Multivariate statistical techniques, including cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA), factor analysis (FA) and discriminant analysis (DA), were used to evaluate temporal and spatial variations and to interpret a large and complex water quality data sets collected from the Songhua River Basin. The data sets, which contained 14 parameters, were generated during the 7-year (199...

We organized a crowdsourcing experiment in the form of a snapshot sampling campaign to assess the spatial distribution of nitrogen solutes, namely, nitrate, ammonium and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), in German surface waters. In particular, we investigated (i) whether crowdsourcing is a reasonable sampling method in hydrology and (ii) what the effects of population density, soil humus conte...

RATIONALE Because of the threat of bombings using improvised explosives containing ammonium nitrate (AN), law enforcement and intelligence communities have been interested in stable isotope techniques for tracking and discriminating AN sources. Separate analysis of the AN component ions ammonium and nitrate would add discriminatory power to these techniques. METHODS Ammonium ions in dissolved...

Conventional wisdom postulates that leaching losses of N from agriculture systems are dominated by NO3 – . Although the export of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) into the groundwater has been recognized for more than 100 yr, it is often ignored when total N budgets are constructed. Leaching of DON into stream and drinking water reservoirs leads to eutrophication and acidifi cation, and can pos...

The influences of different Cd pre-exposure regimes (route, concentration, and duration of Cd exposure) on the bioavailability of Cd, Ag, Hg, and Zn to the green mussels Perna viridis were quantified in this study. Following pre-exposing the mussels to Cd, we measured the mussel's tissue Cd concentration and clearance rate, as well as the metal dietary assimilation efficiency (AE) and the influ...

Across US Great Plains grasslands, a gradient of increasing mean annual precipitation from west to east corresponds to increasing aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and increasing N-limitation. Previous work has shown that there is no increase in net N mineralization rates across this gradient, leading to the question of where eastern prairie grasses obtain the nitrogen to support prod...

Nitrogen (N) dynamics were evaluated from 1 June 1995 through 31 May 1996 within the Arbutus Lake watershed in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, U.S.A. At the Arbutus Lake outlet dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), NO3 and NH + 4 contributed 61%, 33%, and 6% respectively, to the total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) flux (259 mol ha−1 yr−1). At the lake inlet DON, NO3 , and NH + 4 constituted ...

This study assesses the prevalence of disinfection by-product (DBP) precursors in some Southeast Queensland drinking water sources by conducting formation potential experiments for the four regulated trihalomethanes (THMs), and the potent carcinogen, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). NDMA formation potentials were consistently low (<5-21 ng/L), and total THM (tTHM) formation potentials were consis...