Abstract
Human activities have greatly increased the emission of reactive nitrogen (N) to the atmosphere, leading to large increases in N deposition in sensitive ecosystems. However, few have measured both the wet and dry deposition of individual N species in southeast China and their impact on surface water quality. We investigated wet and dry deposition of N, including gaseous NH3, NO2 and HNO3, and particulate NH4+-N and NO3−-N in both the atmosphere and precipitation during a two-year period at three sites in the Taihu Lake region in southeast China. The total N deposition in this region was 64.8 kg N ha−1 yr−1 (range: 59.1–70.5 kg N ha−1 yr−1). On an annual basis, the ratio of reduced to oxidized N deposition was 1.7, suggesting that the reduced form of N dominates N deposition. Of the annual N deposition, 45.5% was deposited via precipitation, with the remaining via dry deposition. The total gaseous and particulate N deposition was 24.9 and 10.4 kg N ha−1 yr−1, respectively. The high N loading in this region has resulted in the reduction of water quality in Taihu Lake. Atmospheric N deposition accounted for 33.3 and 27.5% of the total N loading in Taihu Lake and in water bodies in the region, respectively. We conclude that dry deposition of N is one of the most important sources of surface water pollution and should be taken into account when developing strategies for mitigating water pollution.
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