Simulated nitrogen leaching patterns and adaptation to climate change in two Finnish river basins with contrasting land use and climatic conditions

Inorganic nitrogen (N) loading was simulated by the catchment scale INCA-N model from two large river basins with contrasting land use. The main aim was to analyze the timing and origin of inorganic N loading and the effectiveness of different water protection methods. Predicted changes in precipitation and temperature increases the nutrient load from catchments to water bodies in future climate. The total inorganic N load from the forested Simojoki river basin located in northern Finland was about 5% of that from the Loimijoki river basin in south western Finland. In the Loimijoki river basin agriculture dominated inorganic N loading. When applying realistic water protection methods (limits on manure spreading) the simulated inorganic N load from the river basin decreased by 11%. With more drastic methods (no manure spreading + catch crop) a decrease up to 34% was achieved. In the Simojoki river basin there were several equally significant sources, so suitable combinations of different water protection measures would be the most efficient way to decrease the inorganic N load. As the inorganic N load may be composed of very different sources, depending on land use in the river basin, efficient allocation of water protection measures requires detailed analysis of different sources of loading.

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Carbon Storage Change Analysis and Emission Reduction Suggestions under Land Use Transition: A Case Study of Henan Province, China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18041844 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 1844

Author(s):

Dongyang Xiao ◽

Haipeng Niu ◽

Jin Guo ◽

Suxia Zhao ◽

Liangxin Fan

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

River Basin ◽

Yangtze River ◽

Carbon Emission ◽

Yellow River ◽

Yangtze River Basin ◽

Yellow River Basin ◽

River Basins ◽

Henan Province ◽

Huai River

The significant spatial heterogeneity among river basin ecosystems makes it difficult for local governments to carry out comprehensive governance for different river basins in a special administrative region spanning multi-river basins. However, there are few studies on the construction of a comprehensive governance mechanism for multi-river basins at the provincial level. To fill this gap, this paper took Henan Province of China, which straddles four river basins, as the study region. The chord diagram, overlay analysis, and carbon emission models were applied to the remote sensing data of land use to analyze the temporal and spatial patterns of carbon storage caused by land-use changes in Henan Province from 1990 to 2018 to reflect the heterogeneity of the contribution of the four basins to human activities and economic development. The results revealed that food security land in the four basins decreased, while production and living land increased. Ecological conservation land was increased over time in the Yangtze River Basin. In addition, the conversion from food security land to production and living land was the common characteristic for the four basins. Carbon emission in Henan increased from 134.46 million tons in 1990 to 553.58 million tons in 2018, while its carbon absorption was relatively stable (1.67–1.69 million tons between 1990 and 2018). The carbon emitted in the Huai River Basin was the main contributor to Henan Province’s total carbon emission. The carbon absorption in Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin had an obvious spatial agglomeration effect. Finally, considering the current need of land spatial planning in China and the goal of carbon neutrality by 2060 set by the Chinese government, we suggested that carbon sequestration capacity should be further strengthened in Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin based on their respective ecological resource advantages. For future development in Hai River Basin and Huai River Basin, coordinating the spatial allocation of urban scale and urban green space to build an ecological city is a key direction to embark upon.

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Land Use/Cover Change Effects on River Basin Hydrological Processes Based on a Modified Soil and Water Assessment Tool: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin in Northwest China’s Arid Region

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11041072 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 1072 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Xin Jin ◽

Yanxiang Jin ◽

Xufeng Mao

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

River Basin ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

River Basins ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Hydrological Processes ◽

Heihe River ◽

Distributed Models ◽

The Subject ◽

Increasing Trends

Land use/cover change (LUCC) affects canopy interception, soil infiltration, land-surface evapotranspiration (ET), and other hydrological parameters during rainfall, which in turn affects the hydrological regimes and runoff mechanisms of river basins. Physically based distributed (or semi-distributed) models play an important role in interpreting and predicting the effects of LUCC on the hydrological processes of river basins. However, conventional distributed (or semi-distributed) models, such as the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT), generally assume that no LUCC takes place during the simulation period to simplify the computation process. When applying the SWAT, the subject river basin is subdivided into multiple hydrologic response units (HRUs) based on the land use/cover type, soil type, and surface slope. The land use/cover type is assumed to remain constant throughout the simulation period, which limits the ability to interpret and predict the effects of LUCC on hydrological processes in the subject river basin. To overcome this limitation, a modified SWAT (LU-SWAT) was developed that incorporates annual land use/cover data to simulate LUCC effects on hydrological processes under different climatic conditions. To validate this approach, this modified model and two other models (one model based on the 2000 land use map, called SWAT 1; one model based on the 2009 land use map, called SWAT 2) were applied to the middle reaches of the Heihe River in northwest China; this region is most affected by human activity. Study results indicated that from 1990 to 2009, farmland, forest, and urban areas all showed increasing trends, while grassland and bare land areas showed decreasing trends. Primary land use changes in the study area were from grassland to farmland and from bare land to forest. During this same period, surface runoff, groundwater runoff, and total water yield showed decreasing trends, while lateral flow and ET volume showed increasing trends under dry, wet, and normal conditions. Changes in the various hydrological parameters were most evident under dry and normal climatic conditions. Based on the existing research of the middle reaches of the Heihe River, and a comparison of the other two models from this study, the modified LU-SWAT developed in this study outperformed the conventional SWAT when predicting the effects of LUCC on the hydrological processes of river basins.

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Integrated assessment of the impacts of climate variability and anthropogenic activities on river runoff: a case study in the Hutuo River Basin, China

Hydrology Research ◽

10.2166/nh.2016.229 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 48 (2) ◽

pp. 416-430 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Abubaker Omer ◽

Weiguang Wang ◽

Amir K. Basheer ◽

Bin Yong

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Water Resources ◽

Climate Variability ◽

River Basin ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Anthropogenic Activities ◽

Interactive Effect ◽

River Basins ◽

Runoff Reduction ◽

Sustainable Water Resources Management

Understanding the linear and nonlinear responses of runoff to environmental change is crucial to optimally manage water resources in river basins. This study proposes a generic framework-based hydrological model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)) and two approaches, to comprehensively assess the impacts of anthropogenic activities and climate variability on runoff over the representative Hutuo River Basin (HRB), China. Results showed that SWAT performed well in capturing the runoff trend in HRB; however, it exhibited better performance for the calibration period than for the validation. During 1961–2000, about 26.06% of the catchment area was changed, mainly from forest to farmland and urban, and the climate changed to warmer and drier. The integrated effects of the anthropogenic activities and climate variability decreased annual runoff in HRB by 96.6 mm. Direct human activities were responsible for 52.16% of runoff reduction. Climate (land use) decreased runoff by 45.30% (2.06%), whereas the combined (land use + climate) impact resulted in more runoff decrease, by 47.84%. Land use–climate interactive effect is inherent in HRB and decreased runoff by 1.02%. The proposed framework can be applied to improve the current understanding of runoff variation in river basins, for supporting sustainable water resources management strategies.

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Designing of Water-protection Zones in the Piedmont Region River Basins (the Avacha River Basin, Kamchatka Kray, as a Study Case)

Water sector of Russia: problems, technologies, management - Методы оценки и механизмы регулирования водопользования в современных условиях ◽

10.35567/1999-4508-2011-5-1 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 4-19

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

River Basins ◽

Water Protection ◽

Protection Zones ◽

Study Case ◽

Populated Region ◽

Piedmont Region ◽

Methodological Difficulties

A procedure and technique of water-protection zones designing have been considered with the use of the Avacha River (that flow in the mostly dense populated region of Kamchatka Kray) basin as a study case. Regularities of their identification according to the specific natural features of a river basin have been discussed. Special attention has been paid to methodological difficulties of water-protection zones designing associated, among others, with imperfection or absence of a regulatory basis. The used methods and technical means have been reviewed, the problems of their allocation have been discussed, and the structure and content of such works have been recommended.

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A New Indicator to Better Represent the Impact of Landscape Pattern Change on Basin Soil Erosion and Sediment Yield in the Upper Reach of Ganjiang, China

Land ◽

10.3390/land10090990 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. 990

Author(s):

Yongfen Zhang ◽

Nong Wang ◽

Chongjun Tang ◽

Shiqiang Zhang ◽

Yuejun Song ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

River Basin ◽

Landscape Metrics ◽

Landscape Pattern ◽

Sediment Yield ◽

River Basins ◽

Landscape Patterns ◽

Soil Erodibility ◽

Land Use Pattern

Landscape patterns are a result of the combined action of natural and social factors. Quantifying the relationships between landscape pattern changes, soil erosion, and sediment yield in river basins can provide regulators with a foundation for decision-making. Many studies have investigated how land-use changes and the resulting landscape patterns affect soil erosion in river basins. However, studies examining the effects of terrain, rainfall, soil erodibility, and vegetation cover factors on soil erosion and sediment yield from a landscape pattern perspective remain limited. In this paper, the upper Ganjiang Basin was used as the study area, and the amount of soil erosion and the amount of sediment yield in this basin were first simulated using a hydrological model. The simulated values were then validated. On this basis, new landscape metrics were established through the addition of factors from the revised universal soil loss equation to the land-use pattern. Five combinations of landscape metrics were chosen, and the interactions between the landscape metrics in each combination and their effects on soil erosion and sediment yield in the river basin were examined. The results showed that there were highly similar correlations between the area metrics, between the fragmentation metrics, between the spatial structure metrics, and between the evenness metrics across all the combinations, while the correlations between the shape metrics in Combination 1 (only land use in each year) differed notably from those in the other combinations. The new landscape indicator established based on Combination 4, which integrated the land-use pattern and the terrain, soil erodibility, and rainfall erosivity factors, were the most significantly correlated with the soil erosion and sediment yield of the river basin. Finally, partial least-squares regression models for the soil erosion and sediment yield of the river basin were established based on the five landscape metrics with the highest variable importance in projection scores selected from Combination 4. The results of this study provide a simple approach for quantitatively assessing soil erosion in other river basins for which detailed observation data are lacking.

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LAND-USE CONTROL ON TOTAL INORGANIC NITROGEN IN KARST AQUIFERS IN THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU (SOUTHEASTERN KENTUCKY) IN THE UPPER OHIO RIVER BASIN

10.1130/abs/2018nc-311942 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

G. Tagne ◽

◽

Carolyn B. Dowling

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

River Basin ◽

Inorganic Nitrogen ◽

Ohio River ◽

Karst Aquifers ◽

Cumberland Plateau ◽

Ohio River Basin ◽

Total Inorganic Nitrogen ◽

Land Use Control

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Prediction of runoff pollutant load considering characteristics of river basin

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1996.0495 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 33 (4-5) ◽

pp. 117-126 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Atsushi Ichiki ◽

Kiyoshi Yamada ◽

Toshiyuki Ohnishi

Keyword(s):

Environmental Management ◽

Land Use ◽

River Basin ◽

River Basins ◽

Point Sources ◽

Pollutant Load ◽

Nonpoint Sources ◽

Macro Model ◽

Runoff Model ◽

Pollutant Runoff

The objectives of this study are to establish a runoff model and show profiles of pollutant runoff by simulating the change in runoff load with variance in the characteristics of river basins (i.e. population, urban area, rate of sewerage, etc.). The model, hereinafter referred to as “MACRO MODEL”, consists of three main sections. The first one shows pollutant runoff from point sources taking into consideration the sedimentation of pollutants in sewers. The second and third ones show pollutant runoff from nonpoint sources in an urban and rural area taking land use into consideration. Since it was proved that MACRO MODEL could simulate runoff load accurately enough to predict profiles of pollutant runoff, it has become possible to estimate the effect of characteristics of a river basin on pollutant runoff. As a result, some available knowledge concerned with the environmental management of water was obtained by using MACRO MODEL.

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Modelling of seasonal effects of soil processes on N leaching in northern latitudes

Hydrology Research ◽

10.2166/nh.2004.0026 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 35 (4-5) ◽

pp. 347-357 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

K. Rankinen ◽

K. Granlund ◽

I. Bärlund

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

N Mineralization ◽

Inorganic Nitrogen ◽

Mineral Soil ◽

Seasonal Effects ◽

N Leaching ◽

Net N Mineralization ◽

Inorganic N ◽

Northern Latitudes ◽

Dormant Season

Concentrations of inorganic nitrogen (N) in non-polluted and undisturbed northern rivers are often lower during summer than during the dormant season. The great difference between summer and winter N concentrations probably reflects higher soil water N contents in the dormant season compared with the growing season, when inorganic N is usually retained effectively. Microbial activity in soil is observed even in sub-zero temperatures and it is generally assumed that in the northern latitudes some N mineralization occurs during winter. The dynamic, semi-distributed INCA (Integrated Nitrogen in Catchments) model was applied to the Simojoki river basin in the boreal zone in northern Finland. With this model process rates and loads of N can be simulated in different land use modes. The INCA model was not able to simulate the high inorganic N concentrations in the river water in winter unless N processes in sub-zero temperatures were included. The aim of this study was to compare the simulated N mineralization in two different land use modes: boreal forests on mineral soil and agricultural fields. Net N mineralization occurring during the season when soil is mainly frozen (November–April) accounted for 43% of the annual N mineralization. This work indicates the importance of over-winter N processes in northern areas, which should be taken into account when modelling nutrient leaching.

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Comparison of inorganic nitrogen uptake dynamics following snowmelt and at peak biomass in subalpine grasslands

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-10-7631-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 7631-7645 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

N. Legay ◽

F. Grassein ◽

T. M. Robson ◽

E. Personeni ◽

M.-P. Bataillé ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Microbial Biomass ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Inorganic Nitrogen ◽

N Uptake ◽

Microbial Biomass N ◽

Inorganic N ◽

Peak Biomass ◽

Biomass N ◽

Subalpine Grasslands

Abstract. Subalpine grasslands are highly seasonal environments and likely subject to strong variability in nitrogen (N) dynamics. Plants and microbes typically compete for N acquisition during the growing season and particularly at plant peak biomass. During snowmelt, plants could potentially benefit from a decrease in competition by microbes, leading to greater plant N uptake associated with active growth and freeze-thaw cycles restricting microbial growth. In managed subalpine grasslands, we expect these interactions to be influenced by recent changes in agricultural land use, and associated modifications in plant and microbial communities. At several subalpine grasslands in the French Alps, we added pulses of 15N to the soil at the end of snowmelt, allowing us to compare the dynamics of inorganic N uptake in plants and microbes during this period with that previously reported at the peak biomass in July. In all grasslands, while specific shoot N translocation (per g of biomass) of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) was two to five times greater at snowmelt than at peak biomass, specific microbial DIN uptakes were similar between the two sampling dates. On an area basis, plant communities took more DIN than microbial communities at the end of snowmelt when aboveground plant biomasses were at least two times lower than at peak biomass. Consequently, inorganic N partitioning after snowmelt switches in favor of plant communities, allowing them to support their growing capacities at this period of the year. Seasonal differences in microbial and plant inorganic N-related dynamics were also affected by past (terraced vs. unterraced) rather than current (mown vs. unmown) land use. In terraced grasslands, microbial biomass N remained similar across seasons, whereas in unterraced grasslands, microbial biomass N was higher and microbial C : N lower at the end of snowmelt as compared to peak biomass. Further investigations on microbial community composition and their organic N uptake dynamics are required to better understand the decrease in microbial DIN uptake.

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