Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 5, 2026

The Benthic Exchange of O2, N2 and Dissolved Nutrients Using Small Core Incubations
Published on: August 3, 2016
Nitrate flux in the Mississippi River
G F McIsaac1, M B David, G Z Gertner
1Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Turner Hall, 1102 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA. gmcisaac@uiuc.edu
Abstract:
Increased delivery of biologically available nitrogen to estuaries and coastal oceans in recent decades has been linked to eutrophication and seasonal hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere. We have developed a model that accounts for 95% of annual variation in delivery of nitrate to the Gulf of Mexico by the Mississippi River in 1960-98. Retrospective analysis indicates that this nitrate flux could have been reduced by 33% if the use of nitrogen-containing fertilizer in the Mississippi River basin had been cut by 12%.
More Related Videos
12:50Continuous Instream Monitoring of Nutrients and Sediment in Agricultural Watersheds
Published on: September 26, 2017
08:05Measurement of the Potential Rates of Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction to Ammonium Based on 14NH4+/15NH4+ Analyses via Sequential Conversion to N2O
Published on: October 7, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Primary Production
The Nitrogen Cycle
Overview of Nitrogen Metabolism
The largest pool of nitrogen available in the terrestrial ecosystem is gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the air, but this...
Nitric Oxide Signaling Pathway
Metabolism of Chemolithotrophs
Inorganic Nitrogen Assimilation