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Critical Loads for Nitrogen Based on Criteria for Biodiversity Conservation

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Abstract

The increased focus on biodiversity following inter alia the 1993 Convention on Biological Diversity and the EU Nature Directives has led to a demand for the inclusion of biodiversity effects in the development of air pollution policies in Europe. This paper presents a method for the calculation of critical loads for nitrogen with biodiversity protection as endpoint. The method has been used in a national assessment in Denmark based on national monitoring data. The method is based on the use of a coupled soil geochemical and plant occurrence model, VSD+/MOVE, with Mean Species Abundance as indicator and “no net loss” of biodiversity compared to a given reference year as criterion. Calculated critical loads with 2010, 1992, and 1950, respectively, as reference years are on average 9.4, 8.5, and 6.8 kg N ha−1 yr−1, and thereby substantial lower than the median value of the empirical critical load ranges for the same habitat types.

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  1. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsovej 25, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark

    Jesper Leth Bak

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Bak, J.L. Critical Loads for Nitrogen Based on Criteria for Biodiversity Conservation. Water Air Soil Pollut 225, 2180 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-014-2180-x

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