Presentation on Nitrogen deposition effects in ecosystems at COP26

Thomas Dirnböck (Umweltbundesamt, Austria, and LTER site Zöbelboden) talked at the COP26 side event „Atmospheric Deposition, the invisible threat – impacts on agriculture, ecosystem and oceans”, organized by the WMO. He presented the latest scientific results regarding Nitrogen deposition effects in ecosystems including water pollution with nitrate, biodiversity loss but also changes in the potential of ecosystems to absorb or release greenhouse gases.

In order to better assess the impacts posed by atmospheric deposition and provide tools to better inform the decisions of policymakers, WMO is leading the Measurement-Model Fusion for Global Total Atmospheric Deposition Initiative with the aim to produce best available global maps of total (wet + dry) atmospheric deposition of ozone, nitrogen and sulfur using the latest techniques to “fuse” observations of deposition with computer model output.

The eLTER infrastructure is a key resource for research in the processes involved in ecosystem impacts related to airborne Nitrogen. In recent years, eLTER projects supported model development and usage to gain policy relevant knowledge[1][2][3].

[1] https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaf26b
[2] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141791
[3] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.299