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Influences of the landscape pattern on riverine nitrogen exports derived from legacy sources in subtropical agricultural catchments

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Abstract

Changes in the landscape pattern can disturb legacy nitrogen (N) release by influencing hydrological and biogeochemical processes; thus, understanding the effects of landscape patterns on riverine N exports from legacy sources is critical for preparing water quality improvement strategies. In this study, an empirical statistical model that incorporates the net anthropogenic nitrogen input (NANI), runoff coefficient, and residential land area percentage was used to quantify the contribution of legacy sources to annual riverine ammonium nitrogen (NH4+–N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3−–N), and total nitrogen (TN) exports in eight adjacent agricultural catchments in subtropical southern China. The results indicated that annual riverine NH4+–N, NO3−–N, and TN exports from legacy sources ranged from 0.36–1.03, 3.09–4.89, and 3.94–6.79 kg ha−1 year−1, respectively, during the 2012–2017 period. Redundancy analysis (RDA) was used to analyze the interactions between legacy N release and landscape metrics at both the landscape and class levels. The RDA results suggested that higher dispersion, lower shape complexity, and greater heterogeneity in landscape patches can enhance the release of legacy N at the landscape level. In agricultural and residential areas, higher release of legacy N was associated with patches that are unfragmented and have a low shape complexity, whereas in woodland areas, the opposite was true. These analyses provide scientific support for preparing legacy N control strategies from the perspective of landscape ecology.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFD0800100).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Changsha Research Station for Agricultural and Environmental Monitoring, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 644, the Second Yuanda Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410125, China

    Cen Meng, Yuyuan Li, Yi Wang, Xi Li, Jianlin Shen, Yong Li & Jinshui Wu

  2. Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Regions, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, 410125, China

    Cen Meng, Yuyuan Li, Yi Wang, Xi Li, Jianlin Shen, Yong Li & Jinshui Wu

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 10049, China

    Cen Meng, Yuyuan Li, Yi Wang, Xi Li, Jianlin Shen, Yong Li & Jinshui Wu

  4. College of Resources & Environment, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, China

    Huanyao Liu

  5. College of Water Resources & Civil Engineering, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, China

    Xiang Fan

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  1. Cen Meng
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Meng, C., Liu, H., Li, Y. et al. Influences of the landscape pattern on riverine nitrogen exports derived from legacy sources in subtropical agricultural catchments. Biogeochemistry 152, 161–177 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-020-00744-w

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