Discharge dynamics of agricultural diffuse pollution under different rainfall patterns in the middle Yangtze river

Qin Li; Wei Ouyang; Jing Zhu; Chunye Lin; Mengchang He

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119116

Discharge dynamics of agricultural diffuse pollution under different rainfall patterns in the middle Yangtze river

J Environ Manage. 2023 Dec 1:347:119116. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119116. Epub 2023 Sep 25.

Authors

Qin Li¹, Wei Ouyang², Jing Zhu¹, Chunye Lin¹, Mengchang He¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China; Advanced Interdisciplinary Institute of Environment and Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, 519087, China. Electronic address: wei@itc.nl.

PMID: 37757686
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119116

Abstract

Rainfall plays a crucial role in influencing the loss of agricultural diffuse pollution. The middle Yangtze River region is well-know for its humid climate and numerous agricultural activities. Thus, this study quantitatively analyzed the concentration and distribution of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) load and loss in a major tributary of the middle Yangtze River under different rainfall patterns by using sampling analysis and SWAT model simulation. The total nitrogen (TN) and nitrate-nitrogen (NO₃^-) concentrations were 1.604-3.574 and 0.830-2.556 mg/L, respectively. The total phosphorous (TP) and Soluble Reactive Phosphorus (SRP) were 2-148 and 2-104 μg/L, respectively. The modeling results demonstrated that higher rainfall intensity led to greater load and loss flux of diffuse pollutant at the outlet. Organic nitrogen (ORGN) is the main nitrogen form transported from the subbasin to the reach, while organic phosphorus (ORGP) and inorganic phosphorus (INORGP) were transported at similar amounts. Under the condition of conventional rainfall, the outlet reaches mainly transported NO₃^-, and ORGN gradually increased when rainstorm events occurred. The ratio of INORGP to ORGP was relatively stable. During extreme rainfall event, rainfall is the dominant element of agricultural diffuse pollution. A strong positive correlation exists between rainfall intensity and pollution loss during rainstorms. Storm rain events were the main source of TN and TP losses. Few storm rain days generated pollutants that accounted for a large proportion of the total loss, and their impact on TP loss was significantly greater than that of TN. The influence of storm rain on TN is mainly the increase in runoff, while TP is sensitive to the runoff and sediment transport promoted by rainfall. By setting different precipitation scenarios, it was confirmed that under the same rainfall amount, short-term storm rain has the most significant impact on the TN load, whereas TP load may be influenced more by the combined effects of rainfall duration and intensity. Therefore, to reduce the impact of agricultural diffuse pollution, it is important to take targeted measures for the rainstorm days.

Keywords: Agricultural diffuse pollution; Fertilization; Rainfall; SWAT model; Water quality.

MeSH terms

China
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Environmental Pollutants* / analysis
Nitrogen / analysis
Phosphorus / analysis
Rain
Rivers
Water Movements
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Water Pollutants, Chemical
Phosphorus
Environmental Pollutants
Nitrogen