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de Vries W, Schulte-Uebbing L, Kros H, Voogd JC, Louwagie G. Spatially explicit boundaries for agricultural nitrogen inputs in the European Union to meet air and water quality targets. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 786:147283. [PMID: 33958210 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2020] [Revised: 04/17/2021] [Accepted: 04/17/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Agricultural production in the EU has increased strongly since the 1940s, partly driven by increased nitrogen (N) fertiliser and manure inputs. Increased N inputs and associated losses, however, adversely affect air and water quality, with widespread impacts on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and human health. Managing these impacts requires knowledge on 'safe boundaries' for N inputs, i.e., N flows that do not exceed environmental thresholds. We used a spatially explicit N balance model for the EU to derive boundaries for N losses and associated N inputs for three environmental thresholds: (i) N deposition onto natural areas to protect terrestrial biodiversity (critical N loads), (ii) N concentration in runoff to surface water (2.5 mg N l-1) to protect aquatic ecosystems and (iii) nitrate (NO3-) concentration in leachate to groundwater (50 mg NO l-1) to meet the EU drinking water standard. Critical N losses and inputs were calculated for ~40,000 unique soil-slope-climate combinations and then aggregated at country- and EU-level. To respect thresholds for N deposition, N inputs in the EU need to be reduced by 31% on average, ranging from 0% in several countries to 59% in Ireland and Denmark. The strongest reductions are required in intensive livestock regions, such as Benelux, Brittany and the Po valley. To respect thresholds for N concentration in runoff to surface water, N inputs need to be reduced by 43% on average, ranging from 2% in Estonia to 74% in the Netherlands. Average critical N inputs in view of the threshold for NO3- concentration in leachate to groundwater are close to actual (year 2010) inputs, even though leaching thresholds are exceeded in 18% of agricultural land. Critical N inputs and their exceedances presented in this paper can inform more targeted mitigation policies than flat-rate targets for N loss reductions currently mentioned in EU policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wim de Vries
- Wageningen University and Research, Environmental Research, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands; Wageningen University and Research, Environmental Systems Analysis Group, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands.
| | - Lena Schulte-Uebbing
- Wageningen University and Research, Environmental Systems Analysis Group, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Hans Kros
- Wageningen University and Research, Environmental Research, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Jan Cees Voogd
- Wageningen University and Research, Environmental Research, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Geertrui Louwagie
- (formerly) European Environment Agency, Kongens Nytorv 6, 1050 Copenhagen, Denmark
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Smith P, House JI, Bustamante M, Sobocká J, Harper R, Pan G, West PC, Clark JM, Adhya T, Rumpel C, Paustian K, Kuikman P, Cotrufo MF, Elliott JA, McDowell R, Griffiths RI, Asakawa S, Bondeau A, Jain AK, Meersmans J, Pugh TAM. Global change pressures on soils from land use and management. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2016; 22:1008-28. [PMID: 26301476 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 191] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2015] [Accepted: 08/17/2015] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Soils are subject to varying degrees of direct or indirect human disturbance, constituting a major global change driver. Factoring out natural from direct and indirect human influence is not always straightforward, but some human activities have clear impacts. These include land-use change, land management and land degradation (erosion, compaction, sealing and salinization). The intensity of land use also exerts a great impact on soils, and soils are also subject to indirect impacts arising from human activity, such as acid deposition (sulphur and nitrogen) and heavy metal pollution. In this critical review, we report the state-of-the-art understanding of these global change pressures on soils, identify knowledge gaps and research challenges and highlight actions and policies to minimize adverse environmental impacts arising from these global change drivers. Soils are central to considerations of what constitutes sustainable intensification. Therefore, ensuring that vulnerable and high environmental value soils are considered when protecting important habitats and ecosystems, will help to reduce the pressure on land from global change drivers. To ensure that soils are protected as part of wider environmental efforts, a global soil resilience programme should be considered, to monitor, recover or sustain soil fertility and function, and to enhance the ecosystem services provided by soils. Soils cannot, and should not, be considered in isolation of the ecosystems that they underpin and vice versa. The role of soils in supporting ecosystems and natural capital needs greater recognition. The lasting legacy of the International Year of Soils in 2015 should be to put soils at the centre of policy supporting environmental protection and sustainable development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pete Smith
- Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Scottish Food Security Alliance-Crops & ClimateXChange, University of Aberdeen, 23 St Machar Drive, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK
| | - Joanna I House
- Cabot Institute, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol, BS8 1SS, UK
| | - Mercedes Bustamante
- Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade de Brasília, I.B. C.P. 04457, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro - UnB. D.F., CEP: 70919-970, Brasília, Brazil
| | - Jaroslava Sobocká
- National Agriculture and Food Centre Lužianky, Soil Science and Conservation Research Institute Bratislava, Gagarinova 10, 827 13, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Richard Harper
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, South Street, Murdoch, WA, 6150, Australia
| | - Genxing Pan
- Institute of Resources, Environment and Ecosystem of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Paul C West
- Global Landscapes Initiative, Institute on the Environment (IonE), University of Minnesota, 325 Learning & Environmental Sciences, 1954 Buford Ave, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Joanna M Clark
- Soil Research Centre, Department of Geography and Environmental Science, School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science, The University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 227, Reading, RG6 6AB, UK
| | - Tapan Adhya
- School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 751024, India
| | - Cornelia Rumpel
- CNRS, IEES (UMR 7618 UPMC-CNRS-UPEC-IRD) CentreAgroParisTech-INRA, Bâtiment EGER, Thiverval-Grignon, France and INRA, UMR 1402 INRA-AgroParisTech ECOSYS, F-78850, Thiverval-Grignon, France
| | - Keith Paustian
- Department of Soil and Crop Sciences & Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1499, USA
| | - Peter Kuikman
- Alterra Wageningen UR, PO Box 47, 6700AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - M Francesca Cotrufo
- Department of Soil and Crop Sciences & Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1499, USA
| | - Jane A Elliott
- National Hydrology Research Centre, Environment Canada, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada
| | - Richard McDowell
- Invermay Agricultural Centre, AgResearch, Private Bag, Mosgiel, 50034, New Zealand
| | - Robert I Griffiths
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK
| | - Susumu Asakawa
- Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan
| | - Alberte Bondeau
- Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie marine et continentale, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, Avignon Université, BP 80, Aix-en-Provence, 13545, France
| | - Atul K Jain
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 105 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Jeroen Meersmans
- Department of Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Armory Building, Renes Drive, Exeter, EX4 4RJ, UK
| | - Thomas A M Pugh
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research/Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), Kreuzeckbahnstrasse 19, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 82467, Germany
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De Vries W, Wamelink GWW, Van Dobben H, Kros J, Reinds GJ, Mol-Dijkstra JP, Smart SM, Evans CD, Rowe EC, Belyazid S, Sverdrup HU, Van Hinsberg A, Posch M, Hettelingh JP, Spranger T, Bobbink R. Use of dynamic soil-vegetation models to assess impacts of nitrogen deposition on plant species composition: an overview. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2010; 20:60-79. [PMID: 20349830 DOI: 10.1890/08-1019.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Field observations and experimental data of effects of nitrogen (N) deposition on plant species diversity have been used to derive empirical critical N loads for various ecosystems. The great advantage of such an approach is the inclusion of field evidence, but there are also restrictions, such as the absence of explicit criteria regarding significant effects on the vegetation, and the impossibility to predict future impacts when N deposition changes. Model approaches can account for this. In this paper, we review the possibilities of static and dynamic multispecies models in combination with dynamic soil-vegetation models to (1) predict plant species composition as a function of atmospheric N deposition and (2) calculate critical N loads in relation to a prescribed protection level of the species composition. The similarities between the models are presented, but also several important differences, including the use of different indicators for N and acidity and the prediction of individual plant species vs. plant communities. A summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the various models, including their validation status, is given. Furthermore, examples are given of critical load calculations with the model chains and their comparison with empirical critical N loads. We show that linked biogeochemistry-biodiversity models for N have potential for applications to support European policy to reduce N input, but the definition of damage thresholds for terrestrial biodiversity represents a major challenge. There is also a clear need for further testing and validation of the models against long-term monitoring or long-term experimental data sets and against large-scale survey data. This requires a focused data collection in Europe, combing vegetation descriptions with variables affecting the species diversity, such as soil acidity, nutrient status and water availability. Finally, there is a need for adaptation and upscaling of the models beyond the regions for which dose-response relationships have been parameterized, to make them generally applicable.
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Affiliation(s)
- W De Vries
- Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
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Bobbink R, Hicks K, Galloway J, Spranger T, Alkemade R, Ashmore M, Bustamante M, Cinderby S, Davidson E, Dentener F, Emmett B, Erisman JW, Fenn M, Gilliam F, Nordin A, Pardo L, De Vries W. Global assessment of nitrogen deposition effects on terrestrial plant diversity: a synthesis. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2010; 20:30-59. [PMID: 20349829 DOI: 10.1890/08-1140.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 907] [Impact Index Per Article: 64.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is a recognized threat to plant diversity in temperate and northern parts of Europe and North America. This paper assesses evidence from field experiments for N deposition effects and thresholds for terrestrial plant diversity protection across a latitudinal range of main categories of ecosystems, from arctic and boreal systems to tropical forests. Current thinking on the mechanisms of N deposition effects on plant diversity, the global distribution of G200 ecoregions, and current and future (2030) estimates of atmospheric N-deposition rates are then used to identify the risks to plant diversity in all major ecosystem types now and in the future. This synthesis paper clearly shows that N accumulation is the main driver of changes to species composition across the whole range of different ecosystem types by driving the competitive interactions that lead to composition change and/or making conditions unfavorable for some species. Other effects such as direct toxicity of nitrogen gases and aerosols, long-term negative effects of increased ammonium and ammonia availability, soil-mediated effects of acidification, and secondary stress and disturbance are more ecosystem- and site-specific and often play a supporting role. N deposition effects in mediterranean ecosystems have now been identified, leading to a first estimate of an effect threshold. Importantly, ecosystems thought of as not N limited, such as tropical and subtropical systems, may be more vulnerable in the regeneration phase, in situations where heterogeneity in N availability is reduced by atmospheric N deposition, on sandy soils, or in montane areas. Critical loads are effect thresholds for N deposition, and the critical load concept has helped European governments make progress toward reducing N loads on sensitive ecosystems. More needs to be done in Europe and North America, especially for the more sensitive ecosystem types, including several ecosystems of high conservation importance. The results of this assessment show that the vulnerable regions outside Europe and North America which have not received enough attention are ecoregions in eastern and southern Asia (China, India), an important part of the mediterranean ecoregion (California, southern Europe), and in the coming decades several subtropical and tropical parts of Latin America and Africa. Reductions in plant diversity by increased atmospheric N deposition may be more widespread than first thought, and more targeted studies are required in low background areas, especially in the G200 ecoregions.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Bobbink
- B-WARE Research Centre, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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