Modeling the impact of legacy nitrogen accumulated in agricultural soil-groundwater on water quality improvement
Nitrogen (N) legacy effects are widely recognized as a primary obstacle to the improvements of water quality following mitigation efforts. The exploration of long-term nutrient trajectories for nitrogen model (ELEMeNT-N) has been applied to estimate legacy effects in several watersheds globally. How...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ade7a3 |
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| author | Jia Zhou Xinyi Jiao Hao Wu Yu Zhang Zheqi Pan Yi Pan Zeqi Zhang Zhihan Cheng Minpeng Hu Qian Zhang Dingjiang Chen |
| author_facet | Jia Zhou Xinyi Jiao Hao Wu Yu Zhang Zheqi Pan Yi Pan Zeqi Zhang Zhihan Cheng Minpeng Hu Qian Zhang Dingjiang Chen |
| author_sort | Jia Zhou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Nitrogen (N) legacy effects are widely recognized as a primary obstacle to the improvements of water quality following mitigation efforts. The exploration of long-term nutrient trajectories for nitrogen model (ELEMeNT-N) has been applied to estimate legacy effects in several watersheds globally. However, ELEMeNT-N does not account for the accumulation-release processes of nitrate within soil profile, introducing potential uncertainty in long-term simulations. This study enhances ELEMeNT-N by incorporating a soil nitrate accumulation coefficient and a deep soil nitrate cycling module to better assess the long-term impact of legacy N on water quality. Long-term simulation for riverine N flux in the Yongan watershed, China (1980–2022) indicate that the modified model, ELEMeNT-N-SP, demonstrated significantly improved performance relative to the original model (Nash–Sutcliff coefficient: 0.89 vs 0.72, R ^2 : 0.89 vs. 0.71). ELEMeNT-N-SP results indicate that ∼39.5% of N input accumulated in soil and groundwater, mainly in agricultural soil-groundwater. Legacy N contributed to 81.7% (Temporal: 65.6%–92.0%; i.e. cumulative contributions of historical N inputs) of riverine N flux (466 kg N ha ^−1 ). Among 12 modeling units, legacy N accumulation (SON: 175–1083 kg N ha ^−1 ; soil nitrate: −11–259 kg N ha ^−1 ; groundwater: 147–656 kg N ha ^−1 ) and its contribution to riverine N flux (Spatial: 64.0%–85.5%) showed considerable spatial heterogeneity. Agricultural soil-groundwater served as the primary accumulation sink for N input and the important source of riverine N pollution. Model validation, which included comparisons with monitored soil-groundwater N content and dual stable isotope data, confirmed the reliability of ELEMeNT-N-SP. ELEMeNT-N-SP offers a valuable framework for improving watershed nutrient management globally, emphasizing the importance of incorporating soil N cycling dynamics into predictive tools. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c9d1cb9fe98d414289d1a67842a79ec7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-c9d1cb9fe98d414289d1a67842a79ec72025-08-20T03:31:42ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262025-01-0120808400810.1088/1748-9326/ade7a3Modeling the impact of legacy nitrogen accumulated in agricultural soil-groundwater on water quality improvementJia Zhou0Xinyi Jiao1Hao Wu2Yu Zhang3Zheqi Pan4Yi Pan5Zeqi Zhang6Zhihan Cheng7Minpeng Hu8Qian Zhang9https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0500-5655Dingjiang Chen10https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2844-7771College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaCollege of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaCollege of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaCollege of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaCollege of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaCollege of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaCollege of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaCollege of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaCollege of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaUniversity of Maryland Center for Environmental Science/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Chesapeake Bay Program , Annapolis, MD 21401, United States of AmericaCollege of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaNitrogen (N) legacy effects are widely recognized as a primary obstacle to the improvements of water quality following mitigation efforts. The exploration of long-term nutrient trajectories for nitrogen model (ELEMeNT-N) has been applied to estimate legacy effects in several watersheds globally. However, ELEMeNT-N does not account for the accumulation-release processes of nitrate within soil profile, introducing potential uncertainty in long-term simulations. This study enhances ELEMeNT-N by incorporating a soil nitrate accumulation coefficient and a deep soil nitrate cycling module to better assess the long-term impact of legacy N on water quality. Long-term simulation for riverine N flux in the Yongan watershed, China (1980–2022) indicate that the modified model, ELEMeNT-N-SP, demonstrated significantly improved performance relative to the original model (Nash–Sutcliff coefficient: 0.89 vs 0.72, R ^2 : 0.89 vs. 0.71). ELEMeNT-N-SP results indicate that ∼39.5% of N input accumulated in soil and groundwater, mainly in agricultural soil-groundwater. Legacy N contributed to 81.7% (Temporal: 65.6%–92.0%; i.e. cumulative contributions of historical N inputs) of riverine N flux (466 kg N ha ^−1 ). Among 12 modeling units, legacy N accumulation (SON: 175–1083 kg N ha ^−1 ; soil nitrate: −11–259 kg N ha ^−1 ; groundwater: 147–656 kg N ha ^−1 ) and its contribution to riverine N flux (Spatial: 64.0%–85.5%) showed considerable spatial heterogeneity. Agricultural soil-groundwater served as the primary accumulation sink for N input and the important source of riverine N pollution. Model validation, which included comparisons with monitored soil-groundwater N content and dual stable isotope data, confirmed the reliability of ELEMeNT-N-SP. ELEMeNT-N-SP offers a valuable framework for improving watershed nutrient management globally, emphasizing the importance of incorporating soil N cycling dynamics into predictive tools.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ade7a3nitrogennutrient legacy effectsoil nutrientsgroundwater pollutionnutrient leachinglag time |
| spellingShingle | Jia Zhou Xinyi Jiao Hao Wu Yu Zhang Zheqi Pan Yi Pan Zeqi Zhang Zhihan Cheng Minpeng Hu Qian Zhang Dingjiang Chen Modeling the impact of legacy nitrogen accumulated in agricultural soil-groundwater on water quality improvement Environmental Research Letters nitrogen nutrient legacy effect soil nutrients groundwater pollution nutrient leaching lag time |
| title | Modeling the impact of legacy nitrogen accumulated in agricultural soil-groundwater on water quality improvement |
| title_full | Modeling the impact of legacy nitrogen accumulated in agricultural soil-groundwater on water quality improvement |
| title_fullStr | Modeling the impact of legacy nitrogen accumulated in agricultural soil-groundwater on water quality improvement |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modeling the impact of legacy nitrogen accumulated in agricultural soil-groundwater on water quality improvement |
| title_short | Modeling the impact of legacy nitrogen accumulated in agricultural soil-groundwater on water quality improvement |
| title_sort | modeling the impact of legacy nitrogen accumulated in agricultural soil groundwater on water quality improvement |
| topic | nitrogen nutrient legacy effect soil nutrients groundwater pollution nutrient leaching lag time |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ade7a3 |
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