Department of Life Sciences, The Open University, l, Milton Keynes, UK.
Environ Manage. 2011 Nov;48(5):885-94. doi: 10.1007/s00267-011-9745-x. Epub 2011 Sep 8.
There is a growing evidence base demonstrating that atmospheric nitrogen deposition presents a threat to biodiversity and ecosystem function in acid grasslands in Western Europe. Here, we report the findings of a workshop held for European policy makers to assess the perceived importance of reactive nitrogen deposition for grassland conservation, identify areas for policy development in Europe and assess the potential for managing and mitigating the impacts of nitrogen deposition. The importance of nitrogen as a pollutant is already recognized in European legislation, but there is little emphasis in policy on the evaluation of changes in biodiversity due to nitrogen. We assess the potential value of using typical species, as defined in the European Union Habitats Directive, for determining the impact of nitrogen deposition on acid grasslands. Although some species could potentially be used as indicators of nitrogen deposition, many of the typical species do not respond strongly to nitrogen deposition and are unlikely to be useful for identifying impact on an individual site. We also discuss potential mitigation measures and novel ways in which emissions from agriculture could be reduced.
越来越多的证据表明，大气氮沉降对西欧酸性草原的生物多样性和生态系统功能构成了威胁。在这里，我们报告了为欧洲政策制定者举办的一次研讨会的结果，该研讨会旨在评估活性氮沉降对草原保护的感知重要性，确定欧洲政策制定领域，并评估管理和减轻氮沉降影响的潜力。氮作为一种污染物的重要性在欧洲法规中已经得到承认，但政策很少强调由于氮而导致的生物多样性变化的评估。我们评估了使用典型物种（如欧盟生境指令中所定义的）来确定氮沉降对酸性草原的影响的潜在价值。尽管某些物种可能可以用作氮沉降的指示物，但许多典型物种对氮沉降的反应并不强烈，因此不太可能用于确定对单个地点的影响。我们还讨论了潜在的缓解措施和减少农业排放的新方法。
