Temporal and spatial variations of net anthropogenic nitrogen inputs (NANI) in the Pearl River Basin of China from 1986 to 2015.

Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101285081 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1932-6203 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19326203 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS One Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science

Conservation of Natural Resources* ; Fertilizers* ; Rivers*; Environmental Monitoring/*methods ; Nitrogen/*analysis; China ; Ecosystem ; Estuaries ; Eutrophication ; Geography ; Regression Analysis ; Spatio-Temporal Analysis ; Urbanization

Human activities have greatly influenced the natural nitrogen cycle, causing dramatic degradation of ecosystem function. Net anthropogenic nitrogen input (NANI) is an important factor contributing to the impact of human activities on the regional nitrogen cycle. Here, we analyzed the temporal and spatial variation of NANI in the Pearl River Basin of China between 1986 to 2015, and found that the total amount of NANI significantly increased from 3,362.25 kg N km-2 yr-1 to 8,071.15 kg N km-2 yr-1. Application of nitrogen fertilizers was the largest component of NANI in the Basin, accounting for 55.53% in the total NANI, followed by food/feed net nitrogen input (21.26%), atmospheric nitrogen deposition (12.95%), and crop nitrogen fixation (10.26%). Over the last three decades, nitrogen inputs from atmospheric nitrogen deposition have become the second largest source of NANI due to rapid industrialization and urbanization in the region. Regression analysis showed that the rapid growth of both GDP and population density were the main contributors to the increase of NANI. In addition, the increase in the number of red tides in the Pearl River Estuary was strongly correlated with NANI discharge (R2 = 0.90, p<0.01), suggesting the NANI's eutrophication effect. In total, this study provides a quantitative understanding of the temporal and spatial variations of NANI in the Pearl River Basin as well as the effects of NANI on estuarine waters, and offered key information for developing an integrated strategy for watershed nitrogen management.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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0 (Fertilizers)
N762921K75 (Nitrogen)

Date Created: 20200211 Date Completed: 20200506 Latest Revision: 20200506

20231215

PMC7010255

10.1371/journal.pone.0228683

32040490