Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2008KY111B

Evaluating carbon pool patterns in agricultural and forested streams along Kentucky Lake

Institute: Kentucky
Year Established: 2008 Start Date: 2008-03-01 End Date: 2009-06-30
Total Federal Funds: $5,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $10,002

Principal Investigators: Iin Handayani

Project Summary: Previous studies show that natural processes and human activities have changed the distribution of carbon pools in soils, sediments, and streams. However, there is very little known about the carbon pool patterns in streams under contrasting watershed land-uses, such as agriculture and forest. Kentucky Lake provides a unique study site to investigate carbon pool patterns in two contrasting stream environments with respect to differences in land-use and water quality. To fully understand the dynamics of biogeochemical processes of streams that may be involved in water quality and biota, the patterns of carbon pools within contrasting stream ecosystems (agriculture vs. forest) will be investigated. This project will study the patterns of total organic carbon and particulate organic carbon in sediments and riparian soils at different depths to determine the effect of contrasting watershed land-use on nitrate and phosphate concentration in surface water.