Bromley, R;
Burden, A;
Curtis, C;
Evans, C;
Feuchtmayr, H;
Grant, H;
Heaton, T;
+ view all
(2011)
Freshwater umbrella - the effects of nitrogen deposition on freshwaters in the UK.
(ECRC Research Report
152
).
UCL Environmental Change Research Centre: London, UK.
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Abstract
In upland areas of the UK located away from direct human disturbance through agriculture, industrial activities and urban pollution, atmospheric pollution poses one of the major threats to the chemical and biological quality of lakes and streams. One of the most important groups of pollutants is nitrogen (N) compounds, including oxidised forms of N called NO_{x}, generated mainly by fossil fuel combustion especially in motor vehicles, and reduced forms of N (ammonia gas or dissolved ammonium compounds) generated mainly from agricultural activities and livestock. These nitrogen compounds may dissolve in rain or soilwater to form acids, or may be taken up as nutrients by plants and soil microbes in upland catchments, and then subsequently released in acid form associated with nitrate leaching at a later date. It is well established that nitrate leaching contributes to acidification of upland waters, with damage to aquatic ecosystems including plants, invertebrates and fish. However it has recently been suggested that nitrate leaching may also be associated with nutrient enrichment of upland waters that contain biological communities adapted to very low nutrient levels. Furthermore, important interactions have been found elsewhere between acid deposition and leaching of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) which has been found to be increasing in many upland waters of the northern hemisphere.
| Type: | Report |
|---|---|
| Title: | Freshwater umbrella - the effects of nitrogen deposition on freshwaters in the UK |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | https://www.geog.ucl.ac.uk/research/research-centr... |
| Language: | English |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10114749 |
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