HABITAT-SPECIFIC SOLUTE RETENTION IN 2 SMALL STREAMS - AN INTERSITE COMPARISON

We measured uptake rates of phosphorus, nitrate, calcium, and dissolved organic carbon within two headwater streams, one in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina and the other in the Cascade range of Oregon. The major physical differences between these two streams are parent geology and local geomorphic structure. Uptake rates were measured following low-level nutrient releases during summer 1987 in 20-m reaches with different geomorphology. The relative importance of biotic vs. abiotic sorption of nitrogen and phosphorus by sediments from the two streams was assessed by laboratory experiments. -from Authors