Karst topography covers more than 1/3 of the People's Republic of China in area. The porous, fissured, and soluble nature of the underlying karst bedrock (primarily dolomite and limestone) leads to the formation of underground drainage systems. Karst conduit networks dominate this system, and rainfall takes a crucial role on water cycle at China karst area. Nitrogen loss from the karst system is of particular concern, with regard to nutrient use efficiency as well as water quality, as much of the karst system, including steeply sloping terrain, is used for intensive agriculture. We use simulated rainfall experiments to determine the relationship between rainfall and nitrogen loss at typical karst slope land and then estimate nitrogen loss from the karst soil. The results show that both surface runoff and subsurface runoff have a significant linear correlation with rainfall at all studied sites. Subsurface runoff is larger than surface runoff at two karst sites, while the opposite is true at the non‐karst site. Exponential function satisfactorily described the correlation between rainfall and nitrogen concentrations in runoff. Nitrates accounted for 60%–95% of the dissolved nitrogen loss (DN, an index of N‐loss in this research). The estimated annual N‐loss load varies between 1.05 and 1.67 Tg N/year in the whole karst regions of China from 1961 to 2014. Approximately, 90% of the N‐loss load occurred during the wet season, and 90% of that passed through the subsurface. Understanding the processes and estimating N‐loss is highly valuable in determining long‐term soil security and sustainability in karst regions.

Endosulfan is an organochlorine pesticide widely used in Southwest China. In this paper, the adsorption and desorption characteristics of endosulfan in two typical agricultural soils (latosol and lateritic red soil) in this area were studied. The results showed that Langmuir isothermal equation could well describe the adsorption thermodynamic characteristics of endosulfan in latosol and lateritic red soil, and the maximum adsorption capacities of α-endosulfan were 0.186 and 0.209 mg/g, while those of β-endosulfan were 0.140 and 0.148 mg/g, respectively. Endosulfan adsorption in the two soils was an exothermic physicochemical process, but dominated by physical process. The adsorption kinetic characteristics of endosulfan in the two soils could be well described by second-order kinetic equation, and the initial rate constants were 0.228 and 0.325 mg/(g min) for α-endosulfan, while those were 0.119 and 0.125 mg/(g min) for β-endosulfan, respectively. The adsorbed endosulfan in the two soils was difficult to be desorbed into the liquid phase, and showed weak desorption hysteresis. These results implied that endosulfan could be firmly adsorbed by the two soils, and their adsorption and desorption abilities may be related to the contents of soil clay and organic matter.

This study used carbon (C) isotope sourcing to determine transport processes of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from the land surface to river catchments in Southwest China. Both nested karst watersheds investigated (Chenqi and Houzhai) are representative of typical karst landform environments (e.g., primary

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