Nitrogen driving force and pressure relationships at contrasting scales: Implications for catchment management

Abstract

The major objective of this study was to compile and examine empirical relationships between the driving forces and pressures that affect nitrogen cycling. Special attention was paid to riverine loads, fluxes, and concentrations of nitrogen in relation to agricultural factors (e.g., land use and fertilisers) at various spatial scales (plot, field, catchment, river basin, nation, region, continent, and world). Results of the present analyses and assessments reported in the literature indicate that at global, continental and inter‐river basin scales, the level of riverine nitrogen loads (pressures) can be readily derived from simple empirical relationships with driving forces like population density and agricultural factors (e.g., proportion of arable land and fertiliser use). It seems that statistically derived relationships do not hold or are much weaker at the scales of single river basins and smaller catchments, whereas nitrogen losses appear to be correlated with fertiliser use at the smallest scales (plot and field). It is important to recognise this spatial nutrient paradox, particularly when such functional relationships are applied in the contexts of management and decision making. The implications for management are given further consideration in this paper.