Exploring the Impact of Land Use Scales on Water Quality Based on the Random Forest Model: A Case Study of the Shaying River Basin, China

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

1. The presentation of data in Table 1 is confusing as the information is displayed on different lines. I suggest reorganizing the table to improve clarity and facilitate data interpretation.

2.  

3. It is recommended to provide definitions for specific terms the first time they are mentioned in the manuscript. For instance, it would be beneficial to explain the meaning of PLSR the first time it is referenced in the manuscript. Similarly, the term MSE lacks a definition in the text. It would be helpful to include a description of the term the first time it is used to ensure a complete understanding by readers.

4.  

5. The captions for Figures 2 and 5 are challenging to read due to their small size. It is suggested to increase the size of the captions to enhance readability and facilitate the interpretation of the figures.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

1. The abstract directly starts with the aim of the study; please introduce the research topic (2-3 lines) followed by the aim. 
2. Is Shaying River a basin or a major River basin? Clarification is needed (Line number 11)
3. “DO, NH3-N, TP etc…”. Complete forms can be used first, and short ones can be used afterward.
4. Please clarify whether the correlation between LULC and water quality parameters is more pronounced in dry or flood seasons. (Line number 78-81).
5. Specify the machine learning technique used in this study, whether PLSR, Random Forest, or both.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Line 78-8 Shi, Wang, and others found that the correlation between land use and water quality was more pronounced during the flood season compared to the non-flood season. Similarly, in the Three Gorges Reservoir and Hehuang Valley, the correlation was stronger in the dry season than in the rainy season.

Why Similarly, possibly in contrast

 

125-126. The Shaying River Basin, situated within the Huai River system, is a significant first-order tributary [37]. In European classification, first-order tributary is a river without any tributaries and the Shaying River is four-order tributary (from Fig. 1b). May be useful for readers from Europe.

 

Line 195. Change [51], on [51].

Line 244. WQI abbreviation has been deciphered above.

Line 281-284. The abbreviation of all factors has been deciphered above. Thus TP (17.10%) etc.

Lime 284-286. The percentages of indicator impact have to be present for the non-flood season.

 

Line 366. (https://www.gov.cn/)Error! Reference source not found., What is it?

Line 370-373 and Fig. 6 can be moved into results.

Line 383. by distinct natural factors Change “natural” on environment.

Line 424. “and location” may be “and location at the river flow”

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

1. What is the main question addressed by the research?

1. How do different-scale buffer zone land use patterns impact surface water quality in the Shaying River Basin, a region influenced by locks and dams?

2. What parts do you consider original or relevant for the field? What specific gap in the field does the paper address?

2. The paper addresses the gap of limited research on how land use patterns affect surface water quality in basins with multiple dams and sluices, which are common in China and other parts of the world. The paper also provides a scientific basis for optimizing land use structure and water environment protection in the Shaying River Basin.

3. What does it add to the subject area compared with other published material?

3. This paper employs GIS spatial analysis, Random Forest Model, redundancy analysis, and Partial Least Squares Regression to quantitatively explore how different-scale buffer zone land use patterns impact surface water quality in different seasons.

4. What specific improvements should the authors consider regarding the methodology? What further controls should be considered?

4. The authors should provide more details on how they selected the 21 monitoring stations and how they ensured the representativeness and reliability of the water quality data.

5. Please describe how the conclusions are or are not consistent with the evidence and arguments presented. Please also indicate if all main questions posed were addressed and by which specific experiments.

5. The authors conclude that rational land use planning in the sub-basin is crucial for enhancing the quality of the surface water environment. This conclusion is based on the assumption that land use patterns can be modified to reduce the generation and migration of non-point source pollution. However, the authors do not provide any specific suggestions or strategies for achieving this goal, nor do they consider other factors that may affect water quality, such as climate change, hydrological regulation, and socio-economic development.

6. Are the references appropriate?

6. The references are mostly recent, published between 2017 and 2022, reflecting the current state of knowledge in the field. The references are sufficient in number, with 63 citations in total, indicating a comprehensive literature review.

7. Please include any additional comments on the tables and figures and quality of the data.

 

7. The quality of the tables and pictures is good, maybe the entries in figures 2 and 5 are made in too small a font.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf