Evidence for differential effects of reduced and oxidised nitrogen deposition on vegetation independent of nitrogen load

Berg, Leon J.L. van den; Jones, Laurence; Sheppard, Lucy J.; Smart, Simon M.; Bobbink, Roland; Dise, Nancy B.; Ashmore, Mike

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2015.09.017

Cited by 52 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Nitrogen deposition is also known to have a variable effect on different species depending on their sensitivity to the oxidised or reduced forms of N (Stevens et al, ; van den Berg et al, ). In a study assessing the effect of ambient O 3 on the assimilation of both reduced and oxidised forms of N in immature wheat plants, O 3 increased the incorporation of reduced N, in the form of ammonium, while having no effect on the incorporation of oxidised N, in the form of nitrate (Möcker et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wheat's wild relatives vary in their response to nitrogen and ozone

Brewster

McAinsh

2018

Annals of Applied Biology

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The wild relatives of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) are valued by plant breeders for their genetic diversity. However, increasing levels of nitrogen (N) deposition and ground-level ozone (O 3 ) threaten plant biodiversity in the Mediterranean and Near-East, a hotspot for many crop wild relatives. Knowledge of the effect of these air pollutants in combination is still limited, but early indications are that effects vary depending on the level of pollutants, and on the sensitivity of the species to N and O 3 . This study examined the responses of four important wheat wild relatives (Aegilops tauschii, Aegilops speltoides, Triticum dicoccoides and Triticum monococcum) and one modern wheat cultivar (T. aestivum 'Cadenza') to treatments of N (equivalent to 50 kg ha −1 year −1 ammonium nitrate) and O 3 (100 ppb for 21 days), alone and in combination. Measurements included root, shoot and seed biomass, and electrolyte ratios. The O 3 sensitivity of A. tauschii and T. aestivum 'Cadenza' were exacerbated by the addition of N, while A. speltoides was found to be nitrophilous, with N ameliorating the negative effect of O 3. Both T. aestivum 'Cadenza' and T. dicoccoides produced immature seed heads, with the cultivar's seed head biomass reduced in response to O 3 and N + O 3 while that of T. dicoccoides was largely unaffected. These data suggest that all four wild relatives are likely to be affected when N and O 3 air pollutants co-occur, and there in situ populations may therefore be at risk. Equally, the results of this study can inform use of their beneficial traits by wheat breeders, and alert them to the inadvertent inclusion of N and O 3 sensitivity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wheat's wild relatives vary in their response to nitrogen and ozone

Brewster

McAinsh

2018

Annals of Applied Biology

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“…This entailed separate calculation of the ecological impacts of ammonia and of nitrogen dioxide. There is currently no consensus on whether oxidised or reduced N is more damaging to plant species richness, and robust dose-response relationships do not exist separately for reduced forms of N and for oxidised forms of N (van den Berg et al, 2016). Therefore, for this study it was assumed that they have equal impact per unit of N deposited.…”

Section: Calculating Damage Costsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This can be a challenge because the evidence for nitrogen impacts on organisms covers a relatively small number of species (Dise et al, 2011), and relatively few of those studies provide the dose response functions required to model impacts across a range of nitrogen deposition. The most promising are studies that have evaluated statistical relationships between nitrogen and diversity but which also account for the effects of confounding factors like climate and other pollutants (Field et al, 2014;van den Berg et al, 2016). Policy makers are increasingly required to utilise economic tools to evaluate the positive and negative impacts of policy measures (HM Treasury, 2003) in order to justify and to better target those policies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Valuing Improvements in Biodiversity Due to Controls on Atmospheric Nitrogen Pollution

Jones

Milne

Hall

et al. 2018

Ecological Economics

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Atmospheric nitrogen pollution has severe impacts on biodiversity, but approaches to value them are limited. This paper develops a spatially explicit methodology to value the benefits from improvements in biodiversity resulting from current policy initiatives to reduce nitrogen emissions. Using the UK as a case study, we quantify nitrogen impacts on plant diversity in four habitats: heathland, acid grassland, dunes and bogs, at fine spatial resolution. Focusing on non-use values for biodiversity we apply value-transfer based on household's willingness to pay to avoid changes in plant species richness, and calculate the benefit of projected emission declines of 37% for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and 6% for ammonia (NH3) over the scenario period 2007-2020. The annualised benefit resulting from these pollutant declines is £32.7m (£4.4m to £109.7m, 95% Confidence Interval), with the greatest benefit accruing from heathland and acid grassland due to their large area. We also calculate damage costs per unit of NO2 and NH3 emitted, to quantify some of the environmental impacts of air pollution for comparison with damage costs for human health in policy appraisal. The benefit is £103 (£33 to £237) per tonne of NO2 saved, and £414 (£139 to £1,022) per tonne of NH3 saved.

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“…, Van den Berg et al. ). It is likely that N deposition also affects competition among tree species, potentially altering forest composition; though, field evidence is scarce.…”

Section: Mechanism Of Effect From Atmospheric Deposition On Treesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An associated research gap is the differential effects of reduced vs. oxidized forms of N on plants generally (Van den Berg et al. ); though, it is likely that these responses depend on soil pH and nitrification rates (Stevens et al. ).…”

Section: Mechanism Of Effect From Atmospheric Deposition On Treesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms of nitrogen deposition effects on temperate forest lichens and trees

et al. 2017

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Abstract. We review the mechanisms of deleterious nitrogen (N) deposition impacts on temperate forests, with a particular focus on trees and lichens. Elevated anthropogenic N deposition to forests has varied effects on individual organisms depending on characteristics both of the N inputs (form, timing, amount) and of the organisms (ecology, physiology) involved. Improved mechanistic knowledge of these effects can aid in developing robust predictions of how organisms respond to either increases or decreases in N deposition. Rising N levels affect forests in micro-and macroscopic ways from physiological responses at the cellular, tissue, and organism levels to influencing individual species and entire communities and ecosystems. A synthesis of these processes forms the basis for the overarching themes of this paper, which focuses on N effects at different levels of biological organization in temperate forests. For lichens, the mechanisms of direct effects of N are relatively well known at cellular, organismal, and community levels, though interactions of N with other stressors merit further research. For trees, effects of N deposition are better understood for N as an acidifying agent than as a nutrient; in both cases, the impacts can reflect direct effects on short time scales and indirect effects mediated through long-term soil and belowground changes. There are many gaps on fundamental N use and cycling in ecosystems, and we highlight the most critical gaps for understanding potential deleterious effects of N deposition. For lichens, these gaps include both how N affects specific metabolic pathways and how N is metabolized. For trees, these gaps include understanding the direct effects of N deposition onto forest canopies, the sensitivity of different tree species and mycorrhizal symbionts to N, the influence of soil properties, and the reversibility of N and acidification effects on plants and soils. Continued study of how these N response mechanisms interact with one another, and with other dimensions of global change, remains essential for predicting ongoing changes in lichen and tree populations across North American temperate forests.

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Evidence for differential effects of reduced and oxidised nitrogen deposition on vegetation independent of nitrogen load

Cited by 52 publications

References 47 publications

Wheat's wild relatives vary in their response to nitrogen and ozone

Wheat's wild relatives vary in their response to nitrogen and ozone

Valuing Improvements in Biodiversity Due to Controls on Atmospheric Nitrogen Pollution

Mechanisms of nitrogen deposition effects on temperate forest lichens and trees

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