Impact of nitrogen cycling associated with production and consumption of food on nitrogen pollution of stream water.

Abstract We evaluated the impact of nitrogen (N) cycling on N pollution of stream water, with emphasis on N disposed of (hereafter referred to as “disposal N”) from human and livestock excrement and the N surplus in cropland, compared to the total-N concentration of stream water, in seven zones of Asahikawa City characterized by various types of land use. In order to estimate N cycling, we used the Nitrogen Flow Model, composed of the N budgets of human, livestock, and cropland subsystems. The urban area with a population density of over 4,000 persons km-2 generated a very large amount of disposal N (about 2,700 kg N ha-1 cropland y-1). Based on the amount of disposal N and the volume of domestic sewage water used, the N concentration estimated for the urban area was 34 mg N L-1, which found in the effluent from the sewage treatment facility (24–28 mg N L-1), regardless of the season. Thus, it was indicated that most of the disposal N in the urban area was discharged directly to streams through the sewage...