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Effect of Agricultural Structure Adjustment on Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Net Anthropogenic Nitrogen Inputs in the Pearl River Basin from 1990 to 2019

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  • Kai Xu

    (School of Chemical Engineering, Northeast Electric Power University, Jilin 132012, China
    Jiangsu Provincial Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Monitoring and Ecological Management of Pond and Reservoir Water Environment, Huaiyin Normal University, Huaian 223300, China)

  • Jiaogen Zhou

    (Jiangsu Provincial Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Monitoring and Ecological Management of Pond and Reservoir Water Environment, Huaiyin Normal University, Huaian 223300, China
    Current address: No.111 West Changjiang Road, Huai’an 223300, China)

  • Qiuliang Lei

    (Key Laboratory of Nonpoint Source Pollution Control, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Wenbiao Wu

    (Research Center of Information Technology, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China)

  • Guangxiong Mao

    (Jiangsu Provincial Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Monitoring and Ecological Management of Pond and Reservoir Water Environment, Huaiyin Normal University, Huaian 223300, China)

Abstract

Worldwide urbanization has brought dramatic changes in agricultural structures, as well as serious agricultural non-point source pollutions of nitrogen and phosphorus. However, understanding the effect of agricultural structure adjustment on net anthropogenic nitrogen inputs (NANI) has been still limited. In this paper, statistical data from the agricultural statistical Yearbook, the National Economic and Social Development Statistical Bulletin were collected from 1990 to 2019 in the Pearl River Basin, China, and used to analyze the spatial and temporal patterns of NANI and its influencing factors. The results indicated that the agricultural structure adjustment has significantly influenced the spatial and temporal patterns of NANI in the last 30 years in the Pearl River Basin. The NANI decreased from 1990 to 2019, and had a spatial pattern of higher values in the upstream areas and lower in the downstream areas. In terms of the nitrogen input sources of NANI, in the economically developed regions downstream, nitrogen inputs are dominated by food/feed nitrogen, which accounted for an average of 49.6% of total nitrogen inputs. In upstream areas with relatively low economic development, fertilizer nitrogen accounted for an average of 54.9% of total nitrogen inputs. A novel nitrogen input source index of NANI, namely the ratio of agricultural nitrogen inputs to non-agricultural nitrogen inputs of NANI(ASNA), was also proposed to characterize the impact of the agricultural industry restructuring on NANI changes over time. Similar to the characteristics of NANI from 1990 to 2019, the ASNA showed a decreasing trend in the study area. Moreover, agricultural variables (agricultural land area, nitrogen fertilizer consumption and livestock farming density) tended to contribute less to the explained ASNA variances, while the contributions of the non-agricultural factors (population density and non-agricultural GDP) increased from 1990 to 2019. This indicated that the contribution of nitrogen inputs from agricultural sources to the NANI decreased while the contribution of nitrogen inputs from non-agricultural sources increased, with the shifts of agricultural sectors to the secondary and tertiary sectors in the Pearl River Basin. Our findings also suggest that differently regional targeting should be considered for the nitrogen pollution management in the Pearl River Basin, which focuses on the nitrogen pollution management of non-agricultural sources in the downstream areas, and but highlights agricultural nitrogen pollution management in the upstream areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Kai Xu & Jiaogen Zhou & Qiuliang Lei & Wenbiao Wu & Guangxiong Mao, 2023. "Effect of Agricultural Structure Adjustment on Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Net Anthropogenic Nitrogen Inputs in the Pearl River Basin from 1990 to 2019," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:2:p:311-:d:1044131
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xin Zhou & Chunqing Chen & Fajin Chen & Zhiguang Song, 2021. "Changes in net anthropogenic nitrogen input in the watershed region of Zhanjiang Bay in south China from 1978 to 2018," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(12), pages 17201-17219, December.
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