| Title |
Long-term dynamics of nitrogen flow in a typical agricultural and pastoral region on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its optimization strategy |
| ID_Doc |
66415 |
| Authors |
Wang, FF; Liu, SL; Liu, YX; Sun, YX; Yu, L; Wang, QB; Dong, YH; Beazley, R |
| Title |
Long-term dynamics of nitrogen flow in a typical agricultural and pastoral region on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its optimization strategy |
| Year |
2021 |
| Published |
|
| DOI |
10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117684 |
| Abstract |
Nitrogen (N) plays a central role in livestock development and food production in agricultural and pastoral regions, while its flow and loss can affect environmental quality, biodiversity and human health. A comprehensive understanding of the sources, patterns and drivers of N flow helps to alleviate its negative effects and promote sustainable management. We developed a county-scale N flow model to quantitatively analyze the N use efficiency (NUE), N losses and their driving forces in the food production and consumption system (FCPS) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). More sustainable N utilization was further investigated through scenario analyses. Our results revealed that N fluxes doubled from 1998 to 2018 to maintain the growing demands for human food production and consumption in Ledu County, which was related to the increasing N losses to the atmosphere and water environment. The surging N fluxes greatly changed the N distribution pattern, resulting in a relatively low NUE (mean value: 29.41%) in the crop-production subsystem (CPS) and a relatively high NUE (mean value: 23.50%) in the livestock-breeding subsystem (LBS). The CPS contributed the most to the N losses. The urban population, animal-derived consumption, crop planting structure, imported fodder and N fertilizer application level were closely associated with N losses. The scenario analysis indicated that combined reasonable changes in planting structure, precision animal feeding, fertilizer management, diets and conversion of cropland into pasture could reduce N losses in 2030 to 5%-61% of Business as usual level. Our results highlighted the strong anthropogenic impact on the N flow of food production and consumption and suggested a sustainable N flow management strategy to harmonize the relationship between N flow and anthropogenically driven factors on the QTP. |
| Author Keywords |
Agricultural system; Nitrogen flow; Food production and consumption; Environmental N losses; Scenario analysis |
| Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
| Document Type |
Other |
| Open Access |
Open Access |
| Source |
Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) |
| EID |
WOS:000696805300006 |
| WoS Category |
Environmental Sciences |
| Research Area |
Environmental Sciences & Ecology |
| PDF |
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