---
DOAJ_listed: '1'
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: gold
_id: '22576'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: "The hydrological and biogeochemical response of rivers carries information
    about solute sources, pathways, and transformations in the catchment. We investigate
    long-term water quality data of 11 Swiss catchments with the objective to discern
    the influence of major catchment characteristics and anthropic activities on delivery
    of solutes in stream water. Magnitude, trends, and seasonality of water quality
    samplings of different solutes are evaluated and compared across catchments. Subsequently,
    the empirical dependence between concentration and discharge is used to classify
    the solute behaviors.\r\nWhile the anthropogenic impacts are clearly detectable
    in the concentration of certain solutes (i.e., Na+, Cl−, NO3, DRP), the influence
    of single catchment characteristics such as geology (e.g., on Ca2+ and H4SiO4),
    topography (e.g., on DOC, TOC, and TP), and size (e.g., on DOC and TOC) is only
    sometimes visible, which is also because of the limited sample size and the spatial
    heterogeneity within catchments. Solute variability in time is generally smaller
    than discharge variability and the most significant trends in time are due to
    temporal variations of anthropogenic rather than natural forcing. The majority
    of solutes show dilution with increasing discharge, especially geogenic species,
    while sediment-bonded solutes (e.g., total phosphorous and organic carbon species)
    show higher concentrations with increasing discharge. Both natural and anthropogenic
    factors affect the biogeochemical response of streams, and, while the majority
    of solutes show identifiable behaviors in individual catchments, only a minority
    of behaviors can be generalized across the 11 catchments that exhibit different
    natural, climatic, and anthropogenic features."
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Martina
  full_name: Botter, Martina
  last_name: Botter
- first_name: Paolo
  full_name: Burlando, Paolo
  last_name: Burlando
- first_name: Simone
  full_name: Fatichi, Simone
  id: cf8e546b-a9b0-11f0-a43b-aa89ed1b56d6
  last_name: Fatichi
citation:
  ama: 'Botter M, Burlando P, Fatichi S. Anthropogenic and catchment characteristic
    signatures in the  water quality of Swiss rivers: a quantitative assessment. <i>Hydrology
    and Earth System Sciences</i>. 2019;23(4):1885-1904. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1885-2019">10.5194/hess-23-1885-2019</a>'
  apa: 'Botter, M., Burlando, P., &#38; Fatichi, S. (2019). Anthropogenic and catchment
    characteristic signatures in the  water quality of Swiss rivers: a quantitative
    assessment. <i>Hydrology and Earth System Sciences</i>. Copernicus Publications.
    <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1885-2019">https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1885-2019</a>'
  chicago: 'Botter, Martina, Paolo Burlando, and Simone Fatichi. “Anthropogenic and
    Catchment Characteristic Signatures in the  Water Quality of Swiss Rivers: A Quantitative
    Assessment.” <i>Hydrology and Earth System Sciences</i>. Copernicus Publications,
    2019. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1885-2019">https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1885-2019</a>.'
  ieee: 'M. Botter, P. Burlando, and S. Fatichi, “Anthropogenic and catchment characteristic
    signatures in the  water quality of Swiss rivers: a quantitative assessment,”
    <i>Hydrology and Earth System Sciences</i>, vol. 23, no. 4. Copernicus Publications,
    pp. 1885–1904, 2019.'
  ista: 'Botter M, Burlando P, Fatichi S. 2019. Anthropogenic and catchment characteristic
    signatures in the  water quality of Swiss rivers: a quantitative assessment. Hydrology
    and Earth System Sciences. 23(4), 1885–1904.'
  mla: 'Botter, Martina, et al. “Anthropogenic and Catchment Characteristic Signatures
    in the  Water Quality of Swiss Rivers: A Quantitative Assessment.” <i>Hydrology
    and Earth System Sciences</i>, vol. 23, no. 4, Copernicus Publications, 2019,
    pp. 1885–904, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1885-2019">10.5194/hess-23-1885-2019</a>.'
  short: M. Botter, P. Burlando, S. Fatichi, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 23
    (2019) 1885–1904.
das_tickbox: '1'
date_created: 2026-07-27T12:30:25Z
date_published: 2019-04-08T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-11T07:55:09Z
day: '08'
doi: 10.5194/hess-23-1885-2019
extern: '1'
intvolume: '        23'
issue: '4'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1885-2019
month: '04'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 1885-1904
publication: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1607-7938
  issn:
  - 1027-5606
publication_status: published
publisher: Copernicus Publications
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: 'Anthropogenic and catchment characteristic signatures in the  water quality
  of Swiss rivers: a quantitative assessment'
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd
volume: 23
year: '2019'
...