TY - JOUR
T1 - Decoupling the effects of climate, topography, land use, revegetation, and dam construction on streamflow, sediment, total nitrogen and phosphorus in the Yangtze River Basin
AU - Ning, Yinan
AU - Nunes, Joao Pedro
AU - Zhou, Jichen
AU - Baartman, Jantiene
AU - Ritsema, Coen J.
AU - Xuan, Yunqing
AU - Liu, Xuejun
AU - Ma, Lihua
AU - Chen, Xinping
PY - 2025/3/10
Y1 - 2025/3/10
N2 - Evaluating changes in streamflow, sediment, and nutrient fluxes, as well as quantifying their influencing factors, is crucial for regional water resource protection. While the relationships between major influencing factors and these indicators have been widely studied, the quantitative contributions of the separate and interactive effects of these influencing factors have not been fully explored. This study quantitatively evaluated the changing characteristics of streamflow, sediment discharge, total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP), as well as the separate and interactive effects of various major influencing factors such as—rainfall, temperature, evapotranspiration (ET), revegetation, dam construction, and land use change—by applying the GeoDetector method to account for their spatial heterogeneity and contributions. Our findings reveal that the influence of these factors has gradually intensified over time, with dam construction and land use change emerging as the most significant contributors to changes in sediment discharge and TN, respectively. Notably, the interactive effects between dam capacity and vegetation cover on streamflow and sediment discharge was twice as strong as their separate impacts, highlighting the effectiveness of integrating dam construction with reforestation to control erosion and sediment transport. Similarly, the interaction of dam capacity and land use change had a 1.5 times greater impact on TN and TP than their separate effects, indicating that reducing fertilizer application at the source and in the meantime implementing direct interception measures are more effective ways to control water pollution. These findings provide a solid foundation for policymakers to develop integrated water management strategies targeting multiple factors simultaneously, that address both water quantity and quality concerns in the Yangtze River Basin and similar regions.
AB - Evaluating changes in streamflow, sediment, and nutrient fluxes, as well as quantifying their influencing factors, is crucial for regional water resource protection. While the relationships between major influencing factors and these indicators have been widely studied, the quantitative contributions of the separate and interactive effects of these influencing factors have not been fully explored. This study quantitatively evaluated the changing characteristics of streamflow, sediment discharge, total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP), as well as the separate and interactive effects of various major influencing factors such as—rainfall, temperature, evapotranspiration (ET), revegetation, dam construction, and land use change—by applying the GeoDetector method to account for their spatial heterogeneity and contributions. Our findings reveal that the influence of these factors has gradually intensified over time, with dam construction and land use change emerging as the most significant contributors to changes in sediment discharge and TN, respectively. Notably, the interactive effects between dam capacity and vegetation cover on streamflow and sediment discharge was twice as strong as their separate impacts, highlighting the effectiveness of integrating dam construction with reforestation to control erosion and sediment transport. Similarly, the interaction of dam capacity and land use change had a 1.5 times greater impact on TN and TP than their separate effects, indicating that reducing fertilizer application at the source and in the meantime implementing direct interception measures are more effective ways to control water pollution. These findings provide a solid foundation for policymakers to develop integrated water management strategies targeting multiple factors simultaneously, that address both water quantity and quality concerns in the Yangtze River Basin and similar regions.
KW - Attribution analysis
KW - Geodetector
KW - Sediment
KW - The Yangtze River Basin
KW - Total nitrogen and phosphorus
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.178800
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.178800
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85217957081
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 968
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
M1 - 178800
ER -
