Assessing the Impact of Rural Multifunctionality on Non-Point Source Pollution: A Case Study of Typical Hilly Watershed, China

Wei Yan, Xuejun Duan (), Jiayu Kang and Zhiyuan Ma
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Wei Yan: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Xuejun Duan: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Jiayu Kang: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Zhiyuan Ma: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: In the context of rural development and transformation, it is crucial to identify the impact of rural multifunctionality on non-point source (NPS) pollution. This study applies the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), geographical detector, and principal component analysis in Liyang, a typical hilly subbasin in China, in order to assess the rural multifunctional development that influences the spatial differentiation of NPS pollution and detect the interactive effects of rural multifunctionality. The R 2 and NSE demonstrated that the calibrated SWAT model successfully simulated NPS pollution in Liyang. The village scale was identified as the optimal research scale for examining the rural multifunctional development on NPS pollution distribution. The rural multifunctional indicators, such as the proportion of vegetable farming, sowing area, and grain farming, would influence NPS distribution. The number of family farming cooperatives, the area of pond farming, and the nature reserves area were also significant. The rural multifunctionality in Liyang could be classified into five categories: grain production, mixed agriculture, ecological conservation, leisure tourism, and industry and business function. The superposition of rural multifunctionality has a strengthening effect on NPS pollution, especially when the ecological conservation function is combined with the grain production or modern agriculture function. The study could provide NPS pollution control strategies for policymaking in rural multifunctional development.

Keywords: rural multifunctionality; non-point source pollution; interaction effect; SWAT model; spatial differentiation; modifiable areal unit problem (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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