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Scale effects of land use on river water quality: a case study of the Tuojiang River Basin, China

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Abstract

Assessing the scale effects of land use on water quality is of great significance for effectively controlling nonpoint source (NPS) pollution in river basins. In this study, redundancy analysis (RDA) and stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR) analysis were applied to assess the effects of land use on water quality across multiscales in the Tuojiang River Basin. All monitoring sections were classified into three groups according to the characteristics of land use and cluster analysis of water quality. Results showed that the improvement in water quality of rivers in the Tuojiang River Basin lies in the emphasis and protection of the small-scale scope. Concomitantly, the linkages between individual water quality parameter and land use were highly dependent on spatial scales and regional basis. For the upstream group A, urban land is the main source of COD and TN pollution, while industrial and rural residential land contributed the most to TP pollution. Water body exhibits favorable effects on ammonia nitrogen due to its absorption and degradation, together with the growth of phytoplankton within it. For group B in the middle-lower reaches, controlling the input of organic fertilizers in paddy field will effectively alleviate COD pollution. Increasing the proportion of grassland near the riparian zone can have a positive effect on TN and TP pollution. It should continue to strengthen the strict supervision of NH3-N concentration in wastewater discharge from industrial enterprises. Our results can provide important information for land use planning and making multiple scale measures for water quality conservation.

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Funding

This research was supported by the Joint Funds of the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. LZJWY23E090006.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Regional Ecology and Environmental Change, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Yonggui Wang, Zhen Song, Xiaoyu Wang & Shuihua Yang

  2. United Center for Eco-Environment in Yangtze River Economic Belt, Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning, Beijing, 100012, China

    Hui Bai & Yan Chen

  3. Sichuan Academy of Environmental Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Hongjin Tong & Yao Wei

Authors
  1. Yonggui Wang
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  2. Zhen Song
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  3. Hui Bai
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  5. Yan Chen
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  6. Yao Wei
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  7. Xiaoyu Wang
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  8. Shuihua Yang
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Contributions

Yonggui Wang: conceptualization, writing—review and editing, supervision.

Zhen Song: methodology, writing—original draft and editing, visualization.

Hui Bai: investigation, data curation, supervision.

Hongjin Tong: investigation, resources, project administration.

Yan Chen: formal analysis, investigation.

Yao Wei: resources, visualization.

Xiaoyu Wang: visualization.

Shuihua Yang: data curation.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yan Chen.

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Responsible Editor: Xianliang Yi

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Highlights

• Water quality was spatially clustered into three groups for relationship analysis.

• The predictive results of SMLR were variable across spatial scales and regional basis.

• Land use at 500 m riparian buffer scales has larger impacts on overall water quality.

• Reliable assessments of land use influence should consider a regional basis.

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Wang, Y., Song, Z., Bai, H. et al. Scale effects of land use on river water quality: a case study of the Tuojiang River Basin, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 48002–48020 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-25284-2

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