Fluxes, characteristics and influence on the aquatic environment of inorganic nitrogen deposition in the Danjiangkou reservoir

Atmospheric reactive nitrogen (Nr) deposition has caused serious damage to the terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and also affected human health. Measuring temporal and spatial characteristics of Nr deposition is critical for proposing control strategy to decrease negative effects. We investigated the fluxes of ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) in both dry and wet deposition from October 2017 to September 2020 at six sites around the Danjiangkou reservoir. The results showed that the fluxes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) decreased from 24.39 kg ha(-1) yr(-1) (2017-2018) to 16.11 kg ha(-1) yr(-1) (2019-2020) for dry deposition, and from 19.71 kg ha(-1) yr(-1)(2017-2018) to 12.29 kg ha(-1) yr(-1) (2019-2020) for wet deposition. Both NH4-N and NO3-N in wet deposition exhibited significant (P < 0.01) differences among four seasons, and were markedly influenced by the precipitation. The fluxes of NO3-N deposition showed significant (P < 0.05) difference among six samples. Dry component contributed more to total DIN deposition, and NH4-N was the dominant species in DIN deposition. The ratios of NH4-N to NO3-N in four seasons were higher than 2. A positive matrix factorization (PMF) model estimated that the factors of agriculture and fossil fuel combustion accounted for 77.1 % and 17.0 %, respectively, to the dry NH4-N deposition; and that the factors of agricultural source and biomass burning accounted for 56.2 % and 21.1 %, respectively, to the wet NH4-N deposition. The DIN deposition contributed to 7.7 % of the total Nr input into the reservoir, and the contribution of DIN deposition to the increase in the nitrogen concentration (delta N) of the Danjiangkou reservoir was 0.13 mg L-1 yr(-1). The dry DIN deposition was significantly correlated with the concentration of nitrogen in Danjiangkou reservoir (P < 0.01). This study suggested that the control measures of agricultural activity were essential to reduce Nr deposition, and to decrease the potential risks of water pollution in the reservoir. Furthermore, more long-term study is necessary to understand the relation between control measures, Nr deposition and water quality.

Automated summary

Atmospheric reactive nitrogen (Nr) deposition has caused serious damage to ecosystems and human health. This study investigated the temporal and spatial characteristics of Nr deposition around the Danjiangkou reservoir. The results showed that both dry and wet deposition of ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) exhibited seasonal variations and were influenced by precipitation. Agriculture and fossil fuel combustion were identified as major sources of ammonia nitrogen deposition, while agricultural sources and biomass burning contributed significantly to wet ammonia nitrogen deposition. Furthermore, the study found that nitrogen deposition had a certain contribution to the increase in nitrogen concentration in the reservoir.