Effectiveness of natural riparian buffers to reduce subsurface nutrient losses to incised streams

•Natural perennial buffers line many incised streams in Southern Iowa.•Channel incision lowers water table levels and cuts through nutrient-rich alluvium.•Groundwater located nearest the stream was more aerobic than in the floodplain.•Nutrient concentrations exceed criteria but do not contribute substantially to loads.

Perennial vegetation borders many incised, perennial streams and rivers in southern Iowa and is assumed to provide a natural riparian buffer against subsurface nutrient losses from shallow groundwater. Questions remain about the effectiveness of these systems near incised channels that cut through nutrient-rich Holocene alluvium underlying the riparian corridors. In this study, riparian groundwater nutrient concentrations were evaluated near an incised stream under four perennial land cover types common to southern Iowa with the objectives to assess how groundwater quality differed by i) distance away from an incised stream and ii) perennial land cover type. Groundwater samples were collected from riparian wells installed 1 m, 20 m and 40 m from an incised channel under four replicated land covers (cool season grass, warm season grass, woods, pasture) on six occasions across the growing season. Results indicate that channel incision lowers water tables in the near-stream zone and maintains more aerobic conditions but did not result in enhanced nitrogen mineralization or leaching to groundwater. Average concentrations of nitrate–nitrogen, phosphorus and dissolved organic carbon were 0.3 mg/l, 0.2 mg/l and 6 mg/l, respectively, with variations due mainly to land cover type and geomorphology. Study results suggest that nutrient losses from perennial buffers in the region do not greatly impact regional water N and P loads although average concentrations in riparian groundwater may exceed proposed stream nutrient criteria.