Predicting dissolved organic nitrogen export from a drained loblolly pine plantation

Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) export from terrestrial ecosystems influences the ecology of receiving surface waters. The soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) model, DRAINMOD-N II, was modified to simulate key processes associated with DON transformations and transport in the soil profile. DON production is modeled by tracking dynamic C:N ratios of dissolved organic matter originating from various organic matter pools. The Langmuir isotherm was used to quantify the assumed instantaneous equilibrium between potentially soluble organic N in solid and aqueous phases. DON transport with soil water was simulated using a numerical solution to the advection-dispersion reaction equation. The modified model was used for simulating temporal variations of DON export from three loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations located in eastern North Carolina. Results showed that the model can accurately predict DON export dynamics during storm events with Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (E) of 0.5, seasonal DON losses with E above 0.6, and annual DON losses with E above 0.7. In addition to the well-recognized role of hydrological processes, reasonable quantifications of the seasonal changes in the potentially soluble soil organic matter, the DON sorption to soil particles, and the dynamic C:N ratios of dissolved organic matter were found to be essential for mechanistic representation of DON export dynamics. Specifically, adapting the dynamic C:N ratios enabled the model to reasonably describe the temporal variations of correlations between DON and dissolved organic carbon in drainage water.