Air quality improvement has benefitted large portions of forests in the USA over the past 20 years. However, although terrestrial ecosystems are now better protected, sensitive species still experience harmful impacts, which could lead to biodiversity loss through shifts in forest composition.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Nopmongcol, U., Beardsley, R., Kumar, N., Knipping, E. & Yarwood, G. Changes in United States deposition of nitrogen and sulfur compounds over five decades from 1970 to 2020. Atmos. Environ. 209, 144–151 (2019). This paper reports on the trends of N and S deposition over a 50-year period in the USA.
Li, Y. et al. Increasing importance of deposition of reduced nitrogen in the United States. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 5874–5879 (2016). This paper reports on how reduced forms of N are becoming the dominant inorganic N stressor in the USA.
Nilsson, J. Critical loads for sulfur and nitrogen. In Air Pollution and Ecosystems (ed. Mathy, P.) 85–91 (Springer, 1988); https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4003-1_11. This report is the cornerstone work that originally described critical loads for N and S.
Quinn Thomas, R., Canham, C. D., Weathers, K. C. & Goodale, C. L. Increased tree carbon storage in response to nitrogen deposition in the US. Nat. Geosci. 3, 13–17 (2010). This paper presents an evaluation of how N deposition affects carbon storage of different tree species in the northeastern USA.
Horn, K. J. et al. Growth and survival relationships of 71 tree species with nitrogen and sulfur deposition across the conterminous U.S. PLoS ONE 13, e0205296 (2018). This paper reports the calculated dose–response relationships used here for different tree species across the CONUS in relation to N and S deposition.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This is a summary of: Coughlin, J. G. et al. Sensitive tree species remain at risk despite improved air quality benefits to US forests. Nat. Sustain. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01203-8 (2023).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Current US air pollution levels still harm sensitive tree species. Nat Sustain 6, 1520–1521 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01204-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01204-7
- Springer Nature Limited