title: Changing urban phosphorus metabolism: Evidence from Longyan City, China.
abstract: Rapid worldwide urbanization calls for a better understanding of phosphorus (P) metabolism and the interaction of the physical, ecological and social drivers of P cycling in urban systems. We quantified the P metabolism in Longyan, a city with a major agricultural economy, and analyzed its long-term trends over the rapid urbanization period of 1985-2010. Both input P (from 4811 t P to 14,296 t P) and output P (from 4565 t P to 13,509 t P) increased significantly. The agricultural subsystem contributed most to the P metabolism, accounting for 85% of total P input. The share of P input lost to the environment, i.e. discharge to water, accumulation in the soil and landfill, increased from 66% to 72%, while food production efficiency decreased from 48% to 29%. Per capita P input showed linear relationships with the Human Development Index (HDI), S-curve relationship with the urbanization rate, and logistic curve relationship with per capita disposable income. A more meat-based diet shift both in Longyan and surrounding cities greatly affected Longyan's food production structure. Our results demonstrate that P metabolic quantity, configuration, and efficiency in production systems can change drastically in response to changes in consumer and producer behavior as well as in socioeconomic structure. A larger regional scale should be considered in urban P management, when trying to mitigate the increase in P use. The results also imply that sustainable urban P management will require a system-wide, cross-sector and cross-boundary approach.
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; Xiamen Key Lab of Urban Metabolism, Xiamen 361021, China. Electronic address: shcui@iue.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Shenghui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; Xiamen Key Lab of Urban Metabolism, Xiamen 361021, China.
authors.forename: Su
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; Xiamen Key Lab of Urban Metabolism, Xiamen 361021, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Fenner School of Environment and Society, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, Australian National University, Canberra 0200, Australia.
authors.forename: Xuemei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology Engineering, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021, China.
authors.forename: Yunfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; Xiamen Key Lab of Urban Metabolism, Xiamen 361021, China.
authors.forename: Guilin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis*; D011158:Population Growth; D014505:Urban Population; D014507:Urbanization
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D010758:Phosphorus
keywords: China; Phosphorus; Substance flow analysis; Urban metabolism; Urbanization