Nitrogen Regulation by Natural Systems in “Unnatural” Landscapes: Denitrification in Ultra- Urban Coastal Ecosystems
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Ecosystem Health and Sustainability ISSN: 2096-4129 (Print) 2332-8878 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tehs20 Nitrogen regulation by natural systems in “unnatural” landscapes: denitrification in ultra- urban coastal ecosystems Bernice R. Rosenzweig, Peter M. Groffman, Chester B. Zarnoch, Brett F. Branco, Ellen K. Hartig, James Fitzpatrick, Helen M. Forgione & Adam Parris To cite this article: Bernice R. Rosenzweig, Peter M. Groffman, Chester B. Zarnoch, Brett F. Branco, Ellen K. Hartig, James Fitzpatrick, Helen M. Forgione & Adam Parris (2018) Nitrogen regulation by natural systems in “unnatural” landscapes: denitrification in ultra-urban coastal ecosystems, Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, 4:9, 205-224, DOI: 10.1080/20964129.2018.1527188 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2018.1527188 © 2018 The Author (s). Published by Taylor & Francis Group and Science Press on behalf of the Ecological Society of China. Published online: 17 Oct 2018. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 149 View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=tehs20 ECOSYSTEM HEALTH AND SUSTAINABILITY 2018, VOL. 4, NO. 9, 205–224 https://doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2018.1527188 Nitrogen regulation by natural systems in “unnatural” landscapes: denitrification in ultra-urban coastal ecosystems Bernice R. Rosenzweiga, Peter M. Groffmana,b,c, Chester B. Zarnochd, Brett F. Brancob, Ellen K. Hartige, James Fitzpatrickf, Helen M. Forgioneg and Adam Parrish aEnvironmental Sciences Initiative, Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA; bEarth and Environmental Sciences, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA; cCary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, USA; dNatural Sciences, Baruch College and Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA; eNew York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Natural Resources Group, New York, NY, USA; fHDR, Inc., New York, NY, USA; gThe Natural Areas Conservancy, New York, NY, USA; hScience and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay, Brooklyn, NY, USA ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Dense cities represent biogeochemical hot spots along the shoreline, concentrating fixed nitro- Received 25 March 2018 gen that is subsequently discharged into adjacent coastal receiving waters. Thus, the ecosystem Revised 14 September 2018 Accepted 18 September 2018 services provided by natural systems in highly urban environments can play a particularly important role in the global nitrogen cycle. In this paper, we review the recent literature on nitrogen regulation by temperate coastal ecosystems, with a focus on how the distinct physical KEYWORDS and biogeochemical features of the urban landscape can affect the provision of this ecosystem Nitrogen; denitrification; service. We use Jamaica Bay, an ultra-urbanized coastal lagoon in the United States of America, as urban; coastal; anammox; a demonstrative case study. Based on simple areal and tidal-based calculations, the natural wetlands systems of Jamaica Bay remove ~ 24% of the reactive nitrogen discharged by wastewater treatment plants. However, this estimate does not represent the dynamic nature of urban nitrogen cycling represented in the recent literature and highlights key research needs and opportunities. Our review reveals that ecosystem-facilitated denitrification may be significant in even the most densely urbanized coastal landscapes, but critical uncertainties currently limit incorporation of this ecosystem service in environmental management. Introduction Coastal ecosystems are known to be important con- trol points in the global nitrogen cycle (Valiela, Teal, Human activities have doubled the annual fixation of and Sass 1973; Jordan, Stoffer, and Nestlerode 2011). reactive nitrogen (N , Fowler et al. 2013), with global r Located at the interface between land and sea, these implications for human health, air and water quality, systems contain a mosaic of interdependent habitats and biodiversity (Erisman et al. 2013). As a result, the (Figure 1) that facilitate the transformation of N to development of strategies for effective nitrogen man- r dinitrogen gas (N ) through microbial-mediated deni- agement remains a global priority, which must be 2 trification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Smyth considered concurrently with other aspects of global et al. 2013; Damashek and Francis 2018). Since N environmental change, such as urbanization. As glo- 2 cannot drive primary production without thermodyna- bal coastlines become increasingly urban (Blackburn mically costly “fixation” to N , denitrification and ana- and Marques 2014; von Glasow et al. 2013; r mmox are critical regulators of the nitrogen (N) cycle. McGranahan, Balk, and Anderson 2007), it remains The N-regulation services provided by coastal habitats unclear how, or, if coastal ecosystems will continue to play a key role in both moderating eutrophication and provide nitrogen regulation services, and limited preventing anthropogenic N from being transported information is available to inform management in r from terrestrial sources to the open ocean (Asmala et al. support of these ecosystem services. In this paper, 2017; Bouwman et al. 2013; Teixeira et al. 2014). we review the current literature on the nitrogen reg- Many studies, however, have demonstrated that ulation role of temperate coastal ecosystems in highly eutrophication resulting from excessive N loading urbanized areas. We use Jamaica Bay, an ultra-urba- r degrades coastal ecosystems and their ability to support nized coastal lagoon in the USA, as a demonstrative nitrogen regulation (Hale 2016; Cornwell, Michael case study to highlight key research needs and oppor- Kemp, and Kana 1999). Although denitrification rates tunities to support the management of these distinct generally increase with N loading, this relationship environments. r may be asymptotic at the landscape-scale, with a site- CONTACT Bernice R. Rosenzweig [email protected] Environmental Sciences Initiative, Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA © 2018 The Author (s). Published by Taylor & Francis Group and Science Press on behalf of the Ecological Society of China. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 206 B. R. ROSENZWEIG ET AL. Figure 1. Examples of habitat found in temperate coastal ecosystems (a) Salt marsh islands, (b) Perimeter marsh downstream of a Combined Sewer Outfall, and (c) perimeter tidal creek and marsh platform. Images from Jamaica Bay, New York in 2011. Source: Bernice Rosenzweig. specific saturation threshold beyond which coastal eco- megacity development, may serve as important systems can no longer continue to effectively regulate control points in the global nitrogen cycle Nr (Drake et al. 2009; Yin et al. 2015; Eyre and Ferguson (Bernhardt et al. 2008; Newton, Carruthers, and 2009). Coastal ecosystems are primarily N-limited and Icely 2012). The circumstances and challenges of high loads of anthropogenic Nr can result in increased ecosystem Nr regulation in highly urbanized turbidity and hypoxia (de Jonge, Elliott, and Orive 2002; coastal zones are complex and unique within the R. W. Howarth and Marino 2006), with potential feed- global N cascade (Galloway et al. 2003). backs that reduce benthic denitrification or efficiency (Howarth et al. 2011). In highly eutrophic systems, there can also be a direct loss of the habitats that support Urbanization and coastal ecosystems the highest denitrification rates, as vascular vegetation is replaced by opportunistic macroalgae and where salt The N pathways of cities are often dominated by marsh becomes destabilized and erodes away (Deegan sewer systems that transport upland-generated Nr et al. 2012; Burkholder, Tomasko, and Touchette 2007; directly into receiving waterways, often completely Howarth and Marino 2006; Cornwell, Michael Kemp, bypassing the key Nr removal zones of less-devel- and Kana 1999). oped landscapes, such as the subsurface of riparian Some of the highest Nr loading rates occur and fringing coastal wetlands (Groffman et al. 2003; downstream of dense cities (Powley et al. 2016; Valiela and Cole 2002). Cities with more stringent Driscoll et al. 2003; Morée et al. 2013), where environmental protection policies rely on waste- large quantities of nitrogen are imported as food water treatment plants (WWTPs) to process muni- to support concentrated populations and then dis- cipalwastewaterand/orstormwaterbeforetheyare charged as wastewater (Kennedy et al. 2015; discharged to receiving waters. However, many glo- Powley et al. 2016;Luoetal.2014). Many cities bal cities do not yet utilize WWTPs and Nr-rich also concentrate nitrogen emitting vehicles and wastewater is discharged, untreated to receiving industrial facilities, which further contribute to waters (Mateo-Sagasta, Raschid-Sally, and Thebo local discharges of Nr to receiving waters (Huang 2015; Malik et al. 2015). et al. 2015). As a result, cities have been identified Even when WWTPs are present, their efficacy in “ ” as global hot spots of Nr and, with continued regulating Nr is highly dependent on the treatment