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The bioavailability and degradation of riverine dissolved organic matter (DOM) play crucial roles in greenhouse gas emissions; however, studies on the kinetic decomposition of fluvial DOM remain scarce. In this study, the decomposition kinetics of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were characterized using the reactivity continuum model through 28-day bio-incubation experiments with water samples from the Yangtze River. The relationship between DOM composition and decomposition kinetics was analyzed using optical and molecular characterization combined with apparent decay coefficients. Our results revealed that DOM compounds rich in nitrogen and sulfur were predominantly removed, exhibiting a transition from an unsaturated to a saturated state following microbial degradation. These heteroatomic compounds, which constituted 75.61 % of the DOM compounds positively correlated with the decay coefficient k 0 , underwent preferential degradation in the early stages of bio-incubation due to their higher bioavailability. Additionally, we observed that S-containing fractions with high molecular weight values (MW > 400 Da) may be associated with larger reactivity grades. This study underscored the complex interplay between DOM composition and its kinetic decomposition in river ecosystems, providing further support for the significance of molecular composition in large river DOM as crucial factors affecting decomposition., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Streams are disproportionately significant contributors to increases in greenhouse gas (GHG) effluxes in river networks. In the context of global urbanization, a growing number of streams are affected by urbanization, which has been suggested to stimulate the water-air GHG emissions from fluvial systems. This study investigated the seasonal and longitudinal profiles of GHG (N 2 O, CH 4 , and CO 2 ) concentrations of Jiuxianghe Stream, a headwater stream undergoing urbanization, and estimated its GHG diffusive fluxes and global warming potentials (GWPs) using the boundary layer method. The results showed that N 2 O, CH 4 , and CO 2 concentrations in Jiuxianghe Stream were 0.45-7.19 μg L -1 , 0.31-586.85 μg L -1 , and 0.16-11.60 mg L -1 , respectively. N 2 O, CH 4 , and CO 2 concentrations in the stream showed 4.55-, 23.70-, and 7.68-fold increases from headwaters to downstream, respectively, corresponding to the forest-urban transition within the watershed. Multiple linear regression indicated that NO 3 - -N, NH 4 + -N, and DOC:NO 3 - -N accurately predicted N 2 O and CO 2 concentrations, indicating that N nutrients were the driving factors. The Jiuxianghe Stream was a source of atmospheric GHGs with a daily GWP of 7.31 g CO 2 -eq m -2 d -1 on average and was significantly positively correlated with the ratio of construction land and forest in the sub-watershed. This study highlights the critical role of urbanization in amplifying GHG emissions from streams, thereby augmenting our understanding of GHG emissions from river networks. With global urbanization on the rise, streams experiencing urbanization are expected to make an unprecedentedly significant contribution to riverine GHG budgets in the future., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we don't have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Stoichiometry determines the key characteristics of organisms and ecosystems on a global scale and provides strong instructions on the fate of sediment carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus (C-N-P) during the sedimentation process, contributing to the Earth's C-N-P balance. However, the mechanisms underlying C-N-P stoichiometry in response to intensive human activity and organic matter sources remain underexplored, especially in freshwater ecosystems. This study identifies the temporal patterns of C-N-P stoichiometry, reveals the inner driving factors, and clarifies its impact path, especially in eutrophication (the late 1970s). The results revealed that sediment RCP and RNP increased significantly and were controlled by TCAR and TNAR, respectively, indicating the direct impact of burial rate on C-N-P stoichiometry. Based on redundancy analysis and the STM model, autochthonous origin, GDP, and population had positive effects on sediment TCAR, TNAR, and TPAR, which, in turn, affected RCN, RCP, and RNP. Organic matter sources and human activities have a significant influence on RCN, RCP, and RNP, possibly regulated by the variation of TCAR and TNAR. Autochthonous origin had an indirect positive impact on RCN and RCP through the mediating effect of TCAR. Similarly, through the mediating effect of TNAR, it had an indirect negative impact on RCN and an indirect positive impact on RNP. This study showed that TCAR, TNAR, TPAR, GDP, autochthonous, allochthonous and population better explained the changes in RCN, RCP, and RNP over a-hundred-year deposition, highlighting an in-depth understanding of the dynamic change mechanism of sediment C-N-P stoichiometry during the lake deposition process., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we don't have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

It can be challenging to accurately estimate the Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration in inland eutrophic lakes due to lakes' extremely complex optical properties. The Orbita Hyperspectral (OHS) satellite, with its high spatial resolution (10 m), high spectral resolution (2.5 nm), and high temporal resolution (2.5 d), has great potential for estimating the Chl-a concentration in inland eutrophic waters. However, the estimation capability and radiometric performance of OHS have received limited examination. In this study, we developed a new quasi-analytical algorithm (QAA 716 ) for estimating Chl-a using OHS images. Based on the optical properties in Dianchi Lake, the ability of OHS to remotely estimate Chl-a was evaluated by comparing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the noise equivalent of Chl-a (NE Chl-a ). The main findings are as follows: (1) QAA 716 achieved significantly better results than those of the other three QAA models, and the Chl-a estimation model, using QAA 716 , produced robust results with a mean absolute percentage difference (MAPD) of 11.54 %, which was better than existing Chl-a estimation models; (2) The FLAASH (Fast Line-of-sight Atmospheric Analysis of Spectral Hypercubes) atmospheric correction model (MAPD = 22.22 %) was more suitable for OHS image compared to the other three atmospheric correction models we tested; (3) OHS had relatively moderate SNR and NE Chl-a , improving its ability to accurately detect Chl-a concentration and resulting in an average SNR of 59.47 and average NE Chl-a of 72.86 μg/L; (4) The increased Chl-a concentration in Dianchi Lake was primarily related to the nutrients input, and this had a significant positive correlation with total nitrogen. These findings expand existing knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of OHS in remotely estimating Chl-a, thereby facilitating effective water quality management in eutrophic lake environments., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Understanding the source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is crucial for determining their structural, degradational, and burial characteristics in lake sediments. Here, we used a sediment core to determine the changing sources and burial characteristics of 16 PAHs from Dianchi Lake, southwest China. The ∑ 16 PAH concentrations ranged from 105.10 to 1248.05 ng g -1 (448.97 ± 351.25 ng g -1 ), exhibiting a sharp increase since 1976. Our results showed that the depositional flux of PAHs has increased by approximately 3.72 times over the past 114 years (1895-2009). The C/N ratio, stable isotopes (δ 13 C org and δ 15 N), and n-alkanes data all indicated that allochthonous contributors of organic carbon have substantially increased since the 1970s, playing an important role in the increase in sedimentary PAHs. Positive matrix factorization indicated that petrogenic sources, coal and biomass combustion, and traffic emissions were the main sources of PAHs. The relationships between PAHs from different sources and total organic carbon (TOC) varied with the sorption characteristics. The effect of TOC on the absorption of high-molecular-weight aromatic PAHs from fossil fuels was significant. A higher risk of lake eutrophication is accompanied by higher allochthonous organic matter imports, which might stimulate an increase in sedimentary PAHs through algal biomass blooms., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Surface sediments and sediment core had been collected from Erhai Lake, Southwest China to study the concentrations, toxicity risks, and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The average concentrations of Σ 16 PAHs, seven carcinogenic PAHs (carPAHs), and carcinogenic toxic equivalents (TEQ car ) in the surface sediments and sediment core were 1634.50 ± 488.56 ng g -1 and 436.72 ± 128.17 ng g -1 , 67.18-293.65 ng g -1 and 91.07-265.90 ng g -1 , and 34.89 ± 13.17 ng g -1 and 36.99 ± 7.52 ng g -1 , respectively. The Σ 16 PAHs and carPAHs concentrations in surface sediments were higher in the southern lake. The Σ 16 PAHs and TEQ car in the sediment core peaked in the 2010s and 1980s. The spatiotemporal variations in TEQ car and carPAHs were similar. Positive matrix factorization revealed that traffic emissions contributed 35.71 % of the TEQ car , whereas coal and biomass combustion contributed 12.89 % in the surface sediments. The contribution of gasoline and fossil fuel to TEQ car significantly increased from 19.2 % (1890s) to 66.5 % (1990s), that of benz[a]pyrene (coal combustion) decreased, and those of benz[b]fluoranthene and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (petroleum combustion and traffic emissions) increased from 1.92 % to 3.93 % and from 1.54 % to 2.52 % in the sediment cores, respectively, owing to changes in energy consumption., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The regulation of lacustrine organic carbon (OC) burial by nutrient is an outstanding knowledge gap in the current understanding of lake carbon cycles. In this study, we determined how nutrients quantitatively correspond with OC burial using the parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) method in Dianchi Lake, southwest China. Factors were classified into three types according to their historical sedimentation characteristics: the background factor (BF), response factor (RF), and contingency factor (CF). The BF represented the original OC input combination in the lake and was insensitive to nutrient changes. The RF represented the OC input combination that was induced or promoted by nutrient changes in the lake. The CF represented short-term discontinuous factors in sedimentary history, which may be related to unique historical events. The results indicate that changes in the total nitrogen (TN) to total phosphorus (TP) ratio correlated with changes in the BF contribution; whereas the quantity of OC was mainly correlated with TN. The >90% of OC buried in sediment was quantitatively simulated by BF and RF; the driving effect of RF on OC burial was approximately 13 times higher than that of BF. It was observed that a 1 mg kg -1 increase in TN led to approximately 2.2 units increase in RF contribution in Dianchi Lake, while the BF was insensitive to changes in TN. Thus, changes in lake nutrients may effectively change the composition and quantity of OC buried in lake sediment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest I would like to declare on behalf of my co-authors that the work described was original research that has not been published previously, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. All the authors listed have approved the manuscript that is enclosed. We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people of organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature of kind in any product, service or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript entitled., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Black carbon (BC) is a retarder in carbon cycle, and the proportion of char and soot in BC restricts the significance of BC as a sink in carbon cycle. Tracing the sources of char and soot is helpful for in-depth understanding the anthropogenic-driven burial and pattern of BC, and is crucial for regulating emissions of BC and impact of BC on carbon cycle/climate change. This study investigated source-driven BC via the concentration and δ 13 C of BC (char and soot) in a Plateau lake sediment. The burial rate of BC (mean: 6.42 ± 5.09 g m -2 yr -1 ) showed an increasing trend (3.7 times after 1977 compared with before), and the growth rate of char (4.1 times) was faster than soot (2.5 times). The source trace results, showing faster growth of coal combustion ratio in char (increased 21% after 1980 compared with before) than soot (13%), proved that coal combustion promoted faster growth of char in BC. Redundancy analysis confirmed that more low-temperature utilization of coal urged a stronger driving force for char than soot, which caused BC to have lower aromatic content and higher reactivity in organic carbon pool from the past to present, further impact the effects of BC on carbon cycle., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

High ammonia (NH 3 ) and nitrogen oxide (NO x ) emissions are related to serious air pollution in urban areas and the negative impacts of excessive reactive nitrogen (N) deposition on many ecosystems. However, whether there is a relationship between N deposition rates and their sources with urbanization or not remains unclear in many areas. Here, we investigated the deposition rates of ammonium (NH 4 + ), nitrate (NO 3 - ), dissolved organic N, and water-insoluble particular N from July 2017 to June 2018 at two urban and two suburban sites in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). The δ 15 N values of precipitation NH 4 + and NO 3 - were measured, and major sources were analyzed using a Bayesian isotope mixing model. Wet N deposition rates were higher in Yangzhou (developing city, 20.3-22.7 kg N ha -1  yr -1 ) than those in Nanjing (developed city, 19.4-20.5 kg N ha -1  yr -1 ), and were higher at urban sites (20.4-22.5 kg N ha -1  yr -1 ) than those at suburban sites (18.7-20.3 kg N ha -1  yr -1 ). δ 15 N values of precipitation NH 4 + increased with an increase in precipitation pH because ambient acidity affects the equilibrium isotope fractionation between NH 3 and NH 4 + and wet scavenging coefficients of NH 3 and particulate NH 4 + . For NH 4 + , combustion-related NH 3 sources (62%-65% with 5.5-6.4 kg N ha -1  yr -1 , including coal combustion, vehicle exhaust, and biomass burning) contributed more than volatilization NH 3 sources (35%-38% with 2.9-3.9 kg N ha -1  yr -1 , including fertilizer application and waste volatilization). For NO 3 - , non-fossil fuel NO x sources (50%-63% with 3.4-4.1 kg N ha -1  yr -1 , including biomass burning and microbial N cycle) were comparable to fossil fuel NO x sources (37%-50% with 2.4-3.4 kg N ha -1  yr -1 , including coal combustion and vehicle exhaust). This study evidenced high N deposition rates and the importance of combustion-related NH 3 emissions and non-fossil fuel NO x emissions in city areas of the YRD., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing financial interests., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Black carbon (BC), characterized by high aromaticity and stability, has been recognized as a substantial fraction of the carbon pool in soil and sediment. The effect of BC on the particulate organic carbon (POC) pool in lake water, which is an important medium of carbon transmission and transformation, has not been thoroughly studied. The investigations of BC composition and distribution, POC, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes were conducted in a eutrophic urban lake, Taihu Lake, which is the third largest freshwater lake in China. The results indicate that the BC is composed of 55 ± 12% char and 45 ± 12% soot and accounted for 12 ± 6% of POC (the maximum value is 31%). The comparatively high levels of BC and char are distributed in the northern Taihu Lake, especially in Meiliang Bay (0.72 ± 0.38 mg L -1 and 0.45 ± 0.24 mg L -1 ). The distribution of soot presents a declining trend from the lakeshore to the central lake, particularly in the northern, western, and southern lakes. Source apportionment results from positive matrix factorization of PAHs suggest that consumption of fossil fuel (79 ± 20%) is the dominant source of BC, which agrees with the low ratio of char/soot (1.41 ± 0.71) and relatively depleted δ 13 C. The covariation of BC and PAHs and terrestrial dissolved organic carbon indicate that the effect of terrestrial input significantly regulates the distribution of BC in Taihu Lake, which is reflected in the high BC value along the lakeshore., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Lakes are important organic carbon (OC) traps in the global carbon cycle. Recent studies have shown that the rate of OC burial in lacustrine sediments is influenced by factors such as climate change, land-use change, and eutrophication. In this study, we use multiproxy methods to reveal the mechanisms of lacustrine sediment OC burial in an alpine lake (Cuopu Lake), in southwest China. Combined with the dating from 210 Pb ex and n-alkanes distribution analysis using the Positive Matrix Factorization model, the sedimentary history was divided into five stages: religious activity (the 1840s-1880s), earthquake (the 1880s-1910s), garrison (the 1910s-1960s), transition (the 1960s-1990s), and ecotourism (the 1990s-2010s). During the earthquake stage, OC burial was dominated by terrestrial solids (>40%) and co-precipitated algae (>30%), with a rapid deposition rate (>4 mm a -1 ) and low OC concentration (<4 mg g -1 ). During the other stages, when the level of disturbance was relatively low, a change in nutrient conditions either promoted or inhibited plant growth, which influenced the type of buried OC. The contribution of OC derived from combustion sources varied from stage to stage. Severe anthropogenic disturbances have led to a significant increase in nutritional levels in the lake water, leading to an increase in the OC burial rate. Climate change, which leads to changes in temperature and rainfall, did not significantly influence OC burial, whereas nitrogen deposition (and associated ecological changes) was a significant determinant. When the general mechanism is dominant, the total nitrogen to inorganic phosphorus ratio is an effective indicator of OC burial due to its selective promotion of different plant types. In conclusion, our results suggest that lacustrine sediment OC burial is closely linked to physical and anthropogenic factors in Cuopu Lake, as well as similar montane lakes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest I would like to declare on behalf of my co-authors that the work described was original research that has not been published previously, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. All the authors listed have approved the manuscript that is enclosed., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The concentration, source and composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in aquatic ecosystems are associated with land use and hydrological connectivity between terrestrial and aquatic systems. However, direct evidence of the effects of rainfall and land use on the variability of DOM in aquatic ecosystems is very limited. In this study, chromophoric DOM (CDOM) absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to elucidate how rainfall and land use affect the variability of CDOM in the watershed of Lake Tianmu, a key drinking water reservoir in the Yangtze River Delta. The mean values of the fluorescence intensity (F max ) of parallel factor analysis-derived humic-like components (C1, C3, C6) and tryptophan-like components C5 were higher in the southeastern inflowing river mouths than those downstream of the lake outlet regions. The upstream tributaries were mainly dominated by humic-like materials, while the lake was mainly dominated by protein-like materials. The F max values of four humic-like components and two tryptophan-like components all increased significantly as the %woodland decreased, but %anthropogenic land use (%cropland+%urban construction area) increased. The F max of the humic-like components at the inflowing tributaries and the lake increased with increasing rainfall during storm events, and the value was especially pronounced at the inflowing river mouths. We concluded that land use and hydrological conditions play an important role in influencing the CDOM source and optical composition, and these findings provide insights for the understanding of aquatic ecosystem metabolism and reservoir water quality management., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Secchi disk depth (Z SD ) plays a critical role in describing water clarity. Several studies have shown linkages between Three Gorges Dam (TGD) and the downstream lacustrine ecosystem in the middle and lower Yangtze River basin. However, the potential influence on the Z SD fluctuation in the entire anthropogenic reservoirs of Three Gorges (ER) and Dongting Lake (DTL) has not been reported, possibly due to technical obstacles in obtaining statistically significant spatial and temporal results. We addressed this challenge by using remote sensing technology: the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI). We proposed a new, robust remote-sensing algorithm to estimate Z SD from OLI imagery using red and green band-ratio, leading to MAPE of 21.68% and RMSE of 0.076m for Z SD ranging from 0.1m to 1.05m. After satisfactory image-based validation, the algorithm was implemented on OLI data to derive Z SD patterns over ER and DTL from 2013 to 2017. Several crucial findings can be drawn: 1) Spatial-temporal patterns of Z SD exhibited notable fluctuations over both ER and DTL, and they also demonstrated a significant correlation with each other because of the opposite temporal cycle of Z SD fluctuations between ER and DTL; 2) Temporally, monthly fluctuations of Z SD between ER and DTL had opposite temporal cycles, which was mainly attributed to the surface runoff and sediment discharge driven by the outbound runoff variations of TGD. Spatially, the heterogeneity of the Z SD pattern in ER might have resulted from the different geographical regions being divided by large anthropologic hydrological facilities, such as TGD; 3) The relationship between Z SD and total suspended matter (TSM) showed a significant negative correlation, as did the relationship between Z SD and K d (490). These findings demonstrate that TSM often plays a principal role in light attenuation of extremely turbid inland waters; 4) An inversed phenomenon of water clarity was observed at the intersection of DTL and the Yangtze River around Chenglingji site (YRAC), which was due to the opposite temporal cycle of Z SD fluctuations between DTL and ER after the impoundment of TGD; and 5) Owing to the analysis of noise-equivalent Z SD , OLI data can be used to derive Z SD, since the imagery uncertainty is 0.07m by means of our band-ratio algorithm, which demonstrates similar results to MODIS. The proposed Z SD -derived algorithm in this study could be suitable for other turbid lakes or reservoirs to formulate related strategies of water quality management in the middle and lower Yangtze River basin, and the unveiled findings here improve our understanding of Z SD spatiotemporal fluctuations in large river-connected lakes, such as Poyang Lake., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Organic carbon (OC) buried in lake sediment is an important component of the global carbon cycle. The impact of eutrophication on OC burial in lakes should be addressed due to worldwide lake eutrophication. Fourteen 210 Pb- and 137 Cs-dated sediment cores taken in Dianchi Lake (China) in August 2006 (seven cores) and July 2014 (seven cores) were analyzed to evaluate the response of the organic carbon accumulation rate (OCAR) to eutrophication and algal blooms over the past hundred years. The mean value of OCAR before eutrophication occurred in 1979, 16.62±7.53 (mean value±standard deviation), increased to 54.33±27.29gm -2 yr -1 after eutrophication. It further increased to 61.98±28.94gm -2 yr -1 after algal blooms occurred (1989). The accumulation rate of organic nitrogen (ONAR) is coupled with OCAR. The high loss rate of OC and organic nitrogen (ON) leads to a long-term burial efficiency of only 10% and 5% of OC and ON. However, this efficiency can still lead to an increase in OCAR by a factor of 4.55 during algal blooms in Dianchi Lake. Dianchi Lake stored 1.26±0.32 Tg carbon and 0.071±0.018 Tg nitrogen, including 0.94±0.23 Tg OC and 0.32±0.14 Tg inorganic carbon, 0.066±0.018 Tg ON, 0.002±0.001 Tg nitrate nitrogen (NO 3 -N) and 0.003±0.001 Tg ammonium nitrogen (NH 4 -N) between 1900 and 2012., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Increased organic carbon and nitrogen accumulation rates (OCAR and ONAR) in lake sediment significantly regulate the global carbon cycle. However, the reasons for and contributors to the increased OCAR and ONAR are unclear. Seven sediment cores, collected in July 2014 from Dianchi Lake, China, were used to evaluate the effects of autochthonous and allochthonous sources on OCAR and ONAR. The results indicate that OCAR and ONAR increased by factors of 4.33 and 7.34 over the past hundred years (1900-2000), particularly after algal blooms began to occur frequently (beginning in the 1980s). Dianchi stored 0.467±0.0055Tg (mean value±standard deviation) organic carbon (OC) and 0.033±0.0004Tg organic nitrogen (ON) after 1986, which is almost equal to the total storage of OC and ON from 1900 to 1985 (OC, 0.468±0.0022Tg; ON, 0.032±0.0002Tg). OCAR and ONAR increases were due to increasing autochthonous production and allochthonous loading. Examination of the increased OCAR, which was estimated from a newly developed multi-source mixing model, suggests that >90% of increased OCAR was caused by allochthonous sources (such as intensified cultivation, land-use cover change, etc.) in southern and eastern Dianchi and that >70% of the increased OCAR was due to autochthonous sources in western and northern Dianchi Lake. The significant spatial and temporal variation in the contributors to increased OCAR indicates complicated migration and transformation of OC in inland lakes. Land use cover change around Dianchi and the occurrence of algal blooms regulate the contributions of allochthonous and autochthonous sources to the increased OC and ON., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Understanding changes in climate and environment on a regional scale can provide useful guidance for regional socio-economic development. The present study characterizes changes in the environment, climate, land use and cover types via in situ observed, statistical data and remote sensing images for Jiangsu Province, China, during the period 1980-2012. Statistical and spatial analyses indicate that the pace of urbanization in southern Jiangsu is more rapid than that in northern Jiangsu. Urbanization (92.7%) results primarily from the loss of farmland. While emissions of pollutants from industrial sources were well controlled, and wastewater, which more frequently derives from urban domestic sources, was found to be increasing. The rates of wastewater to population increased from 0.17±0.017 to 0.32±0.090 (billion ton/million persons) during the two periods of 1980-2000 and 2000-2012. However, the rates of wastewater to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased from 0.26±0.20 to 0.014±0.009 (billion ton/billion Yuan), respectively. The significant increase in scattering radiance and Earth's albedo caused by the urbanization and its process (Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between urban land and scattering radiance=0.86, p<0.0001; r between farmland and scattering radiance=-0.92, p<0.0001) aggravates the warming in the regional scale. This correlation analysis indicates that temperature will decrease with the increase of woodland, grassland and farmland, and will increase with the increase of urbanized and unexploited lands. Added to warming caused by an increase in CO2, land use/cover change and human activities may be the primary reason for the rising temperatures in Jiangsu Province. The change in regional thermal conditions reduces both local humidity and land atmosphere flux exchange. The low atmosphere flux exhange contributes to the spread of atmospheric pollutants and the deposition of atmospheric particles., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Human activities contribute highly to water eutrophication. In this study, the relationship between human activities and water eutrophication in Dianchi Lake in China was characterized using a combination of satellite imaging, sedimentary physicochemical and meteorological data analyses. The heavy eutrophic status and algal bloom in Dianchi Lake were first observed by satellite in 1977 and 1989, respectively. The C/N ratio, an indicator of organic sources in sediments, also showed that the planktonic organic source in the sediment significantly increased beginning in 1989. The land use cover in the Dianchi basin showed that both farm lands and forests, but particularly farmlands, were reduced during the period from 1974 to 2009. The urbanized land area increased from 1974 to 2009, particularly after 2000. The effects of human activities on water eutrophication were expressed by land use cover, population, gross domestic product (GDP; separated into primary, secondary and tertiary industries) and wastewater discharge. For land use cover, farm and urbanized lands were the main sources of water nutrients; forest contributed slightly to these nutrients. For GDP, primary (correlation coefficient=0.94, P<0.001) and tertiary (correlation coefficient=0.95, P<0.001) industries were highly correlated with total nitrogen. Secondary (correlation coefficient=0.95, P<0.001) and tertiary (correlation coefficient=0.96, P<0.001) industries were highly correlated with total phosphorus. The algal bloom area was significantly correlated with wastewater discharge (correlation coefficient=0.78, P<0.005) (except industrial wastewater), which was primarily led by the non-agricultural population, from 2000 to 2009. This study suggests that the protection of water environments requires a comprehensive protection policy in addition to a unilateral protection policy., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)