Abstract
Nitrogen deposition remains a threat to sensitive semi-natural habitats in the UK. Large areas of the country exceed the critical loads for nutrient nitrogen and critical levels for ammonia, and are predicted to continue to do so despite reductions in emissions of reactive nitrogen gases. There have been a considerable number of research studies focussed on detailed site based analysis and modelling. However, it is not clear the extent to which elevated nitrogen is impacting upon protected site condition or biodiversity conservation in the wider countryside. This project will provide an analysis of broad scale vegetation surveillance data, including Countryside Survey and various vascular plant, bryophyte and lichen distribution datasets. It will correlate spatial and temporal changes to nitrogen deposition data, to identify whether and to what degree site condition or species status trends can be linked to N-deposition.
United Kingdom