Abstract:
The Wuxi River Basin is a vital source of industrial and domestic water for Quzhou and the lower reaches of the Qiantang River Basin.Analyzing the changing trend of net anthropogenic nitrogen inputs (NANI) in this basin is of great significance.Based on the NANI model,the NANI of the Wuxi River Basin from 2010 to 2022 was calculated,and the spatiotemporal characteristics of NANI,causes of component changes,and water quality variations were analyzed in this study.The results showed that the NANI in the Wuxi River Basin exhibited a gradually decreasing trend over time,from a peak of 5758.71 kg/(km
2·a) in 2010 to 4169.68 kg/(km
2·a) in 2022,with the largest drop (36%) occurring between 2013 and 2016.Spatially,NANI decreased from northwest to southeast and increased from upstream to downstream.Regarding the proportion of NANI components,atmospheric nitrogen deposition was the main nitrogen input in this basin,accounting for approximately 56%-67% of the total,followed by crop nitrogen fixation,nitrogen input from human food and animal feed,and fertilizer nitrogen input,accounting for about 17%-24%,4%-20%,and 5%-6% of NANI,respectively.It can be seen that the NANI value in this region is relatively low,indicating nitrogen input caused by human activities is relatively low.There was a significant correlation between NANI and the ammonia nitrogen content in the Wuxi River Basin (
P<0.05),indicating that the reduction in NANI has a clear effect on improving water quality.Based on Class I water quality as the standard,the upper threshold of NANI in the Wuxi River Basin was determined to be 4567 kg/(km
2·a).Past management measures in the Wuxi River Basin have reduced NANI by 19%,such as controlling the development of animal husbandry,reducing fertilizer application,subdividing water source protection areas,and adopting ecological migration in primary water source protection areas to reduce population density.These efforts have certain demonstration significance for managing drinking water source zones across China and hold considerable practical value for environmental governance.