HYDROLOGICAL AND SEASONAL CONTROLS OF NITRATE MOBILIZATION FROM A FORESTED CATCHMENT

Understanding of interactions between hydrological and biogeochemical responses of catchments on rainfall events which is usually unclear from periodic measurements and requires tracing of the temporal dynamics of the processes. Smaller streams reflect strong connections between hydrological processes of the rainfall runoff formation and biogeochemical processes in the watershed, consequently, the responsiveness of the streamwater chemistry to changed hydrological states is very high. The study was carried out in 2006, within the 42 km2 forested Padež watershed in the southwestern part of Slovenia, which is characterized by distinctive flushing, an almost torrential hydrological regime influenced by impermeable flysch geological settings. More than 15 recorded hydrographs which, in the hydrological and biogeochemical sense, differed substantially, disclosed a highly variable but at the same time a strong linkage between hydrological and biogeochemical controls of nitrate exports from the spatial perspective of a watershed