Spatial-Temporal Variations of Water Quality and Its Relationship to Land Use and Land Cover in Beijing, China

Xiang Chen, Weiqi Zhou, Steward T. A. Pickett, Weifeng Li and Lijian Han
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Xiang Chen: State Key laboratory for Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.18 Shuangqing Rd., Haidian District, Beijing 100085, China
Weiqi Zhou: State Key laboratory for Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.18 Shuangqing Rd., Haidian District, Beijing 100085, China
Steward T. A. Pickett: Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, 2801 Sharon Turnpike, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA
Weifeng Li: State Key laboratory for Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.18 Shuangqing Rd., Haidian District, Beijing 100085, China
Lijian Han: State Key laboratory for Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.18 Shuangqing Rd., Haidian District, Beijing 100085, China

IJERPH, 2016, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: Rapid urbanization with intense land use and land cover (LULC) change and explosive population growth has a great impact on water quality. The relationship between LULC characteristics and water quality provides important information for non-point sources (NPS) pollution management. In this study, we first quantified the spatial-temporal patterns of five water quality variables in four watersheds with different levels of urbanization in Beijing, China. We then examined the effects of LULC on water quality across different scales, using Pearson correlation analysis, redundancy analysis, and multiple regressions. The results showed that water quality was improved over the sampled years but with no significant difference ( p > 0.05). However, water quality was significantly different among nonurban and both exurban and urban sites ( p < 0.05). Forest land was positively correlated with water quality and affected water quality significantly ( p < 0.05) within a 200 m buffer zone. Impervious surfaces, water, and crop land were negatively correlated with water quality. Crop land and impervious surfaces, however, affected water quality significantly ( p < 0.05) for buffer sizes greater than 800 m. Grass land had different effects on water quality with the scales. The results provide important insights into the relationship between LULC and water quality, and thus for controlling NPS pollution in urban areas.

Keywords: water quality; land use and land cover; non-point source pollution; scale; Beijing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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