spatio-temporalvariabilityofdissolved.docVIP

SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF DISSOLVED NITROGEN IN STREAMS OF DANSHUEI DRAINAGE SYSTEM SHUH-JI KAO, TSUNG-YU LEE Environmental Change Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Nankang, Taiwan WILLIAM HUANG AND KON-KEE LIU Institute of Hydrological Science, National Central University, Chung-Li, Taoyuan, Taiwan Spatio-temporal investigation of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN; NH4, NO2, NO3) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in the river water was conducted in the Danshuei River drainage system, which drains through uncultivated upstream to downstream having high population density. On average, NO3 is the dominant form of DIN in river water at upstream, while NH4 dominates the middle-down stream river water. Concentrations of DIN showed an increasing trend from up to down stream reach. Inputs from agriculture and urban sewage source significantly affect the spatial pattern of nitrogen speciation and concentration over entire drainage system. Water runoff and human population are two major factors determining nitrogen export. After logarithmic transformation, the yields of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) can be parameterized as functions of population density and runoff depth (runoff/area) within the watershed of Danshuei River. This empirical function might be applicable to estimate total nitrogen load for other mountainous small watersheds. INTRODUCTION From a global perspective, human activities have more than doubled the amount of nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems since the industrial revolution (Galloway et al., 1995; Vitousek et al., 1997). These increasing N inputs might result in substantial risks to various aspects for many terrestrial, fresh water and coastal ecosystems (Schindler and Bayley, 1993; Kopacek et al., 1995; Howarth et al., 1996; Vitousek et al., 1997). Galloway et al. (1994) indicated that 2/3 of energy-related N emissions are expected to occur in lower latitude regions by the year 2020. Thus the impacts may become more