Mayol-Bracero O.L.
Urban influences on the nitrogen cycle in Puerto Rico
Fri, 07/29/2011 - 13:56 — ckassOrtiz-Zayas, J. R., E. Cuevas, O. L. Mayol-Bracero, L.
Donoso, I. Trebs, D. Figueroa-Nieves, and W. H. Mcdowell.
2006. Urban influences on the nitrogen cycle in Puerto Rico.
Biogeochemistry 79:109–133.
Abstract:
Anthropogenic actions are altering fluxes of nitrogen (N) in the biosphere at unprecedented
rates. Efforts to study these impacts have concentrated in the Northern hemisphere, where
experimental data are available. In tropical developing countries, however, experimental studies are
lacking. This paper summarizes available data and assesses the impacts of human activities on N
fluxes in Puerto Rico, a densely populated Caribbean island that has experienced drastic landscape
transformations over the last century associated with rapid socioeconomic changes. N yield calculations
conducted in several watersheds of different anthropogenic influences revealed that disturbed
watersheds export more N per unit area than undisturbed forested watersheds. Export of N
from urban watersheds ranged from 4.8 kg ha)1 year)1 in the Rı´o Bayamo´ n watershed to
32.9 kg ha)1 year)1 in the highly urbanized Rı´o Piedras watershed and 33.3 kg ha)1 year)1 in the
rural-agricultural Rı´o Grande de An˜ asco watershed. Along with land use, mean annual runoff
explained most of the variance in fluvial N yield. Wastewater generated in the San Juan Metropolitan
Area receives primary treatment before it is discharged into the Atlantic Ocean. These
discharges are N-rich and export large amounts of N to the ocean at a rate of about
140 kg ha)1 year)1. Data on wet deposition of inorganic N (NHþ4
þ NO
3 ) suggest that rates of
atmospheric N deposition are increasing in the pristine forests of Puerto Rico. Stationary and
mobile sources of NOx (NO+NO2) and N2O generated in the large urban centers may be
responsible for this trend. Comprehensive measurements are required in Puerto Rico to quantitatively
characterize the local N cycle. More research is required to assess rates of atmospheric N
deposition, N fixation in natural and human-dominated landscapes, N-balance associated with
food and feed trade, and denitrification.
Organic carbon, total nitrogen, and water-soluble ions in clouds from a tropical montane cloud forest in Puerto Rico
Thu, 07/28/2011 - 16:02 — ckassG.J. Reyes-Rodriguez, A. Gioda, O.L. Mayol-Bracero and J. Collett, Organic carbon, total nitrogen, and water-soluble ions in clouds from a tropical montane cloud forest in Puerto Rico, Atmospheric Environment 43 (2009), pp. 4171–4177. Abstract | Article | PDF (530 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (3)
Abstract:
samples collected in a mountaintop site in Puerto Rico. Cloudwater samples showed average concentrations
of 1.09 mg L1 of total organic carbon (TOC), of 0.85 mg L1 for dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and of and
1.25 mg L1 for total nitrogen (TN). Concentrations of organic nitrogen (ON) changed with the origin of the
air mass. Changes in their concentrationswere observed during periods under the influence of African dust
(AD). The ON/TN ratios were 0.26 for the clean and 0.35 for the AD periods. Average concentrations of all
these species were similar to those found in remote environments with no anthropogenic contribution. In
the AD period, for cloud water the concentrations of TOC were 4 times higher and TN were 3 times higher
than during periods of clean air masses associated with the trade winds. These results suggest that
a significant fraction of TOC and TN in cloud and rainwater is associated to airborne particulate matter
present in dust. Functional groups were identified using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR)
spectroscopy. This characterization led to the conclusion that water-soluble organic compounds in these
samples are mainly aliphatic oxygenated compounds, with a small amount of aromatics. The ion chromatography
results showed that the ionic specieswere predominantly of marine origin, for air masses with and
without African dust influence, with cloud water concentrations of NO3 and NH4 þ much lower than from
polluted areas in the US. An increase of such species as SO42, Cl, Mg2þ, Kþ and Ca2þ was seen when air
masses originated from northwest Africa. The changes in the chemical composition and physical properties
of clouds associated with these different types of aerosol particles could affect on cloud formation and
processes.
Clouds and aerosols in Puerto Rico – a new evaluation
Thu, 07/28/2011 - 15:41 — ckassAllan, J.D., et al., 2007. Clouds and aerosols in Puerto Rico — a new evaluation. Atmos.
Chem. Phys. Discuss. 7, 12573–12616.
Abstract:
The influence of aerosols, both natural and anthropogenic, remains a major area of
uncertainty when predicting the properties and behaviour of clouds and their influence
on climate. In an attempt to better understand warm cloud formation in a tropical
5 marine environment, a period of intensive measurements using some of the latest developments
in online instrumentation took place in December 2004 in Puerto Rico.
Simultaneous online measurements of aerosol size distributions, composition, hygroscopicity
and optical properties were made near the lighthouse of Cape San Juan in
the north-eastern corner of the island and at the top of East Peak mountain (1040m
10 a.s.l.), the two sites separated by 17 km. Additional measurements of the cloud droplet
residual and interstitial aerosol properties were made at the mountain site, accompanied
by measurements of cloud droplet size distributions, liquid water content and the
chemical composition of cloud and rain water samples.
Both aerosol composition and cloud properties were found to be sensitive to wind
15 sector. Air from the east-northeast (ENE) was mostly free of anthropogenic influences,
the submircron fraction being mainly composed of non-sea salt sulphate, while that
from the east-southeast (ESE) was found to be moderately influenced by populated
islands upwind, adding smaller (<100 nm), externally mixed, carbonaceous particles
to the aerosol that increased the number concentrations by over a factor of 3. This
20 change in composition was also accompanied with a reduction in the measured hygroscopicity
and fractional cloud activation potential of the aerosol. At the mountain
site, the average cloud droplet concentrations increased from 193 to 519 cm−3, median
volume diameter decreased from 20 to 14 μm and the liquid water content increased
from 0.24 to 0.31 gm−3 when the winds shifted from the ENE to ESE. Larger numbers
25 of interstitial particles were recorded, most notably at sizes greater than 100 nm, which
were absent during clean conditions. The average size of the residual particles and
concentrations of cloudwater nitrate, sulphate and insoluble material increased during
polluted conditions.
