A simple tool for estimating throughfall nitrogen deposition in forests of western North America using lichens

作者：Root Heather T^*; Geiser Linda H; Fenn Mark E; Jovan Sarah; Hutten Martin A; Ahuja Suraj; Dillman Karen; Schirokauer David; Berryman Shanti; McMurray Jill A

来源：Forest Ecology and Management, 2013, 306: 1-8.

DOI：10.1016/j.foreco.2013.06.028

• Air quality
• Critical loads
• Lichens
• Nitrogen deposition
• Throughfall

Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition has had substantial impacts on forests of North America. Managers seek to monitor deposition to identify areas of concern and establish critical loads, which define the amount of deposition that can be tolerated by ecosystems without causing substantial harm. We present a new monitoring approach that estimates throughfall inorganic N deposition from N concentration in lichens collected on site. Across 84 study sites in western North America with measured throughfall, a single regression model effectively estimated N deposition from lichen N concentration with an R-2 of 0.58 and could be improved with the addition of climate covariates including precipitation seasonality and temperature in the wettest quarter to an R-2 of 0.74. By restricting the model to the more intensively sampled region including Oregon, Washington, and California, the R-2 increased to 0.77. Because lichens are readily available, analysis is cost-effective, and accuracy is unaffected by mountainous terrain, this method allows development of deposition estimates at sites across broad spatial and topographic scales. Our approach can allow land managers to identify areas at risk of N critical load exceedance, which can be used for planning and management of air pollution impacts. Published by Elsevier B.V.

• 出版日期2013-10-15