Nitrogen deposition and plant biodiversity: past, present and future

TY - JOUR

T1 - Nitrogen deposition and plant biodiversity

T2 - past, present and future

AU - Payne, Richard John

AU - Dise, Nancy B.

AU - Field, Christopher D

AU - Dore, Anthony

AU - Caporn, Simon JM

AU - Stevens, Carly J.

N1 - © The Ecological Society of America. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details

PY - 2017/10/2

Y1 - 2017/10/2

N2 - Reactive nitrogen (N) deposition from intensive agricultural and industrial activity has been identified as the third greatest threat to global terrestrial biodiversity, after land-use and climate change. While the impacts of N deposition are widely acknowledged, their magnitude is poorly quantified. We combine N deposition models, empirical response functions, and vegetation mapping to simulate the effects of N deposition on plant species richness from 1900 to 2030, using the island of Great Britain as a case study. We find that current species richness values – when averaged across five widespread habitat types – are approximately one-third less than without N deposition. Our results suggest that currently expected reductions in emissions will achieve no more than modest increases in species richness by 2030, and that emissions cuts based on habitat-specific “critical loads” may be an inefficient approach to managing N deposition for the protection of plant biodiversity. The effects of N deposition on biodiversity are severe and are unlikely to be quickly reversed.

AB - Reactive nitrogen (N) deposition from intensive agricultural and industrial activity has been identified as the third greatest threat to global terrestrial biodiversity, after land-use and climate change. While the impacts of N deposition are widely acknowledged, their magnitude is poorly quantified. We combine N deposition models, empirical response functions, and vegetation mapping to simulate the effects of N deposition on plant species richness from 1900 to 2030, using the island of Great Britain as a case study. We find that current species richness values – when averaged across five widespread habitat types – are approximately one-third less than without N deposition. Our results suggest that currently expected reductions in emissions will achieve no more than modest increases in species richness by 2030, and that emissions cuts based on habitat-specific “critical loads” may be an inefficient approach to managing N deposition for the protection of plant biodiversity. The effects of N deposition on biodiversity are severe and are unlikely to be quickly reversed.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85028750192&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/fee.1528

DO - 10.1002/fee.1528

M3 - Article

SN - 1540-9295

VL - 15

SP - 431

EP - 436

JO - Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

JF - Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

IS - 8

ER -