Nitrogen concentrations in mosses indicate the spatial distribution of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in Europe

Harmens, H.; Norris, D.A.; Cooper, D.M.; Mills, G.; Steinnes, E.; Kubin, E.; Thöni, L.; Aboal, J.R.; Alber R.,; Carballeira, A.; Coşkun, M.; De Temmerman, L.; Frolova, M.; González-Miqueo, L.; Jeran, Z.; Leblond, S.; Liiv, S.; Maňkovská, B.; Pesch, R.; Poikolainen, J.; Rühling, Å; Santamaria, J.M.; Simonèiè, P.; Schröder, W.; Suchara, I.; Yurukova, L.; Zechmeister, H.G.

Nitrogen concentrations in mosses indicate the spatial distribution of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in Europe

2011

In 2005/6, nearly 3000 moss samples from (semi-)natural location across 16 European countries were collected for nitrogen analysis. The lowest total nitrogen concentrations in mosses (<0.8%) were observed in northern Finland and northern UK. The highest concentrations (≥1.6%) were found in parts of Belgium, France, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia and Bulgaria. The asymptotic relationship between the nitrogen concentrations in mosses and EMEP modelled nitrogen deposition (averaged per 50 km × 50 km grid) across Europe showed less scatter when there were at least five moss sampling sites per grid. Factors potentially contributing to the scatter are discussed. In Switzerland, a strong (r² = 0.91) linear relationship was found between the total nitrogen concentration in mosses and measured site-specific bulk nitrogen deposition rates. The total nitrogen concentrations in mosses complement deposition measurements, helping to identify areas in Europe at risk from high nitrogen deposition at a high spatial resolution.

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