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Nitrogen and phosphorus emissions to water in agricultural crop-animal systems and driving forces in Hainan Island, China

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Abstract

The NUFER (Nutrient Flow in food chains, Environment and Resources) model has been used to reliably quantify nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) emissions from agriculture land to water bodies. However, factors impacting agricultural N and P emissions at the island scale have rarely been studied due to the lack of high-resolution spatialization tools, which are critical for exploring mitigation options. Here, a high-resolution NUFER model was constructed based on geology, meteorology, land-use data, statistical data, and field investigation. The spatial characteristics of N and P emissions in Hainan Island, China, were quantified, and the driving forces were analyzed. We also explored effective measures to reduce emissions by 2035 using scenario analysis. Overall, 98 Gg N from agriculture entered water bodies in 2018, of which crop system contributed 70%; 15 Gg P entered water bodies, of which, animal system contributed 78%. Nitrate (NO3−) leaching (65%) and direct discharge of animal manure (69%) accounted for most of the N and P emissions, respectively. Plains contributed 89% of N and 92% of P emissions. Spatial overlay analysis showed that high N and P emissions were mainly concentrated in the western and northeastern plain areas. At the sub-basin scale, the Nandu River basin had the largest agricultural N and P emissions, accounting for more than 20% of all emissions. Scenario analysis showed that N and P emissions were significantly correlated with natural (e.g., elevation, slope, and soil texture) and anthropogenic (e.g., rural income, population density, planting structure, and livestock density) factors. We further analyzed the emissions of N and P can be reduced by 71 Gg and 14 Gg by 2035, respectively, via reducing food chain waste and consumption, importing more food, and improving production efficiency, but especially prohibiting the direct discharge of livestock manure. This high-resolution quantification of agricultural N and P emissions to the water bodies provides an exploration of the most effective options for reducing agricultural non-point source (ANPS) pollution at the island scale.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Hongwei Zhao for the help on land-use data of Hainan Island and the conceptualization of this manuscript.

Funding

The study is sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.52069006, 51569009) and the Natural Science Foundation of Hainan (Grant No. ZDYF2022SHFZ060, 421RC489).

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Author notes

  1. Xu Liang and Yanhu He contributed equally to this manuscript.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Ecology and Environment, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China

    Xu Liang, Yi Zou & Changqing Ye

  2. Institute of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Yanhu He

  3. School of Tourism, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China

    Lirong Zhu

  4. College of Tropical Crops, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China

    Shijie Fan

  5. Key Laboratory of Agro-Forestry Environmental Processes and Ecological Regulation of Hainan Province, Haikou, 570228, China

    Changqing Ye

Authors
  1. Xu Liang
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  2. Yanhu He
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  4. Shijie Fan
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  5. Yi Zou
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. XL: conceptualization, methodology, software, validation, investigation, visualization, writing—original draft; YH: conceptualization, resources, data curation, writing—original draft; LZ: resources, validation; SF: data curation, investigation; YZ: investigation; CY: resources, investigation, writing—review and editing, funding acquisition.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Changqing Ye.

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Liang, X., He, Y., Zhu, L. et al. Nitrogen and phosphorus emissions to water in agricultural crop-animal systems and driving forces in Hainan Island, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 85036–85049 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21853-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21853-z

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