Impacts of human activities and climate change on the water environment of Lake Poyang Basin, China

Abstract

The global mean temperature has risen by 0.85 °C from 1880 to 2012, and this increase may even accelerate in the future. The surface temperatures of large inland water bodies worldwide have been rapidly warming since 1985 with an average rate of 0.045 ± 0.011 °C yr−1 and rates as high as 0.10 ± 0.01 °C yr−1. The global climate change was responsible for an increased contribution of diffuse nutrient losses to the total nutrient loads in water bodies. More and more algae blooms were reported in inland water bodies. Lake Poyang, the largest freshwater lake in China, is experiencing a deterioration of water quality. Ganjiang River, as the longest river in the Lake Poyang catchment, plays an important role in linking between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. A large amount of N pollutants is transported through the Ganjiang River to Lake Poyang. It is important to study quantitatively human enhanced N (nitrogen) inputs and DIN (Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen) exports through rivers in the background of global warming. In this paper, we estimate the inputs of nitrogen (N) and exports of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) from the Ganjiang River to Lake Poyang for the period 1995-2010 by using the Global NEWS-DIN model. Modeled DIN yields range from 1038 kg N km−2 yr−1 in 1995 to 150 kg N km−2 yr−1 in 2010, showing a decreasing trend. The study demonstrates a varied contribution of different N inputs to river DIN yields during the period 1995-2010. Biological N fixation contributes about 73.3 % of DIN yields before 2005, but the contribution decreases substantially to 28.4 % in 2010. Chemical N fertilizer application and animal manure N inputs together contribute 12.6 % of the river DIN yields, while atmospheric N deposition contributes an average of 5.5 % of DIN yields in the period 1995-2010. Sewage N inputs contributes an average of 5.2 % of DIN yields over the period 1995-2005, while the contribution increases remarkably to 69.7 % in 2010. The trophic state index (TSI) of Lake Poyang agrees well with modeled DIN yields from the Ganjiang River over the whole study period. N inputs from nonpoint sources are approximately 10-54 times that from point sources. Almost all the diffuse DIN inputs were retained in the watershed before entering the lake Poyang. While about half of sewage N inputs were input to Lake Poyang as DIN from the Ganjiang River. Modeled DIN yield from Ganjiang River decreased after 2005 significantly, providing evidence for the recovering capacity of watersheds to retain DIN as inputs decrease as a direct result of human activities. The study also demonstrates a varied contribution of different N inputs to river DIN yields during the study period. The authors also point out that more attention should be kept on reducing sewage N discharge to Lake Poyang in the background of global warming.