Nitrogen Deposition

Facts
CBD Focal Area: Threats to biodiversity
CBD Headline Indicator: Nitrogen deposition
Key Indicator Partner: International Nitrogen Initiative
Data Available: Global and regional time series, 1860 onwards
Development Status: Ready for global and regional use

Reason
Over the last century human activities led to a dramatic increase in the emission of reactive nitrogen to the environment. In
particular, different technological developments have increased the introduction of reactive nitrogen to the environment due to
its use in crop and animal production, industrial processes, and the emission of reactive nitrogen to the atmosphere during fossil
fuel production. Although these increases provided a higher standard of living, they have also caused considerable environmental
and human health impacts. Effects of nitrogen emissions to the environment are numerous and evidence is available that the
different human activities disturb the natural nitrogen cycle in a serious way. Eventually, most of the emitted reactive nitrogen to the
atmosphere will be deposited to the Earth’s surface, close to the sources and in remote areas, located far from human activities,
and often is the dominant source of reactive nitrogen in nitrogen limited systems. Once introduced in these systems, this nitrogen
can then be the cause of different impacts, of which the impact on biodiversity is becoming a major concern. The role of nitrogen
in biodiversity changes has been studied extensively in Europe and USA, with most research focusing on changes in plant species
composition and diversity. At the global scale, it is becoming increasingly clear that nitrogen deposition plays an important role in
decreasing biodiversity of most ecosystems (e.g. terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems) alongside other major factors such
as land-use change, climate change and alien invasive species across all biomes and regions of the world.

Status
Ideally the Nitrogen Deposition Indicator (NDI) would be based on measured data of both wet and dry deposition of reactive
nitrogen across the world. However, lack of available measurement data calls for a different approach. Based on emission
information of the major nitrogen species, the nitrogen deposition is calculated using a modelling approach. Such an atmospheric
model is able to calculate the physical transport, chemical transformations and the ultimate deposition of nitrogen to the world’s
ecosystems. The NDI reflects both natural and anthropogenic nitrogen emissions and changes observed since 1860 are generally
the influence of anthropogenic actions. Not only the temporal changes since 1860 can be determined by means of this calculation
approach, but also the spatial distribution over the different regions of the world.
Another advantage of a calculation approach is the possibility of looking into the future, which however depends on the availability
of adequate emission data. By doing so, possible future threats to the worlds ecosystems can be explored and abatement
measures be evaluated.

Indicator Factsheet 3.1.1 www.twentyten.net

 The Indicator
Spatial patterns of total
inorganic nitrogen deposition
in (a) 1860 and (b) early 1990s
Source: Lelieveld and Dentener
2000; Galloway et al. 2004

How to interpret the indicator:

The larger the nitrogen deposition, the greater the influence that human actions have had on nitrogen inputs to ecosystems, and
the greater the chance that there are decreases in biodiversity of the receiving ecosystems. Landscapes receiving more than 10
kg N/ha/yr are especially vulnerable to negative impacts

Current Storyline
‘On a global basis, nitrogen deposition from the atmosphere has increased by a factor of 4 between 1860 and 2000. Many regions
have experienced increases in nitrogen deposition by a factor of 8 or more. Every continent of the world, except Antarctica, has
experienced biodiversity losses due to these increases. In the future, large regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America are expected to
see continued increases in nitrogen deposition’

National Use
The NDI can be used on a global, regional, and national basis for a general understanding of nitrogen deposition patterns. For
national use, model outputs more specifically focused on individual countries should be used as a supplementary tool for more
definitive information. It is recommended that any modeling approach used should evaluate the separate nitrogen sources
(provided the necessary emission data are available) like e.g. agriculture, industry, traffic, etc. In this way, intervention points can
be assessed on higher spatial scales than would be possible with the global data, enabling an adequate evaluation of possible
abatement measures.
For more information on producing national indicators of nitrogen deposition contact James Galloway, Albert Bleeker
or Frank Dentener, associated with the International Nitrogen Initiative (jng@eservices.virginia.edu/a.bleeker@ecn.nl/
frank.dentener@jrc.ec.europa.eu).

Photo credits:
Big red tractor ©Andrew Stawarz; Boat stuck in green algae ©Auntjojo; Menhaden fish kill ©Eutrophicationhypoxia;
Terraced paddy ©Ippei Naoi; Culerpa invading coral, Florida ©William Djubin Marine Photo Bank.

For the latest information on this indicator, including publications, future development and
useful links visit the 2010 BIP website: www.twentyten.net/nitrogendeposition