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Nutrient distribution and risk assessment in drainage ditches with different surrounding land uses
- Source :
- Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. 107:381-394
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2017.
-
Abstract
- Due to lack of ditch maintenance, many ditches in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River are strongly affected by nutrient over-enrichment. Accordingly, we conducted surveys of nutrient concentrations in ditchwater and sediment in the hilly area of the central Sichuan Basin to investigate the spatiotemporal variations of nutrient concentrations and to promote the restoration of ditches for ecological functions. The results showed that the mean total nitrogen, particulate nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, and total phosphorus values in ditchwater were 4.80, 1.09, 0.94, 1.09, and 0.18 mg/L, respectively. The mean concentrations of total nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, and total phosphorus in ditch sediment were 1.58 g/kg, 2.62 mg/kg, 1.54 mg/kg, and 6.95 g/kg, respectively. Higher total nitrogen concentrations in ditchwater occurred in western areas, while higher total phosphorus concentrations occurred in central areas. Seasonally, we measured higher nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in ditchwater close to agricultural areas during the rainy season, while the opposite effect was true for residential areas. Although nutrient concentrations in ditchwater could be affected by both surrounding land uses and ditch water levels, land use was critical. Moreover, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations were significantly higher in the ditchwater near residential areas when compared to paddy or sloping cropland ditches. However, we found no significant differences between the nutrient contents of sediments in ditches surrounded by different land uses. Our results indicate that water pollution control initiatives in residential areas would be the most critical factor in combating ditchwater and sediment pollution in this region. Therefore, efforts to restore the ecological functions of drainage ditches should take into account rural township sewage management, fertilizer reduction, and especially ditch vegetation restoration.
- Subjects :
- Hydrology
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
Phosphorus
Ditch
Soil Science
chemistry.chemical_element
Sediment
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
Vegetation
010501 environmental sciences
engineering.material
01 natural sciences
Nutrient
Agronomy
chemistry
040103 agronomy & agriculture
engineering
0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
Environmental science
Fertilizer
Drainage
Water pollution
Agronomy and Crop Science
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15730867 and 13851314
- Volume :
- 107
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........120972d5c7cb6e93f852f18b94644e87