Abstract
Rivers play a key role in linking between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and are becoming important sinks of nitrogen (N). However, quantifying N export from terrestrial ecosystems to rivers at large scales is still challenging, due to the heterogeneous characteristics of watersheds in hydrology, land use, geology, climatology, etc. N export from terrestrial ecosystems to rivers is basically controlled by N balances and driven by hydrological processes. Here a model of watershed export coefficient (E ws ) of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) is proposed to describe the dynamic processes of DIN export to the river from non-point sources (NPS), with emphasis on the changing N balance and hydrology in the Changjiang River basin during the period 1970–2003. We found a significant relationship between E ws and the relative N surplus degree, which can predict the variation of E ws in the basin. Our study shows that E ws increased from 0.11 to 0.61 across the whole basin during the period, indicating E ws was dynamic rather than static through time. The amounts of NPS-DIN export to the river (W NPS ) increased from 0.22 × 103 to 4.54 × 103 kg km−2 year−1 in response to the increasing watershed N surplus during 1970–2003. The quick increase of W NPS and E ws demonstrate the diminishing capacity of terrestrial ecosystems to retain N as N surplus increased as a direct result of human activities. Our research helps researchers and policy makers to understand the mechanism of river N level in response to watershed N balance and hydrology processes.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by “Exploratory Forefront Project for the Strategic Science Plan in IGSNRR, CAS” (2012QY001), “Research Program of State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment”(NO. 2012SKL012) and “National Science Foundation of China” (20777073 and 21177126).
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Wang, J., Li, X., Yan, W. et al. Watershed nitrogen export model related to changing nitrogen balance and hydrology in the Changjiang River basin. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 98, 87–95 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-014-9598-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-014-9598-9