{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,1]],"date-time":"2026-04-01T21:48:03Z","timestamp":1775080083000,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,25]],"date-time":"2021-01-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1611532800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"European Commission","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["WATERJPI\/005\/2016"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["WATERJPI\/005\/2016"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"FCT","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UIDB\/00308\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00308\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Land"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The Low Mondego (Baixo Mondego, in Portuguese) river basin has been considerably modified by human interventions to prevent floods and to improve agricultural conditions over recent decades. This work analyzes the main impacts arising from those interventions and the socio-economic context in which they occurred. The development and application of a framework to compute the variation of the nitrogen surplus between 1986 and 2018 in the Low Mondego watershed in the central part Portugal is presented. The nitrogen mass balances take into consideration different land use types, inputs and outputs, thereby making it possible to understand how human interventions have impacted the variation of the surplus. It is noticeable that the major nitrogen sources are related to the agricultural sector. However, factors such as the implementation of the Code of Good Agricultural Practices, as well as social conditions, and regulations to reduce nitrogen emissions to the atmosphere helped to cut the nitrogen surplus. This work shows how improving the agricultural conditions has served to increase the crop productivity in improved areas. Very particular social circumstances led to the reduction in anthropogenic nitrogen sources, which has been accompanied by a decline in the nitrogen that is exported at the river outlet.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/land10020114","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,25]],"date-time":"2021-01-25T12:28:31Z","timestamp":1611577711000},"page":"114","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Understanding the Impact of a Major Hydro-Agricultural Project in Low Mondego Area (Portugal)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Maria","family":"Cunha","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"INESC Coimbra, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Coimbra, Polo 2, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5481-362X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o","family":"Marques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"INESC Coimbra, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Coimbra, Polo 2, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Jos\u00e9","family":"Azevedo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Earth Sciences, CGEO, University of Coimbra, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3069-9014","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana","family":"Castilho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Earth Sciences, CGEO, University of Coimbra, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"DGSH (Direc\u00e7\u00e3o-Geral dos Servi\u00e7os Hidr\u00e1ulicos) (1962). Aproveitamento Hidr\u00e1ulico da Bacia do Mondego: Plano Geral, Direc\u00e7\u00e3o Geral dos Servi\u00e7os Hidr\u00e1ulicos, Minist\u00e9rio das Obras P\u00fablicas. (In Portuguese)."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114066","DOI":"10.1016\/j.geoderma.2019.114066","article-title":"Global and regional estimation of net anthropogenic nitrogen inputs (NANI)","volume":"361","author":"Han","year":"2020","journal-title":"Geoderma"},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Zhang, X. (2016). Spatio-Temporal Patterns in Net Anthropogenic Nitrogen and Phosphorus Inputs across the Grand River Watershed. [Master\u2019s Thesis, University of Waterloo]."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"398","DOI":"10.1111\/geb.12856","article-title":"Impacts of nitrogen addition on plant species richness and abundance: A global meta-analysis","volume":"28","author":"Midolo","year":"2019","journal-title":"Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2781","DOI":"10.1029\/97WR02171","article-title":"Regional interpretation of water-quality monitoring data","volume":"33","author":"Smith","year":"1997","journal-title":"Water Resour. Res."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1423","DOI":"10.13031\/2013.34915","article-title":"Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) Model: Current developments and applications","volume":"53","author":"Srinivasan","year":"2010","journal-title":"Trans. ASABE"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Seitzinger, S.P., Harrison, J.A., Dumont, E., Beusen, A.H.W., and Bouwman, A.F. (2005). Sources and delivery of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus to the coastal zone: An overview of Global Nutrient Export from Watersheds (NEWS) models and their application. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles, 19.","DOI":"10.1029\/2005GB002606"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02179825","article-title":"Regional nitrogen budgets and riverine N & P fluxes for the drainages to the North Atlantic Ocean: Natural and human influences","volume":"35","author":"Howarth","year":"1996","journal-title":"Biogeochemistry"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ecolmodel.2011.12.002","article-title":"Evaluating regional variation of net anthropogenic nitrogen and phosphorus inputs (NANI\/NAPI), major drivers, nutrient retention pattern and management implications in the multinational areas of Baltic Sea basin","volume":"227","author":"Hong","year":"2012","journal-title":"Ecol. Model."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"57","DOI":"10.5194\/bg-9-57-2012","article-title":"Spatialized N budgets in a large agricultural Mediterranean watershed: High loading and low transfer","volume":"9","author":"Lassaletta","year":"2012","journal-title":"Biogeosciences"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5199","DOI":"10.1021\/es303437c","article-title":"Estimating net anthropogenic nitrogen inputs to U.S. watersheds: Comparison of methodologies","volume":"47","author":"Hong","year":"2013","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105009","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-9326\/9\/10\/105009","article-title":"Regional nitrogen budget of the Lake Victoria Basin, East Africa: Syntheses, uncertainties and perspectives","volume":"9","author":"Zhou","year":"2014","journal-title":"Environ. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cui, X., Huang, C., Wu, J., Liu, X., and Hong, Y. (2020). Temporal and spatial variations of net anthropogenic nitrogen inputs (NANI) in the Pearl River Basin of China from 1986 to 2015. PLoS ONE, 15.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0228683"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.1002\/2016GB005498","article-title":"Two centuries of nitrogen dynamics: Legacy sources and sinks in the Mississippi and Susquehanna River Basins","volume":"31","author":"Basu","year":"2017","journal-title":"Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-017-08118-3","article-title":"The N-P-K soil nutrient balance of Portuguese cropland in the 1950s: The transition from organic to chemical fertilization","volume":"7","author":"Carmo","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cruz, S., Cordovil, C.M.S., Pinto, R., Brito, A.G., Cameira, M.R., Gon\u00e7alves, G., and May, L. (2019). Nitrogen in Water-Portugal and Denmark: Two contrasting realities. Water, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/w11061114"},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"European Environment Agency (EEA) (2020, December 03). DPSIR Framework (Driving Forces, Pressure, State, Impact, Response). Available online: https:\/\/www.eea.europa.eu\/publications\/TEC25."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"278","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landusepol.2019.02.028","article-title":"Spatial distribution and uncertainties of nitrogen budgets for agriculture in the Tagus river basin in Portugal\u2013Implications for effectiveness of mitigation measures","volume":"84","author":"Cameira","year":"2019","journal-title":"Land Use Policy"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1016\/S1161-0301(03)00067-4","article-title":"Approaches and uncertainties in nutrient budgets: Implications for nutrient management and environmental policies","volume":"20","author":"Oenema","year":"2003","journal-title":"Eur. J. Agronom."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Eurostat (2016). Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Statistics. Nutrient Budgets Methodology and Handbook, European Union. Eurostat\/OECD 2013."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmarsys.2014.09.004","article-title":"Net anthropogenic nitrogen inputs and nitrogen fluxes from Indian watersheds: An initial assessment","volume":"141","author":"Swaney","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Mar. Syst."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1890\/100178","article-title":"Nitrogen fluxes from the landscape are controlled by net anthropogenic nitrogen inputs and by climate","volume":"10","author":"Howarth","year":"2012","journal-title":"Front. Ecol. Environ."},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"WFD (2020). Directive 2000\/60\/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council Establishing a Framework for the Community Action in the Field of Water Policy, European Parliament. OJ L327, 22.12.2000."},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"CBPA, C\u00f3digo de Boas Pr\u00e1ticas Agr\u00edcolas (2018). Despacho No. 1230\/2018 de 5 de Fevereiro de 2018, Minist\u00e9rios do Ambiente e Agricultura, Florestas e Desenvolvimento Rural. (In Portuguese)."},{"key":"ref_25","first-page":"137","article-title":"Global and regional surface nitrogen balances in intensive agricultural production systems for the period 1970\u20132030","volume":"15","author":"Bouwman","year":"2005","journal-title":"Pedosphere"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"623","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envsoft.2010.11.012","article-title":"A toolbox for calculating net anthropogenic nitrogen inputs (NANI)","volume":"26","author":"Hong","year":"2011","journal-title":"Environ. Model. Softw."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"(2020, December 03). INE, Instituto Nacional de Estatistica. Available online: https:\/\/www.ine.pt."},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"DGT, Dire\u00e7\u00e3o-Geral do Territorio (2020, December 03). Carta Administrativa Oficial de Portugal (CAOP). Available online: http:\/\/www.dgterritorio.pt."},{"key":"ref_29","unstructured":"SNIAmb, Ag\u00eancia Portuguesa do Ambiente (2020, December 03). Bacias dos Tro\u00e7os de Linha de \u00c1gua GeoCodificadas. Available online: https:\/\/sniamb.apambiente.pt\/."},{"key":"ref_30","unstructured":"(2021, January 18). Corine Land Cover (CLC), European Union, Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (2018), European Environment Agency (EEA) (2018). Available online: https:\/\/land.copernicus.eu\/pan-european\/corine-land-cover\/clc2018."},{"key":"ref_31","unstructured":"DGADR, Dire\u00e7\u00e3o-Geral de Agricultura e Desenvolvimento Rural (2020, December 03). Aproveitamento Hidroagr\u00edcola do Baixo Mondego, Available online: http:\/\/www.dgadr.gov.pt."},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"Barbosa, A.E., Alves, E., Cortes, R.M.V., Silva-Santos, P.M., Aguiar, F., and Ferreira, T. (2006, January 6\u20138). Evaluation of Environmental Impacts Resulting from River Regulation Works: A Case Study from Portugal. Proceedings of the International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics-River Flow, Lisbon, Portugal."},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"Maia, R. (2013). Estudo Estrat\u00e9gico para Interven\u00e7\u00f5es de Reabilita\u00e7\u00e3o na Rede Hidrogr\u00e1fica da ARH do Centro Guia de Orienta\u00e7\u00e3o para a Interven\u00e7\u00e3o em Linhas de \u00c1gua, (In Portuguese)."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Marques, J.C., Gra\u00e7a, M.A., and Pardal, M.\u00c2. (2002). Introducing the Mondego River Basin. Aquatic Ecology of the Mondego River Basin Global Importance of Local Experience, Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra.","DOI":"10.14195\/978-989-26-0336-0_1"},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"Almeida, P.R., and Quintella, B. (2016). Reabilita\u00e7\u00e3o dos Habitats de Peixes Di\u00e1dromos na Bacia Hidrogr\u00e1fica do Mondego, Promar International. Promar Report."},{"key":"ref_36","unstructured":"DGHEA (1983). Projecto de Desenvolvimento Agr\u00edcola do Baixo Mondego, Minist\u00e9rio da Agricultura Pescas e Alimenta\u00e7\u00e3o-Direc\u00e7\u00e3o Geral de Hidr\u00e1ulica e Engenharia Agr\u00edcola. (In Portuguese)."},{"key":"ref_37","unstructured":"ABOFHBM, Associa\u00e7\u00e3o de Benefici\u00e1rios da Obra de Fomento Hidroagr\u00edcola do Baixo Mondego (2021, January 18). Historial. Available online: http:\/\/www.abofhbm.net\/historial.htm."},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"IDRHa (Instituto de Desenvolvimento Rural e Hidraulica) (2004). Bloco 10 de Alfarelos no Aproveitamento Hidroagr\u00edcola do Baixo Mondego."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Santos, J.F., and Freitas, V. (2011). Aproveitamento hidroagr\u00edcola do baixo Mondego. Actualidade e desafios futuros. Jornadas T\u00e9cnicas da APRH, APRH. (In Portuguese)."},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"Pereira, P.M. (2013). Mapear Paisagens do Baixo Mondego. [Ph.D. Thesis, University of Coimbra]. (In Portuguese)."},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"Gon\u00e7alves, J.M. (2011). Principais aspectos da avalia\u00e7\u00e3o de rega por sulcos, IV Encontro de Regantes do Baixo Mondego, (In Portuguese)."},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"ABOFHBM, Associa\u00e7\u00e3o de Benefici\u00e1rios da Obra de Fomento Hidroagr\u00edcola do Baixo Mondego (2020, December 03). Per\u00edmetro de Rega do Baixo Mondego: Evolu\u00e7\u00e3o da \u00c1rea Equipada. Available online: http:\/\/www.abofhbm.net\/caracterizacaoperimetro.htm."},{"key":"ref_43","unstructured":"GTAA (Grupo de Trabalho Agro-Ambiental) (2003). O Abandono da Actividade Agr\u00edcola, Minist\u00e9rio da Agricultura, do Desenvolvimento Rural e das Pescas. (In Portuguese)."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"137","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1015709302073","article-title":"Anthropogenic nitrogen sources and relationships to riverine nitrogen export in the northeastern U.S.A","volume":"57\u201358","author":"Boyer","year":"2002","journal-title":"Biogeochemistry"},{"key":"ref_45","unstructured":"Britz, W., and Witzke, P. (2020, December 03). CAPRI Model Documentation. Available online: http:\/\/www.capri-model.org\/docs\/capri_documentation.pdf."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"55","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-007-7969-3_5","article-title":"CORINE land cover and land cover change products","volume":"18","year":"2014","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Digital Image Process."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"785","DOI":"10.1007\/s10113-013-0536-1","article-title":"How changes in diet and trade patterns have shaped the N cycle at the national scale: Spain (1961\u20132009)","volume":"14","author":"Lassaletta","year":"2014","journal-title":"Reg. Environ. Chang."},{"key":"ref_48","unstructured":"(2020, December 03). Pordata, Base de Dados de Portugal Contempor\u00e2neo. Available online: https:\/\/www.pordata.pt."},{"key":"ref_49","unstructured":"SNIAmb, Ag\u00eancia Portuguesa do Ambiente (2020, December 03). Invent\u00e1rio Nacional de Sistemas de Abastecimento de \u00c1gua e de \u00c1guas Residuais. Available online: https:\/\/sniamb.apambiente.pt\/."},{"key":"ref_50","unstructured":"Ferreira, L.M. (2014). O Arroz como Potenciador do Ecoturismo no Baixo Mondego. [Master\u2019s Thesis, Escola Superior Agr\u00e1ria de Coimbra]. (In Portuguese)."},{"key":"ref_51","unstructured":"Vaquinhas, I. (2005). Breve Historial Sobre a Cultura do Arroz nos Campos do Mondego, (In Portuguese)."},{"key":"ref_52","unstructured":"NIST\/SEMATECH (2020, December 30). e-Handbook of Statistical Methods, Available online: http:\/\/www.itl.nist.gov\/div898\/handbook\/."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"420","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2016.08.007","article-title":"Water management practices exacerbate nitrogen retention in Mediterranean catchments","volume":"573","author":"Romero","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_54","unstructured":"Mateus, M. (2009). Campos de Coimbra, Do Rural ao Urbano. [Ph.D. Thesis, University of Coimbra]. (In Portuguese)."},{"key":"ref_55","unstructured":"Nunes, A. (2007). Abandono do Espa\u00e7o Agr\u00edcola na Beira Transmontana. [Ph.D. Thesis, University of Coimbra]. (In Portuguese)."}],"container-title":["Land"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-445X\/10\/2\/114\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T05:15:12Z","timestamp":1760159712000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-445X\/10\/2\/114"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,25]]},"references-count":55,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,2]]}},"alternative-id":["land10020114"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/land10020114","relation":{},"ISSN":["2073-445X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2073-445X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,25]]}}}