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Title: Biomass production in the Lower Mississippi River Basin: Mitigating associated nutrient and sediment discharge to the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Here, a watershed model was developed using the Soil andWater Assessment Tool (SWAT) that simulates nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loadings in the Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB). The LMRB SWAT model was calibrated and validated using 21 years of observed flow, sediment, and water-quality data. The baseline model results indicate that agricultural lands within the Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB) are the dominant sources of nitrogen and phosphorus discharging into the Gulf of Mexico. The model was further used to evaluate the impact of biomass production, in the presence of riparian buffers in the LMRB, on suspended-sediment and nutrient loading discharge from the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico. The interplay among land use, riparian buffers, crop type, land slope, water quality, and hydrology were anlyzed at various scales. Implementing a riparian buffer in the dominant agricultural region within the LMRB could reduce suspended sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus loadings at the regional scale by up to 65%, 38%, and 39%, respectively. Implementation of this land management practice can reduce the suspended-sediment content and improve the water quality of the discharge from the LMRB into the Gulf of Mexico and support the potential production of bioenergy and bio-products within themore » Mississippi River Basin.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [1]
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  1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)
  2. U.S. Army Engineer R&D Center, Vicksburg, MS (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office
OSTI Identifier:
1467637
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1548442
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-06CH11357
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Science of the Total Environment
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 635; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0048-9697
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Riparian buffer; SWAT; Hydrologic modeling; Water quality; Nutrient loading; Mississippi River Basin

Citation Formats

Ha, Miae, Zhang, Zhonglong, and Wu, May. Biomass production in the Lower Mississippi River Basin: Mitigating associated nutrient and sediment discharge to the Gulf of Mexico. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.184.
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Ha, Miae, Zhang, Zhonglong, & Wu, May. Biomass production in the Lower Mississippi River Basin: Mitigating associated nutrient and sediment discharge to the Gulf of Mexico. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.184
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Ha, Miae, Zhang, Zhonglong, and Wu, May. Tue . "Biomass production in the Lower Mississippi River Basin: Mitigating associated nutrient and sediment discharge to the Gulf of Mexico". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.184. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1467637.
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@article{osti_1467637,
title = {Biomass production in the Lower Mississippi River Basin: Mitigating associated nutrient and sediment discharge to the Gulf of Mexico},
author = {Ha, Miae and Zhang, Zhonglong and Wu, May},
abstractNote = {Here, a watershed model was developed using the Soil andWater Assessment Tool (SWAT) that simulates nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loadings in the Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB). The LMRB SWAT model was calibrated and validated using 21 years of observed flow, sediment, and water-quality data. The baseline model results indicate that agricultural lands within the Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB) are the dominant sources of nitrogen and phosphorus discharging into the Gulf of Mexico. The model was further used to evaluate the impact of biomass production, in the presence of riparian buffers in the LMRB, on suspended-sediment and nutrient loading discharge from the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico. The interplay among land use, riparian buffers, crop type, land slope, water quality, and hydrology were anlyzed at various scales. Implementing a riparian buffer in the dominant agricultural region within the LMRB could reduce suspended sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus loadings at the regional scale by up to 65%, 38%, and 39%, respectively. Implementation of this land management practice can reduce the suspended-sediment content and improve the water quality of the discharge from the LMRB into the Gulf of Mexico and support the potential production of bioenergy and bio-products within the Mississippi River Basin.},
doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.184},
journal = {Science of the Total Environment},
number = C,
volume = 635,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {4}
}
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Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.184
Copyright Statement
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Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 2 works
Citation information provided by
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Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: Study area map with USGS gauging stations at major upstream basins in the Mississippi River 133 Basin.
All figures and tables (12 total)
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Works referenced in this record:

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Differences in Phosphorus and Nitrogen Delivery to The Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River Basin
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Effectiveness of Vegetated Buffer Strips in Controlling Pollution from Feedlot Runoff
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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Recognizing economic value in multifunctional buffers in the lower Mississippi river basin: The value proposition of multi-functional riparian buffers
    journal, August 2018

    • Xu, Hui; Wu, May; Ha, Miae
    • Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, Vol. 13, Issue 1
    • DOI: 10.1002/bbb.1930
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      Figures / Tables found in this record:

      Figure 1 (p. 7)figure
      Figure 2 (p. 9)figure
      Table 1 (p. 11)table
      Figure 3 (p. 15)figure
      Table 2 (p. 16)table
      Figure 4 (p. 17)figure
      Table 3 (p. 17)table
      Figure 5 (p. 19)figure
      Figure 6. (p. 21)figure
      Figure 7. (p. 22)figure
      Figure 8. (p. 24)figure
      Figure 9. (p. 27)figure
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