• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.37 no.5
• /
• pp.536-550
• /
• 2002

This paper investigated the spatial variations of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations for 38 watersheds in Pennsylvania using 7 years of hydroclimatic and water quality data. Watersheds with higher percentage of urban and agricultural land uses exhibited larger variations of nutrient concentrations than forested watersheds. N and P concentrations were strongly associated with agricultural and urban land uses, respectively. The principle component analysis identified three components - land use and topography related, hydroclimate related factors, and size. Results of partial redundancy analysis showed the joint effect of climate, land cover, and topographic variables for explaining 28.1% of the variance of nitrogen concentrations and a pure effect of land cover for explaining 41.8% of total variance of P concentrations. The geographical pattern of statewide nutrient concentrations demonstrated a strong spatial gradient; low concentration in northwestern PA and high concentrations in southeastern PA. This pattern is associated with combined effects of hydroclimate, land use, topography, and water quality at the regional scale.