U.S. flag An official website of the United States government.
Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

i

Variability, drivers, and effects of atmospheric nitrogen inputs across an urban area: Emerging patterns among human activities, the atmosphere, and soils



Select the Download button to view the document
Please click the download button to view the document.

Details

  • Journal Title:
    Science of The Total Environment
  • Personal Author:
  • NOAA Program & Office:
  • Description:
    Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (N) is a major input of N to the biosphere and is elevated beyond preindustrial levels throughout many ecosystems. Deposition monitoring networks in the United States generally avoid urban areas in order to capture regional patterns of N deposition, and studies measuring N deposition in cities usually include only one or two urban sites in an urban-rural comparison or as an anchor along an urban-to-rural gradient. Describing patterns and drivers of atmospheric N inputs is crucial for understanding the effects of N deposition; however, little is known about the variability and drivers of atmospheric N inputs or their effects on soil biogeochemistry within urban ecosystems. We measured rates of canopy throughfall N as a measure of atmospheric N inputs, as well as soil net N mineralization and nitrification, soil solution N, and soil respiration at 15 sites across the greater Boston, Massachusetts area. Rates of throughfall N are 8.70 ± 0.68 kg N ha− 1 yr− 1, vary 3.5-fold across sites, and are positively correlated with rates of local vehicle N emissions. Ammonium (NH4+) composes 69.9 ± 2.2% of inorganic throughfall N inputs and is highest in late spring, suggesting a contribution from local fertilizer inputs. Soil solution NO3− is positively correlated with throughfall NO3− inputs. In contrast, soil solution NH4+, net N mineralization, nitrification, and soil respiration are not correlated with rates of throughfall N inputs. Rather, these processes are correlated with soil properties such as soil organic matter. Our results demonstrate high variability in rates of urban throughfall N inputs, correlation of throughfall N inputs with local vehicle N emissions, and a decoupling of urban soil biogeochemistry and throughfall N inputs.
  • Keywords:
  • Source:
    Science of the Total Environment 609: 1524-1534
  • DOI:
  • Document Type:
    Journal Article
  • Funding:
    Grant no. NA14OAR4310179
  • Place as Subject:
    United States
  • Rights Information:
    Accepted manuscript
  • Rights Statement:
    The NOAA IR provides access to this content under the authority of the government's retained license to distribute publications and data resulting from federal funding. While users may legally access this content, the copyright owners retain rights that govern the reproduction, redistribution, and re-use of this work. The user is solely responsible for complying with applicable copyright law.
  • Compliance:
    Submitted
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:252884d4b05280c3ed272be14c3c4e48604eb44a76bbbbd32025f883855027d79edf84a391681005abe1a4eba957fcf869697c262c3b544aaf6fc14b89d2a227
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 10.37 MB ]
PREVIOUS
ON THIS PAGE
Details
The NOAA IR serves as an archival repository of NOAA-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other information authored or co-authored by NOAA or funded partners. As a repository, the NOAA IR retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.
BACK TO TOP