Patterns and drivers of atmospheric inorganic nitrogen deposition in Northeast Asia

Abubakari Said Mgelwa; Feifei Zhu; Dan Huang; Linlin Song; Yingying Wang; Geshere Abdisa Gurmesa; Ang Wang; Miao Liu; Shaonan Huang; Qingyan Qiu; Hiroyuki Sase; Weixing Zhu; Yunting Fang

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119343

Patterns and drivers of atmospheric inorganic nitrogen deposition in Northeast Asia

J Environ Manage. 2024 Jan 1:349:119343. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119343. Epub 2023 Oct 31.

Authors

Abubakari Said Mgelwa¹, Feifei Zhu², Dan Huang³, Linlin Song³, Yingying Wang⁴, Geshere Abdisa Gurmesa³, Ang Wang³, Miao Liu⁵, Shaonan Huang⁶, Qingyan Qiu⁷, Hiroyuki Sase⁸, Weixing Zhu⁹, Yunting Fang¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China; Key Laboratory of Stable Isotope Techniques and Applications, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China; College of Natural Resources Management & Tourism, Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere University of Agriculture & Technology, P.O. Box 976, Musoma, Tanzania.
² CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China; Key Laboratory of Stable Isotope Techniques and Applications, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China; Qingyuan Forest CERN, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China.
³ CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China; Key Laboratory of Stable Isotope Techniques and Applications, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China.
⁴ CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
⁵ CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Ministry of Education, College of Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China; Henan Key Laboratory of Air Pollution Prevention and Ecological Security (Henan University), Kaifeng, 475004, China.
⁷ Forest Ecology & Stable Isotope Center, College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China.
⁸ Asia Center for Air Pollution Research, 1182, Sowa Nishi-ku, Niigata-shi, 950-2144, Japan.
⁹ Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, The State University of New York, Binghamton, NY, USA.
¹⁰ CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China; Key Laboratory of Stable Isotope Techniques and Applications, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, China; Qingyuan Forest CERN, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China. Electronic address: fangyt@iae.ac.cn.

PMID: 37918232
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119343

Abstract

Elevated nitrogen (N) deposition due to intensified emissions of NH₃ and NO_x is a global problem with profound consequences on living organisms and the environment. Although N emission rates are currently considered to be high in East Asia, reports on the current N deposition level and composition are still limited, especially in northeastern China, where official N deposition monitoring sites are unavailable. This limits our understanding of the spatio-temporal N deposition patterns and their influencing factors at regional to continental scales. Here, we used data collected mostly during 2019 at 38 sites, comprising 7 sites in northeastern China and 31 EANET (Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia) sites in middle and east Russia, Mongolia, central and southern China, South Korea and Japan to explore the spatial-seasonal variations and drivers of ammonium and nitrate deposition across the Northeast Asia. Total bulk inorganic N (TIN) deposition was 3.7-24.5 kg N ha^-1 yr^-1 and NH₄⁺-N/NO₃^--N ratio in the TIN was 0.8-2.8 in northeastern China. The bulk/wet TIN deposition averaged 7.5 kg N ha^-1 yr^-1 (predominantly in the form of ammonium-N: NH₄⁺-N/NO₃^--N = 1.4) over the Northeast Asia region, with the highest rates being observed in northeastern China (11.6), as well as central and southern China (10.7), followed by east Russia, South Korea and Japan (5.6), and the lowest in middle Russia and Mongolia (1.5). This regional bulk/wet TIN deposition level is about twice of the wet TIN deposition level in Europe and the United States. The TIN deposition in summer and spring was 45-467% higher than in autumn and winter. Out of the ten land uses considered, only agricultural and urban land uses significantly positively correlated with NH₄⁺-N and NO₃^--N deposition rates across all monitored sites. This study suggests that the ongoing agricultural and urban expansions are likely to enhance N deposition and its associated effects across global ecosystems.

Keywords: Ammonium deposition; Land uses; Nitrate deposition; Northeast Asia; Seasonal pattern; Spatial pattern.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
Ammonium Compounds*
China
Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring
Nitrogen / analysis

Substances

Air Pollutants
Nitrogen
Ammonium Compounds