title: Nitrogen concentrations in mosses indicate the spatial distribution of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in Europe.
abstract: 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 (r(2) = 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.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Environment Centre Wales, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UW, UK. hh@ceh.ac.uk
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Harmens
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Norris
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Steinnes
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kubin
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thöni
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Aboal
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alber
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carballeira
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coşkun
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Temmerman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frolova
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: González-Miqueo
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jeran
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leblond
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liiv
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maňkovská
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pesch
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Poikolainen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rühling
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Santamaria
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Simonèiè
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Suchara
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yurukova
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Zechmeister
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D044002:Bryophyta / Q000737:chemistry*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005060:Europe; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D009584:Nitrogen