Urban nitrogen budgets: flows and stock changes of potentially polluting nitrogen compounds in cities and their surroundings – a review

Winiwarter, Wilfried; Amon, Barbara; Bai, Zhaohai; Greinert, Andrzej; Kaltenegger, K.; Ma, Lin; Myszograj, Sylwia; Schneidergruber, Markus; Suchowski-Kisielewicz, Monika; Wolf, Lisa; Zhang, Lin; Zhou, Feng

doi:10.1080/1943815x.2020.1841241

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…The potential impact of water transfers on the balance between PWS‐NO 3 ‐N and WML‐NO 3 ‐N fluxes could also influence the future regulation of water withdrawal permits and transfers both in the United States and around the world (Shumilova et al., 2018). The national WML‐NO 3 ‐N estimate will facilitate international comparisons (Swaney et al., 2018b), and its significance on local scales should help resolve urban watershed scale N budgets (Winiwarter et al., 2020) and inform local and state optimum leakage control policy (Xu et al., 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Supply Processes Are Responsible for Significant Nitrogen Fluxes Across the United States

Flint

Ascott

Gooddy

et al. 2022

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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Excessive nutrient concentrations within fresh waters are a globally persistent problem. Developing effective nutrient management strategies requires improvements to nitrogen (N) mass balances, including the identification and quantification of previously unrecognized anthropogenic N fluxes. Using publicly available data, we establish that freshwater abstractions from both surface waters and groundwaters, alongside watermains leakage from public distribution networks, are responsible for significant nitrate‐N (NO3‐N) fluxes across the contiguous United States. Nationally, freshwater abstraction temporarily retains 417 (min‐max: 190–857) kt NO3‐N yr−1, equivalent to 21% of pastureland N uptake and 2% of previous global abstraction‐N flux estimates. Fluxes due to irrigation, thermoelectric power, and public water supply collectively account for 87% of this total. We find large intercounty variation in area‐normalized abstraction fluxes (min‐max: 0–8,267 kg NO3‐N km−2 yr−1), with eastern regions generally associated with larger fluxes. Watermains leakage returns 7 (min‐max: 6.3–7.7) kt NO3‐N yr−1 back to the environment, equivalent to 13% of NO3‐N initially abstracted for public supply and 1.3% of previous global leakage flux estimates. Our analyses reveal inter‐county variations in area‐normalized leakage fluxes (min‐max: 0–576 kg NO3‐N km−2 yr−1), with this flux exceeding other major N inputs (agricultural N fertilizer) in some urbanized and coastal counties, highlighting their importance in these areas. The local and national importance of these fluxes has implications for policy makers and water resource managers aiming to better manage the impacts of N within the environment and calls for their inclusion in both US and global N budgets.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Supply Processes Are Responsible for Significant Nitrogen Fluxes Across the United States

Flint

Ascott

Gooddy

et al. 2022

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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“…Efficient strategies for phosphorus recycling are necessary to coordinate urban and peri-urban areas for sustainable nutrient management, given the fluctuating growth in food phosphorus consumption and its environmental loads [101] . Standardization in nitrogen budget methodologies is needed to analyze nitrogen recycling and reuse, especially in urban food systems, for improved nitrogen emissions management and food security [147] . Two studies highlight the importance of circular agriculture for reducing nitrogen input and emissions in small-scale agricultural production in Fujian, China, and managing urban nitrogen emissions in Xiamen City, China [148,149] .…”

Section: Cluster 3: Environmental and Social Impacts Of Food Flows In...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Urban Metabolism Assessments in Addressing Food Security through Urban Agriculture in Informal Settlements: A Critical Review

Acevedo-De-los-Ríos,

Perrotti

2024

IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci.

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This literature review explores the role of urban metabolism (UM) assessments in addressing food security through urban agriculture in informal settlements, particularly in lower-income countries. It addresses the challenges of food security in urban areas and aims to unravel existing urban dynamics and networks to generate agro-food resources in these settings. The review included a comprehensive search using the Scopus and Web of Science (WOS) databases to identify relevant studies. A total of 381 articles published between 2000 and 2023 were retrieved. Additionally, a systematic review of grey literature was performed using Google Scholar, focusing on publications in the Spanish language from the years 2000 to 2023 to address food security dynamics in Latin America as a key case study area. After screening titles, keywords, and abstracts, 127 journal articles from the Scopus and WOS databases and 51 results from the grey literature were considered for further analysis. Bibliometric coupling techniques, including co-citation analysis, co-occurrence analysis, and keyword analysis, were employed using VOSviewer software to visualize the scholarly landscape and identify major themes. The analysis of white literature facilitated the identification of six major themes: (1) UM and Sustainability; (2) Phosphorus Management and Recycling; (3) Food Security and Waste Management; (4) Material Flow Analysis and Environmental Impact; (5) Human Impacts on the Environment; and (6) Food Systems and Sustainability. The main findings pointed to the environmental and social sustainability impacts of food flows in UM studies, emphasizing the pertinence of UM as a conceptual framework to address urban sustainability and justice challenges, particularly in informal settlements. Additionally, the grey literature provided insights into community strategies, urban resilience, and social inequality, enriching the understanding of local realities and socio-economic dimensions related to UM and food security in informal settlements. The review showed that by incorporating UM approaches and circular economy strategies, it is possible to optimize flows and stocks within the agro-food systems, leading to improved food security, sustainable development, and enhanced resilience in urban environments.

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A review of nitrogen flow in the anthroposphere to identify key control sectors

Rana,

Kumar,

Kumar

et al. 2023

Clean Techn Environ Policy

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Urban nitrogen budgets: flows and stock changes of potentially polluting nitrogen compounds in cities and their surroundings – a review

Cited by 8 publications

References 52 publications

Water Supply Processes Are Responsible for Significant Nitrogen Fluxes Across the United States

Water Supply Processes Are Responsible for Significant Nitrogen Fluxes Across the United States

Role of Urban Metabolism Assessments in Addressing Food Security through Urban Agriculture in Informal Settlements: A Critical Review

A review of nitrogen flow in the anthroposphere to identify key control sectors

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