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15 - Geographical variation in terrestrial nitrogen budgets across Europe

from Part III - Nitrogen flows and fate at multiple spatial scales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2011

By
Wim de Vries ,
Adrian Leip ,
Gert Jan Reinds ,
Johannes Kros ,
Jan Peter Lesschen ,
Alexander F. Bouwman ,
Bruna Grizzetti ,
Fayçal Bouraoui ,
Klaus Butterbach-Bahl  and
Peter Bergamaschi
...Show all authors
Edited by
Mark A. Sutton ,
Clare M. Howard ,
Jan Willem Erisman ,
Gilles Billen ,
Albert Bleeker ,
Peringe Grennfelt ,
Hans van Grinsven  and
Bruna Grizzetti
Wim de Vries
Affiliation:
Wageningen University and Research Centre
Adrian Leip
Affiliation:
European Commission Joint Research Centre
Gert Jan Reinds
Affiliation:
Wageningen University and Research Centre Alterra
Johannes Kros
Affiliation:
Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre
Jan Peter Lesschen
Affiliation:
Wageningen University and Research Centre
Alexander F. Bouwman
Affiliation:
Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
Bruna Grizzetti
Affiliation:
European Commission Joint Research Centre
Fayçal Bouraoui
Affiliation:
European Commission Joint Research Centre
Klaus Butterbach-Bahl
Affiliation:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Peter Bergamaschi
Affiliation:
European Commission Joint Research Centre
Wilfried Winiwarter
Affiliation:
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
Mark A. Sutton
Affiliation:
NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK
Clare M. Howard
Affiliation:
NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK
Jan Willem Erisman
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
Gilles Billen
Affiliation:
CNRS and University of Paris VI
Albert Bleeker
Affiliation:
Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands
Peringe Grennfelt
Affiliation:
Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL)
Hans van Grinsven
Affiliation:
PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
Bruna Grizzetti
Affiliation:
European Commission Joint Research Centre
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Summary

Executive summary

Nature of the problem

  • Nitrogen (N) budgets of agricultural systems give important information for assessing the impact of N inputs on the environment, and identify levers for action.

Approaches

  • N budgets of agro-ecosystems in the 27 EU countries are established for the year 2000, considering N inputs by fertiliser application, manure excretion, atmospheric deposition and crop fixation, and N outputs by plant uptake, gaseous emissions, mineralisation, leaching and runoff.

  • Country N budgets for agro-ecosystems are based on the models INTEGRATOR, IDEAg, MITERRA and IMAGE. Fine geographic distribution is depicted with the former two models, which have higher spatial resolution. INTEGRATOR is the only available model for calculating non-agricultural terrestrial N budgets systems.

Key findings/state of knowledge

  • For EU-27, the models estimate a comparable total N input in European agriculture, i.e. 23.3–25.7 Mton N yr−1, but N uptake varies largely from 11.3–15.4 Mton N yr−1, leading to total N surpluses varying from 10.4–13.2 Mton N yr−1. Despite this variation, the overall difference at EU-27 is small for the emissions of NH3 (2.8–3.1 Mton N yr−1) and N2O (0.33–0.43 Mton N yr−1) but estimates vary largely at a regional scale. The estimated sum of N leaching and runoff at EU-27 is roughly equal to the sum of NH3, N2O and NOx emissions to the atmosphere, but estimates vary by a factor two, from 2.7 to 6.3 Mton N yr−1.

  • […]

Type
Chapter
Information
The European Nitrogen Assessment
Sources, Effects and Policy Perspectives
 , pp. 317 - 344
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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