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Diffuse and concentrated nitrogen sewage pollution in island environments with differing treatment systems

Alldred, F.C.; Gröcke, D.R.; Leung, C.Y.; Wright, L.P.; Banfield, N.

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Authors

Profile image of Freya Alldred

Freya Alldred freya.alldred@durham.ac.uk
PGR Student Doctor of Philosophy

Chung Leung chung.y.leung@durham.ac.uk
PGR Student Master of Science

L.P. Wright

N. Banfield



Abstract

Macroalgae is an under-utilised tool as a bioindicator of anthropogenic nitrogen loading to the coastal environment in the UK. This study compared two island systems—Jersey (Channel Islands) and St Mary’s (Isles of Scilly) to assess how differing sewerage infrastructure affects nitrogen loading. A total of 831 macroalgae samples of Fucus vesiculosus and Ulva sp. were analysed for nitrogen isotopes (δ15N). Elevated δ15N values were recorded for Jersey (> 9‰) in St Aubin’s Bay—caused by the outflow of the Bellozanne Sewerage Treatment Works (STW). δ15N isoplots maps indicate low diffusion of nitrogen out of St Aubin’s Bay. St Mary’s produced a varied δ15N isoplot map in comparison. δ15N was typically lower and is attributed to a smaller population and inefficient STW. Outflow of sewage/effluent at Morning Point, Hugh Town and Old Town produced elevated δ15N values in comparison to the island average. St Mary’s inefficient sewerage treatment and reliance on septic tanks/soakaways complicates δ15N interpretation although it still indicates that nitrogen pollution is an island-wide issue. Future sewerage development and upgrades on islands are required to prevent similar effluent environmental issues as recorded in St Aubin’s Bay. This study advocates the use of macroalgae as a bioindicator of nitrogen effluent in the marine environment.

Citation

Alldred, F., Gröcke, D., Leung, C., Wright, L., & Banfield, N. (2023). Diffuse and concentrated nitrogen sewage pollution in island environments with differing treatment systems. Scientific Reports, 13, Article 4838. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-32105-6

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 21, 2023
Online Publication Date Mar 24, 2023
Publication Date 2023
Deposit Date Jun 13, 2023
Publicly Available Date Jun 13, 2023
Journal Scientific Reports
Electronic ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher Nature Research
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 13
Article Number 4838
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-32105-6
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1171889

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.






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