Overview

• The European Nitrogen Assessment

• The importance of N
• The nitrogen cycle
• Human fixation of N
• Consequences of human N fixation
Denitrification
Eutrophication- marine
Eutrophication- terrestrial
Human health costs
http://www.nine-esf.org/ENA-Book
Cost of N enrichment
£280 billion

Cost per capita cost of N

Enrichment: £120-600 yr

1-4 % of av. Income

Shortens life span by

6 months
 Why is nitrogen important?
• N is the largest component of the atmosphere (78 %)

• Building block of amino acids and nucleic acids;

Organisms typically contain 3-4 % N

• An 80 Kg human contains 2.4 Kg of N

(5 % of dry weight)

• N is the most important plant growth limiting nutrient:

availability limits ecosystem productivity
Plant growth in most biomes is N limited

LeBauer and Treseder 2008 Ecology 89, 371-379

Plant growth in most biomes is N limited
The nitrogen cycle
 European nitrogen fluxes

Sutton and van Grinsven (2011) European nitrogen Assessment: Summary for Policy Makers.
Cambridge University Press.
 The nitrogen cycle
• N2 in the atmosphere is unavailable to organisms unless
it becomes fixed to biologically available forms (nitrate,
ammonium and amino acids)

• N is fixed by 2 natural processes:

Lightning
Fixes <10 Tg N yr
Biological N fixation
In marine systems ranges from <30 to >300 Tg yr
In terrestrial systems 90 to 140 Tg yr

Vitousek et al., (1997) Ecological Applications 7, 737-750

N fertiliser N availability
limits crop
growth and
yield
Fertiliser
addition
increases
yield
 Human fixation of N
• Haber-Bosch process (1909) N2 from air
fixed to NH3 using iron catalyst
• NH3 oxidised to NO3 for use as fertiliser

• Current industrial fixation of N as fertiliser

is 80 Tg yr; may reach 135 Tg yr by 2030
• 1-2 % of the worlds total energy
consumption is spent making N fertiliser
Global N fertiliser use
Human population and N use
 Biological N fixation
• Legumes are important agricultural crops
• Traditionally used in rotations to improve fertility
• Agricultural Legumes fix 33-53 Tg of N per year
• Amounts of N fixed by legumes usually ranges from
65 to 335 Kg N ha year
• Free living N fixers in soil fix <3 Kg N ha year
 Root nodule symbiosis
• Leguminous plants; peas, beans, clover
• Diverse bacteria, Rhizobium spp. most common
• Bacteria proliferate in root
 Biological N fixation
Symbiotic N fixers
• Cyanobacteria in coral
• Leaf cutter ant gardens:
Klebsiella and Pantoea fix
45-61 % of colony N
• Termite gut bacteria fix 7-22
% of ecosystem N fixed
 Fossil fuel combustion
• Burning of fossil fuels releases>20 Tg yr of
N from long term geological reservoirs into
the atmosphere
• N is released as nitrous oxides (NO, NO2)
Sources of human N enrichment
• Manufacture of N
fertilisers: 57 %
• Cultivation of N
fixing crops: 29 %
• Burning fossil fuels:
14 %
Sources of human N enrichment
• Manufacture of N
fertilisers: 57 %
• Cultivation of N
fixing crops: 29 %
• Burning fossil fuels:
14 %
 Implications of global N
enrichment

• Production of climate change gases

• Eutrophication in aquatic habitats

• Deposition of N in limited ecosystems

• Human health
 Nitrous oxide
• Present as a trace gas in the atmosphere
• Concentrations rose from 270 ppbv in
1750 to >320 ppbv currently
• Long atmospheric life span (120 years)
• 310 more powerful as a greenhouse gas
than CO2 (on a per molecule basis)

http://www.epa.gov/nitrousoxide/scientific.html
 Denitrification
• Microbial reduction process
yielding energy

• Most soil microbes carry denitrifying

genes

• Occurs under anaerobic conditions

e.g. waterlogged soil

• Requires labile C and

temperature above 5oC
Denitrification
Denitrification

(Barton et al., 1999)

 Soils and eutrophication
• NO3 can accumulate in soil when supply exceeds
plant demand
• NO3 shows low sorption to soil particles and is highly
mobile
• Rainfall can move NO3 through soil to groundwater:
leaching
N export to watersheds is the result of
fertiliser, sewage and atmospheric deposition
Eutrophication
 Eutrophication
Marine Freshwater

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7508484.stm
 Marine dead zones
• 405 dead zones identified by 2008; 49 in 1960s
• Baltic sea is the largest: up to 9000 miles2
• Gulf of Mexico dead zone is 8500 miles2

http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/oceancolor/additional/science-focus/
ocean-color/dead_zones.shtml
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=oceanic-dead-
zones-spread
 N enrichment in terrestrial
habitats
• N can be deposited as NH3, NH4+, NO3, HNO3
• NH3 loss to the atmosphere from animal manure and
manure fertilised fields are 19-32 Tg yr
• NH3 is deposited on soil within a few Km of release
Ammonia emissions
Human induced trace gas
emissions
Impact of N enrichment on terrestrial
ecosystems
Effect of N deposition on plant
species richness
 Ecosystem response to N
enrichment
N enrichment of heathland

Increases shoot: root ratio

Increases sensitivity to
drought, frost, heather beetle

Results in gaps Allows invasion by grasses

 Decline of the Red Backed
Shrike

N deposition has reduced dune heterogeneity

Prey species have declined
 Nitrogen driven ecological
change

% of species number or similarity

to a non-impacted ecosystem
 Nitrogen driven ecological
change

% of species number or similarity

to a non-impacted ecosystem
 Human health costs
associated with N enrichment
Cost-benefit analysis of nitrogen use
Costs associated with
nitrogen enrichment
Total costs from nitrogen
pollution
Cost of N enrichment
£280 billion

Cost per capita cost of N

Enrichment: £120-600 yr

1-4 % of av. Income

Shortens life span by

6 months
Nitrate vulnerable zones

55 % of England