| The management of riparian buffer strips is one of the most sustainable methods of managing non-point source pollution. Current riparian management often falls short of acknowledging the complexity of the many biogeochemical processes that regulate pollutant transformation and retention. This study explores how carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, and iron cycles interact, and how stream channel evolution regulates nutrient and greenhouse gas dynamics. I instrumented three riparian sites near Ithaca, NY, along an inner meander, a straight stream section, and an outer bend with an oxbow formation. Water and gas samples were collected tri-weekly. Groundwater flow paths and water table fluctuations varied among meander settings. Antecedent moisture conditions were a strong driver of N, Fe, PO43-, N2O, and CH4 dynamics. Sites exhibited different biogeochemical conditions, with elevated NO3- loss, N2O and CH 4 emissions within the oxbow formation, suggesting the geomorphology and the meander setting significantly influenced subsurface biogeochemistry and associated pollution trade-offs. |
