Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition in Global Forests: Spatial Variation, Impacts, and Management Implications provides the most comprehensive knowledge on spatial variation and ecological impacts of reactive nitrogen deposition in global forests, as well as forest management options to mitigate the negative impacts. Written and edited by international experts in the field, this book synthesizes recent research developments and insights in monitoring and modeling nitrogen deposition in global forests. The book also assesses ecological impacts of enhanced nitrogen deposition on forest structure and function and responses of forest ecosystems to decreasing nitrogen deposition in regions such as the European Union and North America. Finally, the book reviews indicators and thresholds for nitrogen saturation in global forests and analyzes remediation options to reduce impacts of excess nitrogen deposition. This is an important resource for researchers in forestry and biodiversity conservation, as well as graduate students, policymakers and others who want to understand environmental issues of reactive nitrogen deposition in global forests. - Offers a systematic view of the ecological impacts of enhanced nitrogen deposition - Provides the most comprehensive knowledge on spatial variation and the ecological impacts of reactive nitrogen deposition in global forests - Presents expert research and findings on forest management options to remediate negative impacts

This handbook covers the air quality/air pollution from the viewpoints of causing impacts on human/ecosystem health and climate change. Traditionally, air pollution has been a concern mainly in terms of its impacts on human health, and it is still an immediate public and governmental concern in most Asian countries. However, in recent years so-called extreme weather events, such as stronger tropical cyclones, flooding, drought, and other phenomena, have been manifested causing tremendous losses of human lives and properties. Importantly, climate models tell us that such extreme weather events are actually induced by anthropogenic global warming. It has been pointed out that mitigation or alleviation of such climate change leading to the extreme weather events in the next 30 years can be possible only by reducing air pollutants with positive radiative forcing such as ozone or methane, which are called short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs). Here, concerns about mitigation of air pollutants from the points of human health and climate change have merged. This book covers different kinds of air pollutants and radiative forcers and how they can be measured. It also mentions the situation of air pollutants in different continents and their regional impacts to human health, environment and economy as well as their link to extreme weather events. The book presents how the air pollution and climate change can be mitigated and how clean air technologies and international initiatives for co-controlling air pollution and climate change have been developed.

This book addresses present-day landscapes, ecosystem functioning and biodiversity as legacies of the past. It implements an interdisciplinary approach to understand how natural or human-impacted ecological systems have changed over time. Historical Ecology combines theory, methods, regional case studies and syntheses to provide a complete up-to-date overview of historical ecology. Beginning with the crucial role of time and inference from observed patterns, the book critically reviews the main methodological approaches, including monitoring of permanent plots, analysis of old maps, repeat photography, remote sensing, soil analysis, charcoal analysis, botanical indicators, and combinations of these methods applied to forest ecosystems. A series of case studies from various biomes shows how historical ecology can help in understanding today’s socio-ecosystems, such as mainland and island forests, orchards, tundra and coastal dunes. The book concludes by showing how historical ecology can answer timely fundamental research questions and provide science-based evidence for landscape and ecosystem management.

This book aims to identify, present and discuss key driving forces and pressures on ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are the contributions that ecosystems provide to human well-being. The scope of this atlas is on identifying solutions and lessons to be applied across science, policy and practice. The atlas will address different components of ecosystem services, assess risks and vulnerabilities, and outline governance and management opportunities. The atlas will therefore attract a wide audience, both from policy and practice and from different scientific disciplines. The emphasis will be on ecosystems in Europe, as the available data on service provision is best developed for this region and recognizes the strengths of the contributing authors. Ecosystems of regions outside Europe will be covered where possible.

This book highlights the impact of climate change on the soil microbiome and its subsequent effects on plant health, soil-plant dynamics, and the ecosphere. It also discusses emerging ideas to counteract these effects, e.g., through agricultural applications of functional microbes, to ensure a sustainable ecosystem. Climate change is altering the soil microbiome distributions and thus the interactions in microbiome and plant‐soil microorganism. Improvement of our understanding of microbe-microbe and plant-microbe interaction under changing climatic conditions is essential, because the overall impact of these interactions under varying adverse environmental conditions is lacking. This book has been designed to understand the impact of climate change, i.e., mainly salt and drought stress, on the soil microbiome and its impact on plant, yield, and the ecosphere. The book is organized into four parts: The first part reviews the impact of climate change on the diversity and richness of the soil microbiome. The second part addresses effects of climate change on plant health. The third part discusses effects on soil-plant dynamics and functionality, e.g., soil productivity. The final part deals with the effects of climate change on ecosystem functioning and also discusses potential solutions. The book will appeal to students and researchers working in the area of soil science, agriculture, molecular biology, plant physiology, and biotechnology.

Atmospheric reactive nitrogen (N) emissions, as an important component of global N cycle, have been significantly altered by anthropogenic activities, and consequently have had a global impact on air pollution and ecosystem services. Due to rapid agricultural, industrial, and urban development, China has been experiencing an increase in reactive N emissions and deposition since the late 1970s. Based on a literature review, this book summarizes recent research on: 1) atmospheric reactive N in China from a global perspective (Chapter 1); 2) atmospheric reactive N emissions, deposition and budget in China (Chapters 2-5); 3) the contribution of atmospheric reactive N to air pollution (e.g., haze, surface O3, and acid deposition) (Chapters 6-8); 4) the impacts of N deposition on sensitive ecosystems (e.g., forests, grasslands, deserts and lakes) (Chapters 9-12); and 5) the regulatory strategies for mitigation of atmospheric reactive N pollution from agricultural and non-agricultural sectors in China (Chapters 13-14). As such it offers graduate students, researchers, educators in agricultural, ecological and environmental sciences, and policy makers a glimpse of the environmental issues related to reactive N in China .

In the past century, anthropogenic activities have increased N input drastically to terrestrial ecosystems and influenced the global N cycle. Especially temperate forest ecosystems are affected in their productivity, species composition, soil chemistry and water quality. N input to forest ecosystems is retained in trees and soil. Excessive N is leached out or released as gases. The retention of N input in soils is mainly influenced by the stability of soil organic matter (SOM). Many forests in central Europe and North America have been subjected to N saturation, i.e. excessive N appeared as nitrate in the leachate below the rooting zone. Reduction of atmospheric N emission and consequent atmospheric N deposition is proposed to be the only practical long-term solution to improve N-saturated forest ecosystems. However, responses of N-saturated forest ecosystems to reduced atmospheric N deposition have been seldom investigated. In the present study, atmospheric deposition was manipulated through roof constructions below the canopy of a mature Norway spruce forest on the Solling plateau in central Germany. A £^(5)N tracer field and a density fractionation laboratory experiment were conducted in the present study to investigate the influence of long-term reduced atmospheric N deposition on the partitioning of atmospheric N in different forest ecosystem compartments as well as on the partitioning of atmospheric N retained in the soil in different SOM pools.

Presenting the first continental-scale assessment of reactive nitrogen in the environment, this book sets the related environmental problems in context by providing a multidisciplinary introduction to the nitrogen cycle processes. Issues of upscaling from farm plot and city to national and continental scales are addressed in detail with emphasis on opportunities for better management at local to global levels. The five key societal threats posed by reactive nitrogen are assessed, providing a framework for joined-up management of the nitrogen cycle in Europe, including the first cost-benefit analysis for different reactive nitrogen forms and future scenarios. Incorporating comprehensive maps, a handy technical synopsis and a summary for policy makers, this landmark volume is an essential reference for academic researchers across a wide range of disciplines, as well as stakeholders and policy makers. It is also a valuable tool in communicating the key environmental issues and future challenges to the wider public.