Human-driven long-term disconnect of nutrient inputs to the Yellow River basin and river export to the Bohai Sea

Fuxia Yang; Zhigang Yu; Alexander F. Bouwman; Hongtao Chen; Huimin Jian; Arthur H.W. Beusen; Xiaochen Liu; Qingzhen Yao

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129279

Human-driven long-term disconnect of nutrient inputs to the Yellow River basin and river export to the Bohai Sea

Fuxia Yang, Zhigang Yu^*, Alexander F. Bouwman, Hongtao Chen, Huimin Jian, Arthur H.W. Beusen, Xiaochen Liu, Qingzhen Yao

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Combining long-term measurements of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in the Yellow River (YR) (1981–2018) and river discharge (1981–2018) to the Bohai Sea (BS) with model-based estimates of nutrient delivery shows a disconnect between nutrient delivery and export fluxes to the BS. Basin-wide nutrient delivery to surface water, primarily from agriculture and sewage, exhibited an increasing trend over the whole period. However the nutrient export fluxes to BS declined from 1981 to 2002, followed by a period of large inter-annual variability. Nutrient export is strongly controlled by water discharge, the Water and Sediment Regulation Scheme (WSRS), and the large volume of water containing nutrients that is extracted for primarily irrigation. Dissolved organic N (average 15% in the period 2001–2018) and dissolved organic P (68%) accounted for an important share of total dissolved N and P, which is due to agricultural inputs and preferential retention of inorganic forms in the YR basin. River nutrient export fluxes alone cannot explain the changes in the frequency and area of red tides in the BS due to impacts of the WSRS, the long water residence time in the BS and climate change. This calls for the application of mechanistic models for describing the impact of combined long-term changes in the BS ecosystem.

Original language	English
Article number	129279
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Hydrology
Volume	618
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129279
Publication status	Published - Mar 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 41876116 , 42130410 ), the Joint Fund between NSFC and Shandong Province ( U1906210 ). Fuxia Yang was funded by the China Scholarship Council (grant no. 202106330053 ). We thank our laboratory colleagues for their collaboration in sampling and data acquisition.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier B.V.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 41876116 , 42130410 ), the Joint Fund between NSFC and Shandong Province ( U1906210 ). Fuxia Yang was funded by the China Scholarship Council (grant no. 202106330053 ). We thank our laboratory colleagues for their collaboration in sampling and data acquisition.

Keywords

Anthropogenic perturbations
Bohai Sea
Impacts
Retention
Sources forms and ratios of nutrients
Yellow River

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129279

1-s2.0-S0022169423002214-mainFinal published version, 1.47 MBLicence: Taverne

Cite this

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title = "Human-driven long-term disconnect of nutrient inputs to the Yellow River basin and river export to the Bohai Sea",

abstract = "Combining long-term measurements of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in the Yellow River (YR) (1981–2018) and river discharge (1981–2018) to the Bohai Sea (BS) with model-based estimates of nutrient delivery shows a disconnect between nutrient delivery and export fluxes to the BS. Basin-wide nutrient delivery to surface water, primarily from agriculture and sewage, exhibited an increasing trend over the whole period. However the nutrient export fluxes to BS declined from 1981 to 2002, followed by a period of large inter-annual variability. Nutrient export is strongly controlled by water discharge, the Water and Sediment Regulation Scheme (WSRS), and the large volume of water containing nutrients that is extracted for primarily irrigation. Dissolved organic N (average 15% in the period 2001–2018) and dissolved organic P (68%) accounted for an important share of total dissolved N and P, which is due to agricultural inputs and preferential retention of inorganic forms in the YR basin. River nutrient export fluxes alone cannot explain the changes in the frequency and area of red tides in the BS due to impacts of the WSRS, the long water residence time in the BS and climate change. This calls for the application of mechanistic models for describing the impact of combined long-term changes in the BS ecosystem.",

keywords = "Anthropogenic perturbations, Bohai Sea, Impacts, Retention, Sources forms and ratios of nutrients, Yellow River",

author = "Fuxia Yang and Zhigang Yu and Bouwman, {Alexander F.} and Hongtao Chen and Huimin Jian and Beusen, {Arthur H.W.} and Xiaochen Liu and Qingzhen Yao",

note = "Funding Information: This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 41876116 , 42130410 ), the Joint Fund between NSFC and Shandong Province ( U1906210 ). Fuxia Yang was funded by the China Scholarship Council (grant no. 202106330053 ). We thank our laboratory colleagues for their collaboration in sampling and data acquisition. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 Elsevier B.V.",

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AU - Yang, Fuxia

AU - Yu, Zhigang

AU - Bouwman, Alexander F.

AU - Chen, Hongtao

AU - Jian, Huimin

AU - Beusen, Arthur H.W.

AU - Liu, Xiaochen

AU - Yao, Qingzhen

N1 - Funding Information: This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 41876116 , 42130410 ), the Joint Fund between NSFC and Shandong Province ( U1906210 ). Fuxia Yang was funded by the China Scholarship Council (grant no. 202106330053 ). We thank our laboratory colleagues for their collaboration in sampling and data acquisition. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2023/3

Y1 - 2023/3

N2 - Combining long-term measurements of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in the Yellow River (YR) (1981–2018) and river discharge (1981–2018) to the Bohai Sea (BS) with model-based estimates of nutrient delivery shows a disconnect between nutrient delivery and export fluxes to the BS. Basin-wide nutrient delivery to surface water, primarily from agriculture and sewage, exhibited an increasing trend over the whole period. However the nutrient export fluxes to BS declined from 1981 to 2002, followed by a period of large inter-annual variability. Nutrient export is strongly controlled by water discharge, the Water and Sediment Regulation Scheme (WSRS), and the large volume of water containing nutrients that is extracted for primarily irrigation. Dissolved organic N (average 15% in the period 2001–2018) and dissolved organic P (68%) accounted for an important share of total dissolved N and P, which is due to agricultural inputs and preferential retention of inorganic forms in the YR basin. River nutrient export fluxes alone cannot explain the changes in the frequency and area of red tides in the BS due to impacts of the WSRS, the long water residence time in the BS and climate change. This calls for the application of mechanistic models for describing the impact of combined long-term changes in the BS ecosystem.

AB - Combining long-term measurements of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in the Yellow River (YR) (1981–2018) and river discharge (1981–2018) to the Bohai Sea (BS) with model-based estimates of nutrient delivery shows a disconnect between nutrient delivery and export fluxes to the BS. Basin-wide nutrient delivery to surface water, primarily from agriculture and sewage, exhibited an increasing trend over the whole period. However the nutrient export fluxes to BS declined from 1981 to 2002, followed by a period of large inter-annual variability. Nutrient export is strongly controlled by water discharge, the Water and Sediment Regulation Scheme (WSRS), and the large volume of water containing nutrients that is extracted for primarily irrigation. Dissolved organic N (average 15% in the period 2001–2018) and dissolved organic P (68%) accounted for an important share of total dissolved N and P, which is due to agricultural inputs and preferential retention of inorganic forms in the YR basin. River nutrient export fluxes alone cannot explain the changes in the frequency and area of red tides in the BS due to impacts of the WSRS, the long water residence time in the BS and climate change. This calls for the application of mechanistic models for describing the impact of combined long-term changes in the BS ecosystem.

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KW - Bohai Sea

KW - Impacts

KW - Retention

KW - Sources forms and ratios of nutrients

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VL - 618

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Human-driven long-term disconnect of nutrient inputs to the Yellow River basin and river export to the Bohai Sea

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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