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Journal of Arid Land
Journal of Arid Land  2026, Vol. 18 Issue (5): 811-832    DOI: 10.1016/j.jaridl.2026.05.005     CSTR: 32276.14.JAL.20250531
Research article     
Nitrogen cycling mechanisms in aquatic systems of arid areas on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China
ZHAO Yongjia1,2,3, WAN Yuyu1,2,3,*(), SU Xiaosi1,2,3, ZHANG Qixing4,5,6, TANG Wangchun4,5, TAN Liwei4,5, YI Xiaokun1,2,3, DAI Yadi1,2,3
1 Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun 130026, China
2 Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun 130026, China
3 Institute of Water Resources and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, China
4 Survey of Hydrogeology, Engineering and Environmental Geology in Qinghai, Xining 810008, China
5 Key Laboratory of Hydrogeology and Geothermal Geology of Qinghai Province, Xining 810008, China
6 School of Engineering, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, China
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Abstract  

Arid areas account for approximately one-quarter of the global land surface. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of nitrogen cycling in arid watershed systems is essential for water environment protection and land use planning in dryland ecosystems. Using the Gasikule Lake Basin on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China, as a representative study area, this study examined the sources, transport, and transformation mechanisms of nitrogen within a hierarchically nested hydrological system, including river water (S1R), groundwater (S2G), spring-fed river (S3R), and lake water (S4H). Dual nitrate isotopes (δ15N-NO3- and δ18O-NO3-) were integrated with a Bayesian mixing models in R (MixSIAR) to quantify external nitrate sources. In addition, δ15N-NH4+ isotopes combined with microbial techniques were applied to trace nitrogen transformation processes in water bodies, where nitrogen inputs were dominated by nitrate. The results indicated that nitrate was the primary form of nitrogen input across the study area, although overall nitrate loading remained relatively low. Atmospheric deposition and soil organic nitrogen were the dominant sources of exogenous nitrate input. Microbial genera associated with nitrate reduction generally showed low relative abundance in groundwater, whereas facultatively aerobic genera were predominant in surface water. In surface water, nitrogen transformation was mainly driven by organic nitrogen ammoniation and subsequent nitrification. In contrast, groundwater systems were characterized by stronger hydrological confinement and oxygen limitation, resulting in suppressed nitrification, incomplete denitrification, and a tendency toward ammonium accumulation. Collectively, these findings define a "low-input, low-transformation, and low-loss" nitrogen regime in the Gasikule Lake Basin. This sluggish nitrogen cycling reflects a limited ecological self-remediation capacity, highlighting the inherent biogeochemical fragility of alpine desert ecosystems. This study provides a critical theoretical basis for understanding nitrogen budgets in global dryland systems and offers scientific support for water environment protection and ecological sustainability in high-altitude areas.

Key words： nitrogen cycle      endorheic basin      nitrogen and oxygen isotopes      Bayesian mixing models in R (MixSIAR)      microbial community     
Received: 24 October 2025      Published: 31 May 2026
Corresponding Authors: *WAN Yuyu (E-mail: wanyuyu@jlu.edu.cn)
About author: Author contributions

Conceptualization: ZHAO Yongjia; Formal analysis: ZHAO Yongjia; Data curation: ZHAO Yongjia, TANG Wangchun, TAN Liwei, YI Xiaokun; Visualization: ZHAO Yongjia; Writing - original draft preparation: ZHAO Yongjia; Validation: ZHAO Yongjia; Resources: WAN Yuyu, SU Xiaosi, ZHANG Qixing, DAI Yadi; Investigation: WAN Yuyu, SU Xiaosi, ZHANG Qixing, TANG Wangchun, TAN Liwei, YI Xiaokun, DAI Yadi; Writing - review and editing: WAN Yuyu; Project administration: WAN Yuyu; Funding acquisition: WAN Yuyu; Supervision: ZHANG Qixing. All authors approved the manuscript.

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ZHAO Yongjia
WAN Yuyu
SU Xiaosi
ZHANG Qixing
TANG Wangchun
TAN Liwei
YI Xiaokun
DAI Yadi
Cite this article:

ZHAO Yongjia, WAN Yuyu, SU Xiaosi, ZHANG Qixing, TANG Wangchun, TAN Liwei, YI Xiaokun, DAI Yadi. Nitrogen cycling mechanisms in aquatic systems of arid areas on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China. Journal of Arid Land, 2026, 18(5): 811-832.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1016/j.jaridl.2026.05.005     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2026/V18/I5/811

Fig. 1 (a), cross-sectional view of the study area showing the distribution of different hydrological zones; (b), sampling site in the study area. S1R, upstream river zone; S2G, groundwater-dominated infiltration or transport zone; S3R, spring-fed river zone formed by groundwater emergence; S4H, terminal lake zone (Gasikule Lake).
Fig. 2 Piper diagram showing the relative abundance of major cations and anions in different water bodies across the study area
Fig. 3 Spatial variations of hydrochemical parameters and isotopes in different hydrological zones. (a), total inorganic nitrogen (TIN); (b), dissolved organic carbon (DOC); (c), pH; (d), δ15N-NO3-; (e), δ18O-NO3-; (f), δ15N-NH4+; (g), NH4+-N; (h), NO3--N; (i), NO2--N.
Fig. 4 Comparative analysis of nitrogen stable isotopes. (a), NH4+-N, DOC, and NO3--N concentrations; (b), δ15N-NO3- versus δ18O-NO3-; (c), δ15N-NO3- versus NO3--N concentration; (d), δ15N-NO3- versus δ15N-NH4+; (e), ln(NO3-) versus δ15N-NO3- in the S2G zone.
Fig. 5 Relationship between δ2H-H2O and δ18O-H2O in surface water and groundwater. GMWL, the Global Meteoric Water Line with solid black.
Fig. 6 Violin plots of microbial community α-diversity indices. (a), operational taxonomic units (OTUs); (b), Shannon index; (c), Chao1 index; (d), Simpson index. In the violin plots, the internal white box represents the interquartile range (25th to 75th percentiles), and the horizontal line within the box indicates the median. The upper and lower vertical lines extend to 1.5 times the interquartile range. The width of the violin indicates the probability density of the data at different values.
Fig. 7 Microbial community composition across different hydrological zones. (a), phylum-level composition; (b), genus-level composition in the S1R zone; (c), genus-level composition in the S2G zone; (d), genus-level composition in the S3R zone; (e), genus-level composition in the S4H zone. Chord diagrams illustrate the relative taxonomic abundance. The number with the hydrological zones means the sample site.
Fig. 8 (a), Venn diagram of shared and unique OTUs across different hydrological zones; (b), non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination illustrating microbial community dissimilarity.
Fig. 9 Heatmap of relative abundance of predicted microbial functional groups
Fig. 10 Bayesian mixing models in R (MixSIAR)-derived box plots showing proportional contributions of potential nitrate sources in different hydrological zones. (a), S1R; (b), S2G; (c), S3R; (d), S4H. AD, atmospheric deposition; NF, nitrogen fertilizer; SM, sewage and manure; SON, soil organic nitrogen. The bottom and top lines of the box represent the 25th and 75th percentile quartiles, respectively; the line and circle in the middle of the box represent the average and median, respectively.
Zone NF SM AD SON
Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
S1R 0.109 0.155 0.114 0.038 0.214 0.076 0.563 0.220
S2G 0.119 0.149 0.136 0.036 0.236 0.074 0.509 0.220
S3R 0.142 0.132 0.118 0.035 0.251 0.102 0.489 0.197
S4H 0.138 0.155 0.124 0.039 0.263 0.090 0.475 0.224
Table 1 Summary of MixSIAR results for proportional contributions of potential nitrate sources
Fig. 11 Conceptual model of nitrogen cycling at the watershed scale. DNRA, dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium.
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