Response of Riverine Nitrogen Exports to Land Use Pattern and Hydrological Regime in the Jiulong River Watershed

Abstract

Watershed land use patterns combined with hydrological regimes affect riverine nitrogen (N) sources, transformation pathways, and exports, which can affect watershed health and freshwater ecosystem service supply. Understanding how land use and hydrological regimes affect riverine N exports is therefore useful for developing sustainable watershed management strategies. Based on in-situ observations during the period 2010-2017, watershed modeling, geospatial technology, and statistical analysis were coupled in this study to explore the responses of riverine nitrogen exports to watershed land use pattern and hydrological regime in a medium-sized watershed. Results showed that nitrate was the major form of dissolved inorganic N in the Jiulong River watershed; agricultural and urban watersheds had higher N exports and greater temporal variability than those in natural watershed. The seasonal fluctuation for watershed N concentrations and exports was obvious in wet years compared with dry years. Compared with the hydrological regime, the land use pattern had significant effects on N concentrations and exports. This study demonstrated that spatiotemporal variations of riverine nitrogen exports were mainly contributed by the coupled effects of watershed land use pattern and hydrological regime.