Denitrification in floodplains is a major issue for river- and groundwater quality. In the Upper Rhine valley,
floodplain forests are about to be restored to serve as flood retention areas (polders). Besides flood attenuation
in downstream areas, improvement of water quality became recently a major goal for polder construction. Redox
potential monitoring was suggested as a means to support assessment of nitrogen elimination in future floodplains
by denitrification during controlled flooding. To elucidate the relationship between redox potential and denitrification,
experiments with floodplain soils and in situ measurements were done. Floodplain soil of two depth
profiles from a hardwood forest of the Upper Rhine valley was incubated anaerobically with continuous nitrate
supply. Reduction of nitrate was followed and compared with redox potential and organic matter content. The
redox potential under denitrifying conditions ranged from 10 to 300 mV. Redox potential values decreased with
increasing nitrate reduction rates and increasing organic matter content. Furthermore, a narrow correlation between
organicmatter and nitrate reduction was observed. Experiments were intended to help interpreting redox potentials
generated under in situ conditions as exemplified by in situ observations for the year 1999. Results obtained by
experiments and in situ observations showed that monitoring of redox potential could support management of the
flooding regime to optimize nitrogen retention by denitrification in future flood retention areas