This dataset contains the results of a literature review of experimental nutrient addition studies to determine which nutrient forms were most often measured in the scientific literature. To obtain a representative selection of relevant studies, we searched Web of Science™ using a search string to target experimental studies in artificial and natural lotic systems while limiting irrelevant papers. We screened the titles and abstracts of returned papers for relevance (experimental studies in streams/stream mesocosms that manipulated nutrients). To supplement this search, we sorted the relevant articles from the Web of Science™ search alphabetically by author and sequentially examined the bibliographies for additional relevant articles (screening titles for relevance, and then screening abstracts of potentially relevant articles) until we had obtained a total of 100 articles. If we could not find a relevant article electronically, we moved to the next article in the bibliography. Our goal was not to be completely comprehensive, but to obtain a fairly large sample of published, peer-reviewed studies from which to assess patterns. We excluded any lentic or estuarine studies from consideration and included only studies that used mesocosms mimicking stream systems (flowing water or stream water source) or that manipulated nutrient concentrations in natural streams or rivers. We excluded studies that used nutrient diffusing substrate (NDS) because these manipulate nutrients on substrates and not in the water column. We also excluded studies examining only nutrient uptake, which rely on measuring dissolved nutrient concentrations with the goal of characterizing in-stream processing (e.g., Newbold et al., 1983). From the included studies, we extracted or summarized the following information: study type, study duration, nutrient treatments, nutrients measured, inclusion of TN and/or TP response to nutrient additions, and a description of how results were reported in relation to the research-management mismatch, if it existed. Below is information on how the search was conducted:

Search string used for Web of Science advanced search Search conducted on 27 September 2016. TS= (stream OR creek OR river* OR lotic OR brook OR headwater OR tributary) AND TS = (mesocosm OR flume OR "artificial stream" OR "experimental stream" OR "nutrient addition") AND TI= (nitrogen OR phosphorus OR nutrient OR enrichment OR fertilization OR eutrophication)