title: Assessing the risk of N leaching from forest soils across a steep N deposition gradient in Sweden.
abstract: Nitrogen leaching from boreal and temporal forests, where normally most of the nitrogen is retained, has the potential to increase acidification of soil and water and eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. In parts of Sweden, where the nitrogen deposition has been intermediate to high during recent decades, there are indications that the soils are close to nitrogen saturation. In this study, four different approaches were used to assess the risk of nitrogen leaching from forest soils in different parts of Sweden. Nitrate concentrations in soil water and C:N ratios in the humus layer where interpreted, together with model results from mass balance calculations and detailed dynamic modelling. All four approaches pointed at a risk of nitrogen leaching from forest soils in southern Sweden. However, there was a substantial variation on a local scale. Basing the assessment on four different approaches makes the assessment robust.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Lund University, Sölvegatan 12, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden. cecilia.akselsson@nateko.lu.se
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Akselsson
authors.forename: Salim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Belyazid
authors.forename: Sofie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hellsten
authors.forename: Malin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klarqvist
authors.forename: Gunilla
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pihl-Karlsson
authors.forename: Per-Erik
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lundin
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis*; D013548:Sweden; D014197:Trees / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D009584:Nitrogen