Abstract
Floodplains provide a multitude of ecosystem functions and services with water purification being one of them. For this study we modelled the retention of total phosphorous (TP) in the floodplains of the river Rhine and the river Elbe, looking at sediment deposition as the main process responsible for removing TP from rivers during inundation events. We applied two different approaches: a proxy-based approach (PBA) and a one-dimensional model based approach (MBA). We used both to calculate the yearly TP retention and compared it with the annual TP load in the rivers. Compared to the transported river load the Elbe floodplains investigated retained approx. 4.9% TP resp. 1.4% (PBA vs. MBA) while in the floodplains of the river Rhine about 1.8% vs. 0.3% TP was retained. We found that the greatest difficulty in quantifying TP retention in floodplains is due to the lack of spatial detail on the hydrological connectivity between rivers and their adjacent floodplains and that a sound validation of the results is absolutely necessary. Long-term monitoring data for floodplains, especially on hydrological connectivity, are of crucial importance in this respect.
Highlights
Nutrient pollution is one of the major pressures on European riverine ecosystems (Grizzetti et al, 2016, EEA 2000)
The annual percentage total phosphorous (TP) retention rates between the studied years show ranges between 1.4% to 4.9% for the Elbe floodplain and 0.3% to 1.8% for the Rhine floodplain (Table 1)
In this study we modelled TP retention in floodplains using sediment deposition as the process mainly responsible for removing TP from rivers and for improving river water quality
Summary
Nutrient pollution is one of the major pressures on European riverine ecosystems (Grizzetti et al, 2016, EEA 2000). Grizzetti et al (2021, pre-print) summarises that currently more than half of the water bodies in the EU are not in good ecological status, with nutrients being one of the main causes of degradation. They further note that many marine ecosystems suffer from hypoxia and eutrophication, and in estuaries and coastal waters nutrient availability from river loads is increasing sharply, causing eutrophication here too. Eutrophication affects water quality and alters the condition and functioning of freshwater and marine ecosystems As a result, their ability to provide important ecosystem services and sustain economic activities is severely impaired (e.g. Grizzetti et al 2016, Liquete et al 2016, Piroddi et al 2017, Culhane et al 2019).
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