Natural and anthropogenic emissions of N and P to the Parnaíba River Delta in NE Brazil
The Parnaiba River Delta is the largest open sea delta in the Americas, having a unique ecological importance for the conservation of wildlife and fisheries resources. However, little is known about the biogeochemistry of this ecosystem. This study estimates N and P emissions to the delta using emis...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2015 |
| País: | Brasil |
| Institución: | Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC) |
| Repositorio: | Repositório Institucional da Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC) |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:repositorio.ufc.br:riufc/65665 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://www.repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/65665 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Nitrogen Phosphorus Nutrient transpor Nitrogênio Fósforo Nutriente - Transporte |
| Sumario: | The Parnaiba River Delta is the largest open sea delta in the Americas, having a unique ecological importance for the conservation of wildlife and fisheries resources. However, little is known about the biogeochemistry of this ecosystem. This study estimates N and P emissions to the delta using emissions factors, calibrated with field samples and N and P concentrations in different compartments of the delta. The estimated loads totaled 14.517 t N year 1 and 8.748 t P year 1, indicating that anthropogenic N and P emissions outweigh natural emissions by approximately 5 and 10 times, respectively. The activities that contribute the most to this result are livestock farming, agriculture and the release of untreated domestic sewage. The flows of N and P from the estimated loads corresponded to 339 kg N km 2 year 1 and 204 kg P km 2 year 1, so the region can be classified as “meso-active” and “eury-active” with regard to the transfer of nutrients. These results are consistent with the coastal megabasin design (COSCATs) proposed by Meyback et al. (2006). This article presents a first approach to the calculation of an estimated annual emissions inventory of N and P for the lower basin of the Parnaíba River and its coastal region, repre- senting an approach that has been satisfactorily used in assessing the sensitivity of estuarine systems in northeastern Brazil. |
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