Riverine CH4 and CO2 emissions respond to associated agricultural land use and seasonality

Abstract

Recently, agricultural land use has significantly impacted carbon emissions and water quality in adjacent rivers. This study examined the influence of land-use types and seasonality on carbon emissions from agriculture-impacted rivers in Shanghai. Our results showed that the crop farming land-use-associated river (AR) had CH4 and CO2 fluxes 2.68 and 3.47 times higher, respectively, than those in the aquaculture land-use-AR and 2.86 and 2.81 times higher than in the livestock and poultry breeding land-use-AR. Statistical analyses revealed that total nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, and humification index were significantly correlated with crop farming land-use-AR carbon emissions. Conversely, no clear correlation was found between chemical factors and carbon fluxes in the aquaculture land-use-AR and livestock and poultry breeding land-use-AR due to the complexity of pollution sources. Seasonality significantly influenced CH4 and CO2 fluxes from agriculture-impacted rivers, with carbon fluxes in summer being 3.5 and 2.5 times higher than in winter, respectively. Crop farming land-use-AR carbon fluxes exhibited the highest variability under seasonal influences. This study emphasizes the need for policies to mitigate agricultural land use impacts on river carbon emissions.