The embarrassment of riches: atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and community and ecosystem processes.

Anthropogenic sources of nitrogen have exceeded, and will continue to exceed, annual inputs of nitrogen produced by natural processes. Nitrogen enrichment may in plant tissue chemistry and microbial decomposition processes, as well as affecting rates of herbivory, all of which may be expected to result in changes in plant species assemblages Individual concepts, such as nitrogen saturation and critical load, used to describe the effects of enrichment on soil, community, ecosystm processes and species assemblages, cannot accomodate easily the range of interactions and different environmental processes. A number of approaches need to be used in tandem. Major gaps in knowledge are rates of transfer of anthropogenic nitrogen within and between different ecosystem and how these rates affect population dynamic of individual species and trophic relationships. Without this information, predictions of biological effects of enrichment are difficult to make.

[1]  M. Rosenzweig.  Paradox of Enrichment: Destabilization of Exploitation Ecosystems in Ecological Time , 1971, Science.

[2]  J. Schnoor,et al.  Nitrogen fixation: Anthropogenic enhancement‐environmental response , 1995 .

[3]  D. Thompson,et al.  Regional and historical variation in the nitrogen content of Racomitrium lanuginosum in Britain in relation to atmospheric nitrogen deposition. , 1994, Environmental pollution.

[4]  P. Vitousek.  Beyond Global Warming: Ecology and Global Change , 1994 .

[5]  D. Thompson,et al.  Heathland Eutrophication Effects Considered-From Beetles and Biomass to Competition and Conservation@@@Heathlands: Patterns and Processes in a Changing Environment. , 1994 .

[6]  Thomas H. Painter,et al.  Climatic, edaphic, and biotic controls over storage and turnover of carbon in soils , 1994 .

[7]  John A. Lee,et al.  An experimental investigation into the effects of atmospheric nitrogen deposition on two semi-natural grasslands , 1994 .

[8]  W. Ivens,et al.  The contribution of ammonia emissions from agriculture to the deposition of acidifying and eutrophying compounds onto forests. , 1989, Environmental pollution.

[9]  E. J. Wilson,et al.  Are calcareous grasslands in the UK under threat from nitrogen deposition? - an experimental determination of a critical load , 1995 .

[10]  D. Wedin.  Species, Nitrogen, and Grassland Dynamics: The Constraints of Stuff , 1995 .

[11]  J. Morris,et al.  Effects of Nitrogen Loading on Wetland Ecosystems with Particular Reference to Atmospheric Deposition , 1991 .

[12]  R. Bobbink,et al.  Effects of nitrogen fertilization on vegetation structure and dominance of Brachypodium Pinnatum (L. ) Beauv. in chalk grassland , 1988 .

[13]  R. Bobbink.  Effects of nutrient enrichment in dutch chalk grassland , 1991 .

[14]  J. Lawton,et al.  Linking Species and Ecosystems , 1996 .

[15]  John Pastor,et al.  Factors Controlling Nitrogen Cycling and Nitrogen Saturation in Northern Temperate Forest Ecosystems. , 1991, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[16]  D. Schindler,et al.  The biosphere as an increasing sink for atmospheric carbon: Estimates from increased nitrogen depostion , 1993 .

[17]  Prof. Dr. Carl Olof Tamm.  Nitrogen in Terrestrial Ecosystems , 1991, Ecological Studies.

[18]  E. J. Wilson,et al.  Excess nitrogen deposition: issues for consideration. , 1988, Environmental pollution.

[19]  G. Tyler.  Probable Effects of Soil Acidification and Nitrogen Deposition on the Floristic Composition of Oak (Quercus robur L.) Forest , 1987 .

[20]  Knute J. Nadelhoffer,et al.  13 – Microbial Processes and Plant Nutrient Availability in Arctic Soils , 1992 .

[21]  J. P. Grime,et al.  An Experimental Study of Plant Community Invasibility , 1996 .

[22]  J. Berdowski.  The effect of external stress and disturbance factors on Calluna-dominated heathland vegetation , 1993 .

[23]  M. Press,et al.  THE POTENTIAL IMPORTANCE OF AN INCREASED ATMOSPHERIC NITROGEN SUPPLY TO THE GROWTH OF OMBROTROPHIC SPHAGNUM SPECIES , 1986 .

[24]  E. J. Wilson,et al.  The effects of excess nitrogen deposition on young Norway spruce trees. Part II the vegetation. , 1994, Environmental pollution.

[25]  A. Johnston.  The Rothamsted Classical Experiments , 1994 .

[26]  R. Leigh,et al.  Long-term Experiments in Agricultural and Ecological Sciences , 1994 .

[27]  Harry Eriksson,et al.  Changes in soil, vegetation and forest yield between 1947 and 1988 in beech and oak sites of southern Sweden , 1990 .

[28]  E. J. Wilson,et al.  The effects of excess nitrogen deposition on young Norway spruce trees. Part I the soil. , 1994, Environmental pollution.

[29]  J. Aber,et al.  Nitrogen saturation in northern forest ecosystems , 1989 .