Effects of Landscape Pattern Change on Water Yield and Nonpoint Source Pollution in the Hun-Taizi River Watershed, China

Min Zong, Yuanman Hu, Miao Liu, Chunlin Li, Cong Wang and Xiaoying Ping
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Min Zong: CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
Yuanman Hu: CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
Miao Liu: CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
Chunlin Li: CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
Cong Wang: CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
Xiaoying Ping: CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-18

Abstract: Understanding the influence of landscape pattern changes on water yield (WYLD) and nutrient yield is a key topic for water resource management and nonpoint source (NPS) pollution reduction. The annual WYLD and NPS pollution were estimated in 2004 and 2015 with the calibrated and validated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in the Hun-Taizi River watershed. The impact of land use and landscape pattern changes on the annual WYLD and NPS loading changes were analyzed with a boosted regression tree (BRT) and redundancy analysis (RDA). The results showed that WYLD had a positive correlation with dry farmland and built-up area; however, a negative correlation with paddy field and water area, with the relative contribution of 42.03%, 23.79%, 17.06%, and 13.55%, respectively. The change in nutrient yield was positively correlated with changes in dry farmland, built-up area, and water area but negatively with forestland, according to the BRT model. Landscape patterns had an important influence on WYLD and NPS pollution. A large unfragmented forestland may improve water quality, while a large concentrated dry farmland results in water quality deterioration due to NPS pollution. Water quality is more likely degraded when land uses are complex and scattered with many small patches in a forestland dominated watershed.

Keywords: WYLD; NPS; landscape pattern; SWAT (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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