Walker Branch Watershed: Effect of Dual Nitrogen and Phosphorus Additions on Nutrient Uptake and Saturation Kinetics, 2011-2012

This data set reports the results of field experiments investigating the effect of dual nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) additions on nutrient uptake and saturation kinetics in the West Fork of Walker Branch Watershed, a forested headwater stream on the Oak Ridge Reservation in east Tennessee. The experiments were carried out in the autumn of 2011 and spring of 2012 to examine seasonality in nutrient dynamics. The nutrient limitation status (N-limited, P-limited, co-limited for N and P, or neither N- nor P-limited) of Walker Branch was examined using nutrient diffusing substrata (NDS) in both autumn and spring. Next, a combination of instantaneous and steady-state nutrient releases were used to examine the effect of dual N and P releases on nutrient dynamics and saturation kinetics. Lastly, because the nutrient release results from autumn suggested a strong role of P sorption in P dynamics, laboratory assays were carried out in spring to quantify the importance of P sorption to sediments in Walker Branch. This dataset contains 5 data files in comma-separate (*.csv) format.