A Statistical Assessment of the Impact of Agricultural Land Use Intensity on Regional Surface Water Quality at Multiple Scales

Weiwei Zhang, Hong Li, Danfeng Sun and Liandi Zhou
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Weiwei Zhang: Institute of Agricultural Integrated Development, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, No.9 Shu Guang Hua Yuan Middle Road, Beijing 100097, China
Hong Li: Institute of Agricultural Integrated Development, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, No.9 Shu Guang Hua Yuan Middle Road, Beijing 100097, China
Danfeng Sun: College of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100094, China
Liandi Zhou: Institute of Agricultural Integrated Development, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, No.9 Shu Guang Hua Yuan Middle Road, Beijing 100097, China

IJERPH, 2012, vol. 9, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: Understanding the effects of intensive agricultural land use activities on water resources is essential for natural resource management and environmental improvement. In this paper, multi-scale nested watersheds were delineated and the relationships between two representative water quality indexes and agricultural land use intensity were assessed and quantified for the year 2000 using multi-scale regression analysis. The results show that the log-transformed nitrate-nitrogen (NO 3 -N) index exhibited a relationship with chemical fertilizer input intensity and several natural factors, including soil loss, rainfall and sunlight at the first order watershed scale, while permanganate index (COD Mn ) had a positive relationship with another two input intensities of pesticides and agricultural plastic mulch and organic manure at the fifth order watershed scale. The first order watershed and the fifth order watershed were considered as the watershed adaptive response units for NO 3 -N and COD Mn , respectively. The adjustment of agricultural input and its intensity may be carried out inside the individual watershed adaptive response unit. The multiple linear regression model demonstrated the cause-and-effect relationship between agricultural land use intensity and stream water quality at multiple scales, which is an important factor for the maintenance of stream water quality.

Keywords: agricultural land use intensity; water quality; multi-scale; linear regression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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