Here, we investigated the baseflow concentrations of dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus components, N:P ratio, and their associations with region and vegetation type in forested headwaters in fives regions of Japan. We found that inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus were the dominant components in the 26 temperate forested streams, rather than organic forms. There were significant positive correlations between the concentrations of N and P components. Furthermore, the regional patterns of the concentrations of nitrate, dissolved inorganic P (DIP), and dissolved total N (DTN) and P (DTP) were similar. Our results suggest that the regional patterns of the concentrations of N and P components should be related to the regional atmospheric deposition of both N and P nutrients. We also found that the nitrate and DTN concentrations were higher in man-made evergreen conifer (EC) than those in the natural deciduous broadleaf (DB). In contrast, the DIP and DTP concentrations in EC were lower than those in DB. The uniformly higher N:P ratio in EC- than in DB-forested streams for each region suggest that EC-forested streams could be more affected by P-limited than DB-forested streams when N inputs from atmospheric sources increased.

Characterisation of diffuse pollutions from forested watersheds in Japan during storm events - its association with rainfall and watershed features.

Forest areas have been identified as important sources of nonpoint pollution in Japan. The managers must estimate stormwater quality and quantities from forested watersheds to develop effective management strategies. Therefore, stormwater runoff loads and concentrations of 10 constituents (total suspended solids, dissolved organic carbon, PO(4)-P, dissolved total phosphorus, total phosphorus, NH(4)-N, NO(2)-N, NO(3)-N, dissolved total nitrogen, and total nitrogen) for 72 events across five regions (Aichi, Kochi, Mie, Nagano, and Tokyo) were characterised. Most loads were significantly and positively correlated with stormwater variables (total event rainfall, event duration, and rainfall intensity), but most discharge-weighted event concentrations (DWECs) showed negative correlations with rainfall intensity. Mean water quality concentration during baseflow was correlated significantly with storm concentrations (r=0.41-0.77). Although all pollutant load equations showed high coefficients of determination (R(2)=0.55-0.80), no models predicted well pollutant concentrations, except those for the three N constituents (R(2)=0.59-0.67). Linear regressions to estimate stormwater concentrations and loads were greatly improved by regional grouping. The lower prediction capability of the concentration models for Mie, compared with the other four regions, indicated that other watershed or storm characteristics should be included in the prediction models. Significant differences among regions were found more frequently in concentrations than in loads for all constituents. Since baseflow conditions implied available pollutant sources for stormwater, the similar spatial characteristics of pollutant concentrations between baseflow and stormflow conditions were an important control for stormwater quality.