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Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering

ISSN 2095-7505

ISSN 2095-977X(Online)

CN 10-1204/S

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Front. Agr. Sci. Eng.    2022, Vol. 9 Issue (3) : 465-474    https://doi.org/10.15302/J-FASE-2022454
REVIEW
IMPROVING NITROGEN SAFETY IN CHINA: NITROGEN FLOWS, POLLUTION AND CONTROL
Chaopu TI1,2, Xiaoyuan YAN1,2(), Longlong XIA3, Jingwen HUANG1,2
1. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Changshu National Agro-Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
3. Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen 82497, Germany
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Abstract

● It is necessary to address the N flows and their impacts on environment in China for sustainable N management.

● Barriers include better understanding of N cycle mechanisms and improving low cost abatement technologies are needed to overcome.

● Integrated measures and policies are crucial for the abatement of adverse impacts of N.

The impacts of nitrogen on environmental quality, greenhouse gas balances, ecosystem and biodiversity in China are of great concern given the magnitude of demand for food and energy. Comprehensive summaries of historic N flows and their critical threats and sustainable management are urgently needed. This paper initially reviews the historical trends of N flows in China and identifies the critical threats of N loss. Subsequently, it describes some recent success stories of N management, and finally indicates barriers to N pollution control. This review highlights three key points. Firstly, a steady increase of N input in China has led to a series of environmental problems via leaching and runoff, ammonia emissions and denitrification. Secondly, although great efforts to improve N management and N safety in China, further quantifications of N flows and analysis of their underlying mechanisms are needed to improve the understanding of the N cycle and pollution control. Finally, it proposes that the best available technologies combined with regulatory plans, laws, projects and policies should be implemented to overcome current barriers in N control and achieve a balance between the sustainable use of N resources and environmental conservation in China.
Keywords barriers      future management      ammonia emissions      nitrogen input      water N pollution     
Corresponding Author(s): Xiaoyuan YAN   
About author:

Tongcan Cui and Yizhe Hou contributed equally to this work.
Just Accepted Date: 23 June 2022   Online First Date: 28 July 2022    Issue Date: 09 September 2022
 Cite this article:   
Chaopu TI,Xiaoyuan YAN,Longlong XIA, et al. IMPROVING NITROGEN SAFETY IN CHINA: NITROGEN FLOWS, POLLUTION AND CONTROL[J]. Front. Agr. Sci. Eng. , 2022, 9(3): 465-474.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fase/EN/10.15302/J-FASE-2022454
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fase/EN/Y2022/V9/I3/465
Fig.1  Agricultural fertilizer N use and NUE in China from 1980 to 2014.
Fig.2  The five key threats of excess reactive N. Sourced from Sutton et al.[30], with permission from Cambridge University Press.
Fig.3  Changes in grain yield, total aboveground N uptake and NUE by increasing the splitting frequency of fertilizer N application (a), reducing basal N fertilizer proportion (b), and deep placement of N fertilizer (c). Sourced from Xia et al.[48], with permission from John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Fig.4  The policy in nitrogen governance from 1995 to 2015. Modified from Wu et al.[51], with permission from Elsevier.
Fig.5  Annual TN concentration changes in the Taihu Lake.
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