Crop and Soil Science Section, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
Department of Natural Resources &Earth Systems Science and The Sustainability Institute, University of New Hampshire, 107 Nesmith Hall, 131 Main Street, Durham, NH, 03824, USA.
Sci Rep. 2016 Dec 23;6:39644. doi: 10.1038/srep39644.
Anthropogenic release of reactive nitrogen (Nr; all species of N except N) to the global nitrogen (N) cycle is substantial and it negatively affects human and ecosystem health. A novel metric, the N footprint, provides a consumer-based perspective for Nr use efficiency and connects lifestyle choices with Nr losses. Here we report the first full-scale assessment of the anthropogenic Nr loss by Australians. Despite its 'clean and green' image, Australia has the largest N footprint (47 kg N cap yr) both in food and energy sectors among all countries that have used the N-Calculator model. About 69% of the Australia's N footprint is attributed to food consumption and the associated food production, with the rest from energy consumption. Beef consumption and production is the major contributor of the high food N footprint, while the heavy dependence on coal for electricity explains the large energy N footprint. Our study demonstrates opportunities for managing Nr loss and lifestyle choices to reduce the N footprint.
人为向全球氮循环中释放活性氮（Nr；除氮以外的所有氮物种）的现象非常普遍，这对人类和生态系统健康造成了负面影响。一种新的度量标准——氮足迹，提供了一个基于消费者的视角来衡量Nr 的利用效率，并将生活方式的选择与 Nr 的流失联系起来。在这里，我们首次对澳大利亚人为Nr 流失进行了全面评估。尽管澳大利亚的形象是“清洁和绿色”，但在使用 N-Calculator 模型的所有国家中，澳大利亚在食品和能源部门的氮足迹（47 公斤 N 帽 yr）最大。澳大利亚氮足迹的约 69%归因于食品消费和相关的食品生产，其余部分来自能源消费。牛肉消费和生产是高食品氮足迹的主要贡献者，而电力对煤炭的严重依赖解释了能源氮足迹大的原因。我们的研究表明，有机会通过管理 Nr 流失和生活方式的选择来减少氮足迹。
