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Combining CLUE-S and SWAT models to forecast land use change and non-point source pollution impact at a watershed scale in Liaoning Province, China

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Abstract

Non-point source (NPS) pollution has become a major source of water pollution. A combination of models would provide the necessary direction and approaches designed to control NPS pollution through land use planning. In this study, NPS pollution load was simulated in urban planning, historic trends and ecological protection land use scenarios based on the Conversion of Land Use and its Effect at Small regional extent (CLUE-S) and Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) models applied to Hunhe-Taizi River Watershed, Liaoning Province, China. Total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were chosen as NPS pollution indices. The results of models validation showed that CLUE-S and SWAT models were suitable in the study area. NPS pollution mainly came from dry farmland, paddy, rural and urban areas. The spatial distribution of TN and TP exhibited the same trend in 57 sub-catchments. The TN and TP had the highest NPS pollution load in the western and central plains, which concentrated the urban area and farm land. The NPS pollution load would increase in the urban planning and historic trends scenarios, and would be even higher in the urban planning scenario. However, the NPS pollution load decreased in the ecological protection scenario. The differences observed in the three scenarios indicated that land use had a degree of impact on NPS pollution, which showed that scientific and ecologically sound construction could effectively reduce the NPS pollution load in a watershed. This study provides a scientific method for conducting NPS pollution research at the watershed scale, a scientific basis for non-point source pollution control, and a reference for related policy making.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110164, China

    Miao Liu, Chunlin Li, Yuanman Hu, Fengyun Sun, Yanyan Xu & Tan Chen

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Chunlin Li, Fengyun Sun, Yanyan Xu & Tan Chen

Authors
  1. Miao Liu
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  2. Chunlin Li
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  3. Yuanman Hu
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  4. Fengyun Sun
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  5. Yanyan Xu
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  6. Tan Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuanman Hu.

Additional information

Foundation item: Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41171155, 40801069), National Science and Technology Major Project of China: Water Pollution Control and Governance (No. 2012ZX07505-003)

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Liu, M., Li, C., Hu, Y. et al. Combining CLUE-S and SWAT models to forecast land use change and non-point source pollution impact at a watershed scale in Liaoning Province, China. Chin. Geogr. Sci. 24, 540–550 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-014-0661-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-014-0661-x

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