Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is becoming an increasingly important factor affecting the nutrient level of lakes, especially considering the long-term control measures for external N inputs in developed regions. However, few studies have investigated the effects of atmospheric N deposition and the respective ecological significance in eutrophic waters. In this study, bulk and wet deposition rates of all N species and water N concentrations in Lake Taihu were determined based on the long-term (2010-2018) high-resolution (weekly or monthly) systematic observations. The results indicated that the decline in wind speed and change in land-use type likely decreased the N deposition rate. The bulk N deposition rates decreased from 45.77 kg N ha-1 yr-1 in 2012 to 22.06 kg N ha-1 yr-1 in 2018, which could account for decrease of 1.01 mg N L-1 in the lake N concentrations via a rough estimation, and this value was close to the actual variation in N concentration in Lake Taihu. The correlation between N concentrations and atmospheric deposition fluxes was stronger than that between N concentrations and riverine N inputs or lake storage, which further indicated that change in atmospheric N deposition was the key reason for the variation in N concentrations. The direct bulk N deposition into Lake Taihu accounted for 17.5% and 51.4% of the riverine N inputs and lake N inventory, respectively. Moreover, atmospheric N deposition was concentrated in summer, which was dominated by reduced N, and it may be important for the duration of algal blooms. Therefore, external N inputs, including atmospheric N deposition, should be further controlled for an effective mitigation of eutrophication and algal blooms in Lake Taihu.
Keywords: Bulk deposition; Cyanobacterial blooms; Eutrophication; Lake Taihu; N budget; Wet deposition.
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