Quantitative study on nitrogen deposition and canopy retention in Mediterranean evergreen forests
Àvila i Castells, Anna (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Aguillaume Rodríguez-O'connor, Laura (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Izquieta-Rojano, Sheila (Universidad de Navarra. Laboratorio Integrado de Calidad Ambiental)
García-Gómez, Héctor (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (Espanya))
Elustondo, David (Universidad de Navarra. Laboratorio Integrado de Calidad Ambiental)
Santamaría, Jesús Miguel (Universidad de Navarra. Laboratorio Integrado de Calidad Ambiental)
Alonso, Rocío (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (Espanya))

Data:	2017
Resum:	To assess the impact of nitrogen (N) pollutants on forest ecosystems, the role of the interactions in the canopy needs to be understood. A great number of studies have addressed this issue in heavily N-polluted regions in north and central Europe. Much less information is available for the Iberian Peninsula, and yet this region is home to mountain forests and alpine grasslands that may be at risk due to excessive N deposition. To establish the basis for ecology-based policies, there is a need to better understand the forest response to this atmospheric impact. To fill this gap, in this study, we measured N deposition (as bulk, wet, and throughfall fluxes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen) and air N gas concentrations from 2011 to 2013 at four Spanish holm oak (Quercus ilex) forests located in different pollution environments. One site was in an area of intensive agriculture, two sites were influenced by big cities (Madrid and Barcelona, respectively), and one site was in a rural mountain environment 40 km north of Barcelona. Wet deposition ranged between 0. 54 and 3. 8 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ for ammonium (NH₄⁺)-N and between 0. 65 and 2. 1 kg N h⁻¹ year⁻¹ for nitrate (NO₃⁻)-N, with the lowest deposition at the Madrid site for both components. Dry deposition was evaluated with three different approaches: (1) a canopy budget model based in throughfall measurements, (2) a branch washing method, and (3) inferential calculations. Taking the average dry deposition from these methods, dry deposition represented 51-67% (reduced N) and 72-75% (oxidized N) of total N deposition. Canopies retained both NH₄⁺-N and NO₃⁻N, with a higher retention at the agricultural and rural sites (50-60%) than at sites located close to big cities (20-35%, though more uncertainty was found for the site near Madrid), thereby highlighting the role of the forest canopy in processing N pollutant emissions.
Ajuts:	European Commission 282910 European Commission LIFE13/000417 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CGL2009-13188-C03-01 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CGL2009-13188-C03-02
Nota:	Altres ajuts: This research was also funded by the project from Autonomous Government of Madrid AGRISOST-CM (P2013/ABI-2717). CIEMAT work in this study was partially supported by an agreement between the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment and CIEMAT on Critical loads and levels. The utilization of Tres Cantos monitoring site was possible thanks to an agreement between CIEMAT and Ayuntamiento de Madrid.
Drets:	Tots els drets reservats.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Matèria:	Canopy uptake ; Critical loads ; Mediterranean ; Nitrogen ; Throughfall ; Wet deposition
Publicat a:	Environmental science and pollution research, Vol. 24, issue 34 (Dec. 2017) ,p. 26213-26226, ISSN 0944-1344

DOI: 10.1007/s11356-017-8861-4

Postprint 38 p, 802.7 KB

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