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Abstract
Important forest ecosystem services are the provision of a habitat for
a diversity of plants and wildlife (habitat service), pollutant filtering relevant
for an adequate water quality (regulating service) and wood production with the
related carbon (C) storage (provisioning/regulating service). Nitrogen (N) deposition
affects these ecosystem services as it has an impact on: (i) the habitat for
wild plants, reducing plant species diversity, (ii) water/soil quality by its impact on
acidity (pH) and on the soil accumulation and leaching of N as nitrate, aluminium
(Al) and metals to ground water and surface water and (iii) net primary production
and C sequestration. In this chapter, we describe the application of the Very
Simple Dynamic (VSD) model, extended with relationships between nitrogen (N)
deposition and greenhouse gas emissions, on a European-wide scale to quantify the
impact of N deposition on these forest ecosystem services. This includes: (i) potential
impacts of N deposition on plant species diversity in terms of excess N deposition
compared to critical loads for N, (ii) excess nitrate (NO3) and Al concentrations
in leachate to groundwater and surface water compared to critical limits, (iii) soil
acidification, in terms of the depletion of the pools of base cations (BC) and Al, and
(iv) C sequestration and related emissions of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide
(CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). Results show that the N deposition
reduction measures that have been taken since 1980 have led to a reduction between
10 and 15 % in the areas exceeding critical N loads and critical limits for NO3 and Al
in groundwater or surface water, but the estimated CO2 uptake is nearly 20 % lower
under a reduced N deposition scenario as compared to a constant 1980 N deposition
scenario. The N induced N2O emissions however counteract the N induced C
sequestration.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Nitrogen Deposition, Critical Loads and Biodiversity |
Editors | M.A. Sutton, K.E. Mason, L.J. Sheppard, H. Sverdrup, R. Haeuber, W.K. Hicks |
Place of Publication | Dordrecht |
Publisher | Springer |
Pages | 411-424 |
Number of pages | 535 |
ISBN (Print) | 9789400779389 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- Acidification
- Carbon sequestration
- Critical limits
- Critical loads
- Ecosystem services
- Greenhouse gas emissions
- Nitrogen
- Plant species diversity
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Dive into the research topics of 'Quantification of Impacts of Nitrogen Deposition on Forest Ecosystem Services in Europe'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Effecten van luchtverontreiniging in interactie met klimaatverandering op ecosysteemdiensten (ECLAIRE) (KB-14-001-036, KB-14-003-011)
de Vries, W. (Project Leader)
1/01/11 → 31/12/15
Project: LVVN project