Atmospheric nitrogen leads to loss of plant diversity in sites across US

[NickB79]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160328191840.htm

Rising levels of atmospheric nitrogen pollution threaten plant diversity at nearly one-quarter of sites across a widespread portion of the U.S., according a new study led by University of Colorado Boulder researchers.

The findings, which were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are the first to examine ecosystem-specific vulnerabilities to atmospheric nitrogen pollution on a continental scale.

Nitrogen plays an important role in biological processes and makes up a key element of fertilizer, but previous research has shown that it is possible for plants to get too much of a good thing. Global emissions of nitrogen to the atmosphere have tripled in the last century due to agriculture and industry, and elevated levels of nitrogen have been shown to cause environmental damage, including decreased plant species richness in experimental plots.

The study examined more than 15,000 forest, woodland, shrubland and grassland sites across the country, measuring the threshold at which nitrogen inputs become harmful to plants while also taking other environmental factors such as climate and soil conditions into account.

Industrial agriculture strikes again

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. ah, nothing that a swig of round up and a bit of genetic tinkering can't fix...

need I add ?

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Meaning compounds of nitrogen, not nitrogen itself

Nitrogen deposition
What is it?

Nitrogen (N) deposition describes the input of reactive nitrogen from the atmosphere to the biosphere both as gases, dry deposition and in precipitation as wet deposition. Enhanced reactive nitrogen deposition is a consequence of global emissions of oxidised nitrogen (NO, HNO3 and NO2 – often referred to as NOy) from fossil fuel combustion (Dignon and Hameed, 1989), and reduced N (NHx) from agricultural sources. Effects of ammonia gas and dry deposition of ammonia (NH3) is addressed in a separate overview.

http://www.apis.ac.uk/overview/pollutants/overview_N_deposition.htm