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468 Pages·2009·18.76 MB·English
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Atmospheric Ammonia Atmospheric Ammonia Detecting emission changes and environmental impacts Results of an Expert Workshop under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution Edited by Mark A. Sutton Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, (CEH), UK Stefan Reis Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, (CEH), UK Samantha M.H. Baker Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), UK Editors Mark A. Sutton Stefan Reis Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) (CEH) UK UK Samantha M.H. Baker Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) UK ISBN 978-1-4020-9120-9 e-ISBN 978-1-4020-9121-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2008937477 © 2009 Springer Science + Business Media B.V. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written p ermission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Cover figures: Main Figure: Reindeer moss - Cladonia portentosa damaged by ammonia from an agricultural point source. Photo by Ian Leith, CEH. Top row figures: Pristine and damaged lichen (Cladonia portentosa) and Sphagnum moss (Sphagnum capillifolium) exposed to ambient and enhanced ammonia concentrations at the CEH nitrogen manipulation facility at Whim Bog, south-east Scotland. Photo by Ian Leith, CEH Printed on acid-free paper springer.com Preface This volume represents the fruits of a major international synthesis on the environ- mental behaviour and effects atmospheric ammonia. Specifically, it provides a contribution to the work of the Geneva Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP), established under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Atmospheric ammonia has for some years been recognized by the Convention as being of key importance to air pollution effects on the eutrophication and acidi- fication of ecosystems. More recently, the contribution of ammonia to the forma- tion of secondary particulate matter has also been highlighted. Partly as a result of the many environmental interactions, ammonia has, until now, mostly been reviewed alongside the other air pollutants treated by the Convention. This is, in many ways, exactly as it should be. However, ammonia is an unusual air pollutant in that its largest sources are rural rather than urban, with livestock agriculture being the major source. Coupled with high uncertainties in the emissions, in the measurement of atmospheric concentrations and in the environ- mental impacts, there was therefore a strong case to dedicate a specific review to current understanding of ammonia. The original motivation for the present book arose in 2003, related to concerns over the existing ‘critical level’ for ammonia. With the Gothenburg Protocol signed in 1999, ammonia had been included in national emissions ceilings of air pollutants across the UNECE for the first time. This heightened the need to properly quantify the emissions, trends and impacts of ammonia. The empirical critical loads for nitrogen deposition had recently been reviewed, at the Bern Workshop of 2002. However, that assessment incorporated the role of ammonia only as far as deposi- tion was concerned. By contrast, the critical level for ammonia concentrations had not been reviewed for a decade, since the Egham Workshop of 1992. By 2003, new data were emerging that suggested the need for a major re-evaluation of the ammo- nia critical level. To do this required that the evidence be assembled and that the Convention formally review the current values. Hot on the heels of the critical level question was concern about the ‘ammonia gap’ in the Netherlands. Emission abatement measures had been implemented, but apparently atmospheric ammonia concentrations had not decreased. These issues were reviewed in the Bern Workshop (2000), but already substantial new datasets v vi Preface were appearing, pointing to the need for a new scientific update. These issues were coming particularly to the fore as other countries started to review their options for meeting the ammonia commitments under the Gothenburg Protocol. The third issue to arise was that of ammonia in ‘hot-spot’ areas. Previously, there had been little international assessment of these impacts, which had been consid- ered a local concern. Yet, it was rapidly becoming apparent that the regional assess- ments depended on how well the science could treat dispersion and deposition in source areas. In addition, since the main ammonia hot-spots occur in rural areas, a better understanding of these processes was recognized as essential to maximise overall environmental protection. Finally, a fourth issue was added to the review. Increasingly, different models were becoming available to simulate the transboundary transport and deposition of ammonia at regional scales. Yet, there remained major uncertainties in the para- metrization of these models for ammonia, as well as substantial differences when compared with measurements. It was therefore agreed that the review must address the current status of the regional models, with a particular emphasis on the key uncertainties related to ammonia. These four themes have thus provided the core of the present review on ammo- nia, with special attention to the detection of emission changes and environmental impacts. The review itself was conducted in the form of a UNECE Expert Workshop (the ‘Edinburgh Workshop’), with background documents prepared in advance to inform the discussions, and with targeted additional papers presented during the workshop to support development of the conclusions. The UNECE Edinburgh Workshop was hosted by the Scottish Government at Victoria Quay, Leith (4–6 December 2006). It was jointly funded by COST 729, NitroEurope IP, Defra, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) and the Scottish Government. We thank each of these organizations for their respective contributions. In particular, we would like to thank Emma Giles (CEH) for her achievement in coordinating the organizational aspects of the workshop, and Geeta Wonnacott and Philip Wright for their hosting of the workshop at the Scottish Government offices. The key conclusions of the workshop have been reported to the Convention, including new values for ammonia critical levels, a new position on the status of the ‘ammonia gap’, and clear recommendations for the assessment of ammonia disper- sal and deposition at local and regional scales. The present volume provides the background to these conclusions, reporting the current state-of-the-art in each of these areas. Mark A. Sutton Stefan Reis Samantha M.H. Baker Contents 1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 Mark A. Sutton Part I Ammonia Critical Thresholds 2 Reassessment of Critical Levels for Atmospheric Ammonia ............... 15 J. Neil Cape, Ludger J. van der Eerden, Lucy J. Sheppard, Ian D. Leith, and Mark A. Sutton 3 Potential for the Further Development and Application of Critical Levels to Assess the Environmental Impacts of Ammonia................................................................................ 41 Mark A. Sutton, Lucy J. Sheppard, and David Fowler 4 Long-Term Cumulative Exposure Exacerbates the Effects of Atmospheric Ammonia on an Ombrotrophic Bog: Implications for Critical Levels .............................................................. 49 Lucy J. Sheppard, Ian D. Leith, Alan Crossley, Netty van Dijk, J. Neil Cape, David Fowler, and Mark A. Sutton 5 The Application of Transects to Assess the Effects of Ammonia on Woodland Groundfl ora .................................................... 59 Carole E.R. Pitcairn, Ian D. Leith, Netty van Dijk, Lucy J. Sheppard, Mark A. Sutton, and David Fowler 6 Estimation of the Ammonia Critical Level for Epiphytic Lichens Based on Observations at Farm, Landscape and National Scales .................................................................................. 71 Mark A. Sutton, Pat A. Wolseley, Ian D. Leith, Netty van Dijk, Y. Sim Tang, P.W. James, Mark R. Theobald, and Clare Whitfield vii viii Contents 7 Mapping Ammonia Emissions and Concentrations for Switzerland – Effects on Lichen Vegetation .................................. 87 Beat Rihm, Martin Urech, and Kathrin Peter 8 Over Which Averaging Period Is the Ammonia Critical Level Most Precautionary ..................................................................... 93 Mark A. Sutton, Addo van Pul, Ferd Sauter, Y. Sim Tang, and Laszlo Horvath 9 Macrolichens on Twigs and Trunks as Indicators of Ammonia Concentrations Across the UK – a Practical Method ................................................................................. 101 Patricia A. Wolseley, Ian D. Leith, Netty van Dijk, and Mark A. Sutton 10 Assessment of Critical Levels of Atmospheric Ammonia for Lichen Diversity in Cork-Oak Woodland, Portugal ..................... 109 Pedro Pinho, Cristina Branquinho, Cristina Cruz, Y. Sim Tang, Teresa Dias, Ana Paula Rosa, Cristina Máguas, Maria-Amélia Martins-Loução, and Mark A. Sutton Part II Temporal Trends in Atmospheric Ammonia 11 Linking Ammonia Emission Trends to Measured Concentrations and Deposition of Reduced Nitrogen at Different Scales .................................................................................. 123 Albert Bleeker, Mark A. Sutton, Beat Acherman, Ana Alebic-Juretic, Viney P. Aneja, Thomas Ellermann, Jan Willem Erisman, David Fowler, Hilde Fagerli, Thomas Gauger, K.S. Harlen, Lars Robert Hole, Laszlo Horvath, Marta Mitosinkova, Ron I. Smith, Y. Sim Tang, and Addo van Pul 12 Long-Term Record (1981–2005) of Ammonia and Ammonium Concentrations at K-Puszta Hungary and the Effect of Sulphur Dioxide Emission Change on Measured and Modelled Concentrations ........................................ 181 Laszlo Horvath, Hilde Fagerli, and Mark A. Sutton 13 Assessment of Ammonia and Ammonium Trends and Relationship to Critical Levels in the UK National Ammonia Monitoring Network (NAMN) ............................................ 187 Y. Sim Tang, Ulrike Dragosits, Netty van Dijk, Linda Love, Ivan Simmons, and Mark A. Sutton Contents ix 14 Review of Published Studies Estimating the Abatement Effi cacy of Reduced-Emission Slurry Spreading Techniques ............ 195 J. Webb, Brigitte Eurich-Menden, Ulrich Dämmgen, and Francesco Agostini Part III Analysis of Ammonia Hotspots 15 Ammonia Deposition Near Hot Spots: Processes, Models and Monitoring Methods ......................................................... 205 Benjamin Loubet, Willem A.H. Asman, Mark R. Theobald, Ole Hertel, Y. Sim Tang, Paul Robin, Mélynda Hassouna, Ulrich Dämmgen, Sophie Genermont, Pierre Cellier, and Mark A. Sutton 16 Standardised Grasses as Biomonitors of Ammonia Pollution Around Agricultural Point Sources ..................................... 269 Ian D. Leith, Netty van Dijk, Carole E.R. Pitcairn, Lucy J. Sheppard, and Mark A. Sutton 17 Soluble Ammonium in Plants as a Bioindicator for Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition: Refi nement and Testing of a Practical Method ............................................................................. 281 Netty van Dijk, Ian D. Leith, Carole E.R. Pitcairn, and Mark A. Sutton 18 Spatial Planning as a Complementary Tool to Abate the Effects of Atmospheric Ammonia Deposition at the Landscape Scale ........................................................................... 291 Ulrike Dragosits, Mark R. Theobald, Chris J. Place, Helen M. ApSimon, and Mark A. Sutton Part IV Regional Modelling of Atmospheric Ammonia 19 Modelling of the Atmospheric Transport and Deposition of Ammonia at a National and Regional Scale .................................... 301 Addo van Pul, Ole Hertel, Camilla Geels, Anthony J. Dore, Massimo Vieno, Hans A. van Jaarsveld, Robert Bergström, Martijn Schaap, and Hilde Fagerli 20 Application of a Lagrangian Model FRAME to Estimate Reduced Nitrogen Deposition and Ammonia Concentrations in Poland ...................................................................... 359 Maciej Kryza, Anthony J. Dore, Marek Błaś, and Mieczysław Sobik x Contents 21 Application of the EMEP Unifi ed Model to the UK 2 with a Horizontal Resolution of 5 × 5 km ........................................... 367 Massimo Vieno, Anthony J. Dore, Peter Wind, Chiara Di Marco, Eiko Nemitz, Gavin Phillips, Leonor Tarrasón, and Mark A. Sutton Part V Conclusions and Outlook 22 Critical Levels for Ammonia ................................................................. 375 John Neil Cape, Ludger van der Eerden, Andreas Fangmeier, John Ayres, Simon Bareham, Roland Bobbink, Christina Branquinho, Peter Crittenden,Christina Cruz, Teresa Dias, Ian D. Leith, Maria Amélia Martins-Loucão,Carole Pitcairn, Lucy Sheppard, Till Spranger, Mark Sutton, Netty van Dijk, and Pat Wolseley 23 Detecting Change in Atmospheric Ammonia Following Emission Changes .................................................................................. 383 Jan Willem Erisman, Albert Bleeker, Albrecht Neftel, Viney Aneja, Nick Hutchings, Liam Kinsella, Y. Sim Tang, J. Webb, Michel Sponar, Caroline Raes, Marta Mitosinkova, Sonja Vidic, Helle Vibeke Andersen, Zbigniew Klimont, Rob Pinder, Samantha Baker, Beat Reidy, Chris Flechard, Laszlo Horvath, Anita Lewandowska, Colin Gillespie, Marcus Wallasch, Robert Gehrig, and Thomas Ellerman 24 Assessment Methods for Ammonia Hot-Spots .................................... 391 Pierre Cellier, Mark R. Theobald, Willem Asman, William J. Bealey, Shabtai Bittman, Ulrike Dragosits, Janina Fudala, Matthew Jones, Per Løfstrøm, Benjamin Loubet, Tom Misselbrook, Beat Rihm, Ken Smith, Michal Strizik, Klaas van der Hoek, Hans van Jaarsveld, John Walker, and Zdenek Zelinger 25 Modelling the National and Regional Transport and Deposition of Ammonia .................................................................. 409 Addo van Pul, Stefan Reis, Tony Dore, Liu Xuejun, Hilde Fagerli, Camilla Geels, Ole Hertel, Roy Wichink Kruijt, Maciej Kryza, Robert Bergström, Massimo Vieno, Ron Smith, and Eiko Nemitz 26 Reliability of Ammonia Emission Estimates and Abatement Effi ciencies ................................................................... 423 J. Webb, Nicholas J. Hutchings, Shabtai Bittman, Samantha M.H. Baker, Beat Reidy, Caroline Raes, Ken Smith, John Ayres, and Tom Misselbrook

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