inorganic nitrogen deposition in china's forests: status and characteristics

36
Accepted Manuscript Inorganic nitrogen deposition in China’s forests: status and characteristics Enzai Du, Prof. Dr. Yuan Jiang, Jingyun Fang, Wim de Vries PII: S1352-2310(14)00697-9 DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.09.005 Reference: AEA 13236 To appear in: Atmospheric Environment Received Date: 15 June 2014 Revised Date: 28 August 2014 Accepted Date: 3 September 2014 Please cite this article as: Du, E., Jiang, Y., Fang, J., de Vries, W., Inorganic nitrogen deposition in China’s forests: status and characteristics, Atmospheric Environment (2014), doi: 10.1016/ j.atmosenv.2014.09.005. This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

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Page 1: Inorganic nitrogen deposition in China's forests: Status and characteristics

Accepted Manuscript

Inorganic nitrogen deposition in China’s forests: status and characteristics

Enzai Du, Prof. Dr. Yuan Jiang, Jingyun Fang, Wim de Vries

PII: S1352-2310(14)00697-9

DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.09.005

Reference: AEA 13236

To appear in: Atmospheric Environment

Received Date: 15 June 2014

Revised Date: 28 August 2014

Accepted Date: 3 September 2014

Please cite this article as: Du, E., Jiang, Y., Fang, J., de Vries, W., Inorganic nitrogen depositionin China’s forests: status and characteristics, Atmospheric Environment (2014), doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.09.005.

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service toour customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergocopyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Pleasenote that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and alllegal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

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Highlights

1. Ammonium and nitrate deposition was assessed in China’s forests

2. Ammonium contributed 2.5 folds of nitrate to nitrogen deposition

3. Canopy captured dry deposition accounted for half of bulk deposition

4. Mean throughfall nitrogen deposition was high at 21.5 kg N ha-1 yr-1

5. Patterns of nitrogen deposition support an urban hotspot hypothesis

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Inorganic nitrogen deposition in China’s forests: status and characteristics 1

2

Enzai Du1,2, Yuan Jiang1*, Jingyun Fang2, Wim de Vries3 3

4

1. State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, and 5

College of Resources Science & Technology, Beijing Normal University, 6

Xinjiekouwai Street 19#, Beijing, 100875, China. 7

2. Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key 8

Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking 9

University, Yiheyuan Road 5#, Beijing, 100871, China. 10

3. Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700 11

AA Wageningen, The Netherlands 12

13

Corresponding Author: Prof. Dr. Yuan Jiang, State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface 14

Processes and Resource Ecology, and College of Resources Science & Technology, 15

Beijing Normal University, Xinjiekouwai Street 19#, Beijing, 100875, China. Tel: 16

+8610-58806093, Fax: +8610-58809274, Email: [email protected] 17

18

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Abstract 19

Nitrogen (N) deposition in China has been dramatically enhanced by anthropogenic 20

emissions and has aroused great concerns of its impacts on forest ecosystems. This 21

study synthesized data on ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3

-) contents in bulk 22

precipitation and throughfall from 38 forest stands in published literature to assess the 23

status and characteristics of N deposition to typical forests in China between 1995 and 24

2010. Our results showed that ammonium dominated N deposition in this period, with 25

a mean NH4+-N:NO3

--N ratio of ~ 2.5 in bulk deposition and throughfall. Mean 26

throughfall N deposition in China’s forests was as high as 14.0 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for 27

ammonium, 5.5 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for nitrate and 21.5 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for total inorganic N 28

(TIN), respectively. Mean bulk deposition was 9.4 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for ammonium, 3.9 29

kg N ha-1 yr-1 for nitrate and 14.0 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for TIN, respectively. Canopy 30

captured dry deposition, calculated as the difference between throughfall and bulk 31

deposition, was thus approximately half of the bulk deposition. Spatial patterns of N 32

deposition were in accordance with our urban hotspot hypothesis, showing a strong 33

power-law reduction of ammonium with increasing distance to large cities but only 34

slightly lower nitrate deposition. Our results suggest that high N deposition, especially 35

of ammonium, exceeds critical N loads for large areas of China’s forests. 36

37

Key words: nitrogen deposition; ammonium: nitrate ratio; throughfall; enrichment 38

ratio; dry deposition; urban hotspot hypothesis 39

40

1. Introduction 41

Global anthropogenic nitrogen (N) emissions have dramatically enhanced N 42

deposition since the industrial revolution (Galloway et al., 2004). In China, 43

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acceleration of N emissions has substantially increased N deposition since 1980s and 44

leaded to concerns about the impacts on various ecosystems (Liu et al., 2010; Cui et 45

al., 2013). Enhanced N deposition often causes a stimulating effect on forest growth 46

and related carbon sequestration (Högberg, 2007; De Vries et al., 2009; Thomas et al., 47

2010), but excessive N input may lead to many adverse impacts, including 48

biodiversity loss, soil acidification and nutrient imbalances (Erisman and De Vries, 49

2000; Bobbink et al., 2010; Greaver et al., 2012). Nitrogen deposition includes both 50

inorganic and organic N forms, but in most cases only inorganic N has been measured 51

in China (Liu et al., 2013). Ammonium and nitrate are different in biological and 52

ecological effects. For instance, plants usually have a specific preference in utilizing 53

soil ammonium or nitrate (Kahmen et al., 2008). Ammonium is toxic to higher plants 54

at high concentrations (Gerendás et al., 1997) and can be more detrimental than nitrate 55

in decreasing biodiversity (Brittoa and Kronzucker, 2002; Erisman et al., 2007). 56

Therefore, it is necessary to consider the relative contribution of ammonium and 57

nitrate separately. 58

Recently, the temporal trends and spatial patterns of bulk N deposition in China 59

have been estimated using observed data (Liu et al., 2013; Jia et al., 2014). Average 60

bulk deposition of inorganic N in China has been estimated at 11.1~13.9 kg N ha-1 yr-1 61

during the last two decades (Jia et al., 2014). However, bulk deposition 62

underestimates total atmospheric N inputs because it consists mainly of wet 63

deposition. Comparisons of bulk deposition and wet-only deposition indicate that dry 64

deposition mostly accounts for 2-23 % of bulk N deposition (Kulshrestha et al., 1995; 65

Staelens et al., 2005; Chantara and Chunsuk, 2008). Throughfall is a sum of bulk 66

deposition, canopy captured dry deposition and canopy exchange (Lindberg et al., 67

1986; Lovett et al., 1996; Zimmermann et al., 2008). Nitrogen fluxes in throughfall 68

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can be used as a more precise estimate of total N deposition, although sometimes it 69

likely underestimates it due to canopy uptake (e.g Draaijers et al., 1996; Sparks, 70

2009). 71

Increase in N deposition in China is primarily caused by anthropogenic sources, 72

specifically due to power generation, traffic and agricultural activities (Liu et al., 2010; 73

Jia et al., 2014). This leads to the hypothesis that total N deposition increases near 74

large cities with a lot of anthropogenic activities, while it declines with an increasing 75

distance to large cities (urban hotspot hypothesis). In this study we tested this 76

hypothesis by synthesizing and evaluating data from published literature on 77

ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3

-) in bulk precipitation and throughfall in China’s 78

forests between 1995 and 2010. More specifically, we addressed the following 79

questions: (1) What are the characteristics for concentrations and fluxes of ammonium, 80

nitrate and total inorganic N (TIN = NH4+ + NO3

-) in bulk precipitation and 81

throughfall in China’s forests? (2) How much does canopy capture dry deposition of 82

ammonium, nitrate and TIN? (3) Do the concentrations and fluxes of ammonium, 83

nitrate and TIN in bulk precipitation and throughfall decrease similarly with 84

increasing distance to large cities? 85

86

2. Data and methods 87

88

2.1 Data sets 89

We collected data from published literatures on ammonium and nitrate concentrations 90

in bulk precipitation and throughfall for typical forests in China, as well as 91

information on site location (latitude and longitude), forest types, annual mean 92

temperature and annual precipitation (see supplementary information). Data were 93

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selected only when ammonium and nitrate in precipitation and throughfall were 94

measured simultaneously. Published concentrations of ammonium, nitrate or TIN for 95

each sampling period were either taken directly from tables or digitized from figures 96

using a GetData Graph Digitizer (Version 2.25, 97

http://www.getdata-graph-digitizer.com). The distance between the sampling site and 98

the nearest large city (nonagricultural population > 0.5 million) was derived using 99

Google Earth for Microsoft Windows (Version 7.1.2.2041, Google Inc., USA). 100

Our database consisted of 38 forest stands in China (Fig. 1, some forest stands 101

could not be distinguished due to close locations), and all observations were 102

conducted in the period between 1995 and 2010 (see supplementary information). 103

Canopy densities, defined as the forest cover as a fraction of the area, were relatively 104

convergent with a range from 0.7 to 0.9. Annual mean temperature ranged from –5 to 105

22 ˚C, and annual precipitation ranged from 500 to 2200 mm. The distance from the 106

sampling sites to the nearest large cities ranged from 5 km to 430 km. 107

2.2 Statistical analysis 108

Volume-weighted mean concentrations (VWC, mg L-1) were calculated for bulk 109

precipitation and throughfall according to equation 1, 110

∑∑ ×

=i

ii

V

V CVWC , (1) 111

where Ci (mg L-1) is the concentration of ammonium, nitrate or TIN for each sampling 112

period, and Vi (mm) is the amount of precipitation or throughfall for each sampling 113

period. Then the fluxes of ammonium, nitrate and TIN (kg N ha-1 yr-1) in the bulk 114

precipitation and throughfall were estimated according to the volume-weighted mean 115

concentration and annual precipitation. Canopy captured dry deposition was 116

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calculated as the difference in fluxes (∆Flux) of ammonium, nitrate and TIN in 117

throughfall and bulk precipitation. 118

We defined an enrichment ratio (ER) to indicate the proportional change in N 119

concentrations in throughfall versus bulk precipitation, according to equation 2, 120

c

cc

BP

BPTFRE

−= , (2) 121

where BPc is the concentration of ammonium, nitrate or TIN in bulk precipitation (mg 122

L-1) and TFc is the concentration of ammonium, nitrate or TIN in throughfall (mg L-1). 123

Values of N (ammonium, nitrate and TIN) concentrations and fluxes were 124

log-transformed to obtain a normal distribution. A Shapiro-Francia W’ test was used 125

to test the normality of the transformed data. A paired sample t-test was used to test 126

the differences of N concentrations, fluxes and NH4+-N : NO3

--N ratios between bulk 127

precipitation and throughfall, and the differences of enrichment ratios between 128

ammonium and nitrate. A linear regression model test was used to explore how 129

natural log-transformed N concentration, natural log-transformed N fluxes, 130

enrichment N ratios and canopy captured dry N deposition change with the natural 131

log-transformed distance between the sampling site and the nearest large city. 132

Applying linear regression while using logarithmic values for N variables versus 133

distance to the nearest large city tested a power-law relationship between these two 134

variables. All statistical analysis was performed using R software (version 3.1.0; R 135

Development Core Team, 2014, http://www.r-project.org/) with a significance level of 136

p < 0.05. 137

138

3. Results 139

140

3.1 Nitrogen concentrations and fluxes in bulk precipitation and throughfall 141

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Concentrations of ammonium, nitrate and TIN, and NH4+-N : NO3

--N ratios in bulk 142

precipitation and throughfall were highly skewed (Fig. 2) and were characterized by a 143

log-normal distribution (Shapiro-Wilk normality test, p > 0.10) except nitrate 144

concentrations in bulk precipitation (p < 0.05). In bulk precipitation, geometric mean 145

concentrations were 0.71 (0.11 ~ 4.02) mg N L-1 for ammonium, 0.29 (0.04 ~ 1.09) 146

mg N L-1 for nitrate and 1.06 (0.15 ~ 5.10) mg N L-1 for TIN, respectively (Figs. 2a, 147

2b & 2c). In throughfall, geometric mean concentrations were 1.06 (0.18 ~ 7.06) mg 148

N L-1 for ammonium, 0.41 (0.02 ~ 2.59) mg N L-1 for nitrate and 1.63 (0.30 ~ 9.08) 149

mg N L-1 for TIN, respectively (Figs. 2e, 2f & 2g). Ammonium dominated TIN with a 150

geometric mean NH4+-N : NO3

--N ratio of 2.42 (0.64 ~ 9.20) in bulk precipitation, and 151

a geometric mean NH4+-N : NO3

--N ratio of 2.55 (0.42 ~ 44.5) in throughfall, 152

respectively (Figs. 2d & 2h). 153

Fluxes of ammonium, nitrate and TIN in bulk precipitation and throughfall were 154

also characterized by a log-normal distribution (Fig. 3; Shapiro-Wilk normality test, 155

p > 0.10). The geometric means of bulk deposition were 9.4 (1.9 ~ 46.7) kg N ha-1 yr-1 156

for ammonium, 3.9 (0.8 ~ 16.2) kg N ha-1 yr-1 for nitrate and 14.0 (2.7 ~ 57.5) kg N 157

ha-1 yr-1 for TIN, respectively (Figs. 3a, 3b & 3c). In throughfall, geometric means of 158

N fluxes were 14.0 (2.3 ~ 95.8) kg N ha-1 yr-1 for ammonium, 5.5 (0.4 ~ 41.8) kg N 159

ha-1 yr-1 for nitrate and 21.5 (3.2 ~ 111.1) kg N ha-1 yr-1 for TIN, respectively (Figs. 3d, 160

3e & 3f). 161

162

3.2 Nitrogen enrichment in throughfall versus bulk precipitation 163

Concentrations of ammonium, nitrate and TIN were significantly enriched (paired 164

samples t-test, df = 37, p < 0.01), and NH4+-N : NO3

--N ratios were slightly increased 165

(paired samples t-test, df = 37, p = 0.05) in throughfall versus bulk precipitation. 166

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Distributions of enrichment ratios of ammonium, nitrate and TIN concentrations as 167

well as NH4+-N : NO3

--N ratios were highly skewed (Figs. 4a - 4c) and were 168

characterized by a log-normal distribution (Shapiro-Wilk normality test, p > 0.10). 169

Enrichment ratios were not significantly different for ammonium (arithmetic mean = 170

0.69, median = 0.53, ranging -0.40 ~ 4.70) and nitrate (arithmetic mean = 0.59, 171

median = 0.35, ranging -0.63 ~ 3.42) (paired sample t-test, df = 37, p = 0.30). The 172

median enrichment ratio of TIN was 0.55 (arithmetic mean = 0.68, ranging -0.22 ~ 173

4.15), indicating that the increase of TIN concentration in throughfall on average 174

accounted for approximately half of that in bulk deposition. 175

Similarly, distributions of canopy captured dry deposition of ammonium, nitrate 176

and TIN were characterized by a log-normal distribution (Fig. 4d - 4f; Shapiro-Wilk 177

normality test, p > 0.10). The medians of canopy captured dry deposition were 5.4 kg 178

N ha-1 yr-1 for ammonium (arithmetic mean = 9.7, ranging -5.8 ~ 79.0), 1.5 kg N ha-1 179

yr-1 for nitrate (arithmetic mean = 3.0, ranging -2.2 ~ 31.0) and 6.9 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for 180

TIN (arithmetic mean = 12.7, ranging -4.1 ~ 84.2), respectively. 181

182

3.3 Spatial characteristic of N concentrations, fluxes and enrichment ratios 183

Concentrations of ammonium and TIN in bulk precipitation and throughfall showed 184

a significant power-law reduction with increasing distance to the nearest large cities 185

(Figs. 5a, 5c, 5e & 5g) but the relationships were not statistical significant for nitrate 186

(Figs. 5b & 5f). The NH4+-N : NO3

--N ratios in bulk precipitation and throughfall both 187

also showed a significant power-law reduction with increasing distance to the nearest 188

large cities (Figs. 5d & 5h). 189

Fluxes of ammonium, nitrate and TIN in the bulk precipitation and throughfall all 190

showed a significant power-law reduction with increasing distance to the nearest large 191

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cities (Fig 6), but nitrate showed a very weak statistical significance (Figs. 6b & 6e). 192

Enrichment ratios of ammonium and TIN showed a significant linear decrease with 193

increasing distance to the nearest large cities (Figs. 7a and 7c), while the relationship 194

was not significant for nitrate (Fig. 7b). Similarly, canopy captured dry deposition of 195

ammonium and TIN decreased significantly with increasing distance to the nearest 196

large cities (Figs. 7d & 7f), whereas the relationship was not significant for nitrate 197

(Fig. 7e). 198

199

4. Discussion 200

201

4.1 Ammonium dominance of inorganic nitrogen 202

Our results showed that ammonium dominated TIN both in bulk precipitation and 203

throughfall in China’s forests. The range in NH4+-N : NO3

--N ratios in bulk 204

precipitation in China’s forests (0.64 ~ 9.20) is comparable to the range reported for 205

809 bulk precipitation measurements in China (Liu et al., 2013). The mean NH4+-N : 206

NO3--N ratio in throughfall (2.55) was slightly higher than in bulk precipitation (2.42). 207

There are two reasons for the dominance of ammonium in N deposition. First, NH3 208

emissions are much higher than NOx (NOx = NO + NO2) emissions in China (Liu et 209

al., 2010 & 2013). Between 1995 and 2010, the national emission ratio of NH3-N: 210

NOx-N was estimated at 2.70±0.09 (Liu et al., 2013), agreeing well with the mean 211

ratio of NH4+-N : NO3

--N in N deposition in our study. Second, wet deposition of 212

ammonium can be accelerated by high sulfur deposition in China due to enormous 213

sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions (Quan and Zhang, 2008; Lu et al., 2010). The 214

dominance of ammonium indicates a need of regulation policy on the NH3 emissions 215

since ammonium deposition is more detrimental than nitrate in decreasing 216

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biodiversity (Brittoa and Kronzucker, 2002; Erisman et al., 2007). 217

218

4.2 Nitrogen enrichment in throughfall 219

Enrichment ratios generally showed positive values for ammonium, nitrate and TIN, 220

indicating that bulk N deposition substantially underestimate N deposition in forests 221

ecosystems. The average bulk deposition was estimated at 9.4 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for 222

ammonium, 3.9 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for nitrate, and 14.0 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for TIN. Our results 223

are comparable to national bulk deposition of inorganic N in the 2000s in China 224

reported by Jia et al. (2014) ( ~ 14 kg N-1 yr-1), but much lower than the estimate by 225

Liu et al. (2013) (~ 21 kg N-1 yr-1) which is likely an overestimate by using an 226

arithmetic average. Throughfall N deposition was substantially higher and averaged 227

14.0 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for ammonium, 5.5 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for nitrate and 21.5 kg N ha-1 yr-1 228

for TIN, respectively. Overall, bulk deposition is about 50% less than throughfall 229

deposition. 230

Uncertainties remain in the estimates of N deposition by throughfall because N 231

inputs in rainfall may be absorbed by the forest canopy (Brumme et al., 1992; Lovett 232

and Lindberg, 1993; Gessler et al., 2002). In our study, only 5 out of 38 forest stands 233

had throughfall values being lower than bulk deposition, clearly indicating net N 234

uptake by forest canopy. Considering that throughfall is an underestimate of total 235

deposition, our results show that there is a substantial enrichment of inorganic N in 236

throughfall by dry deposition, contributing to the high load of N deposition to China’s 237

forests. 238

A number of observations have suggested that changes of N contents in 239

throughfall versus bulk precipitation may vary with forest type (Crockford and 240

Richardson, 2000; De Schrijver et al., 2007; Gundersen et al., 2009). For instance, De 241

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Schrijver et al. (2007) found higher N content in throughfall of coniferous than 242

broadleaved forest stands at comparable sites, which has been attributed to differences 243

in canopy characteristics. However, in our study we did not observe differences in 244

enrichment ratio for different forest types due to confounding factors, such as soil N 245

availability and amounts of precipitation (Crockford and Khanna, 1997; Polkowska et 246

al., 2005; De Vries et al., 2007). For instance, N fertilization increased release of 247

ammonium and nitrate in throughfall in a radiata pine (Pinus radiata) forest and 248

irrigation treatment further enhanced canopy N leaching (Crockford and Khanna, 249

1997). 250

251

4.3 Urban hotspots of nitrogen deposition 252

Concentrations and fluxes of ammonium in bulk precipitation and throughfall showed 253

a power-law reduction with increasing distance to the nearest large cities. The 254

enrichment ratio and canopy captured dry deposition of ammonium both showed a 255

significant linear decrease with increasing distance to the nearest large cities. Three 256

causes might be responsible for this spatial pattern. First, large cities are NH3 emitting 257

hotspots because waste disposal, energy consumption and suburb agricultural 258

activities (mainly N-fertilizer application and livestock breeding) can lead to high 259

NH3 emissions (Anderson et al., 2003; Gu et al., 2014). Second, atmospheric NH3 has 260

a short residence time, which strongly limits the transport distance (Asman et al., 261

1998; Krupa, 2003). Third, high emissions of urban-derived SO2 can accelerate 262

ammonium deposition in urban areas, while this accelerating effect of SO2 is minor in 263

remote areas (McLeod et al., 1990; Quan and Zhang, 2008). 264

Nitrate fluxes in bulk precipitation and throughfall were higher near urban hotspots 265

with a weak statistical significance, while nitrate concentrations in precipitation and 266

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throughfall did not change with increasing distance to the nearest large cities. In 267

addition, the enrichment ratio and canopy captured dry deposition of nitrate showed 268

no significant decrease with increasing distance to the nearest large cities. This is 269

most likely due to two causes. First, atmospheric NOx can be transported over a long 270

distance in the upper troposphere with a residence time of ~ 4 days (Wenig et al., 271

2003). Second, NOx emissions from traffic and transportation greatly influences the 272

atmospheric concentrations of NOx and hence the nitrate deposition in China (Cai and 273

Xie, 2007). Well-developed road network systems including national highways, 274

provincial roads and county roads have severely fragmented the landscape in China 275

from the eastern plains to the western mountainous regions (Li et al., 2010). 276

Automobile emissions substantially increase NOx concentrations near roadside areas 277

(Redling et al., 2013), resulting in an intermixing effect of road networks on spatial 278

patterns of NOx emissions. The intermixing effects of road networks and atmospheric 279

transport of NOx emissions most likely cause only slightly higher nitrate deposition 280

near urban hotspots. 281

Spatial patterns of TIN deposition were in accordance with the urban hotspot 282

hypothesis, showing a strong power-law reduction of ammonium deposition rather 283

than nitrate deposition with increasing distance to the nearest large cities. The 284

difference in spatial patterns of ammonium and nitrate deposition also leads to a 285

significant power-law reduction in NH4+-N: NO3

--N ratio with increasing distance to 286

the nearest large cities. Consistent with our results, Liu et al. (2008) found high N 287

deposition occurred at the urban area and decreased with distance to the urban center 288

of Guiyang, China. Jia et al. (2014) also illustrated that N deposition at forests sites 289

showed a power-law decrease with increasing distance to the nearest large city and 290

suggested that a critical distance subject to urban source influences is approximately 291

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200 km. However, our results indicated that the power-law decrease of N deposition 292

occurred in a distance range of 5 ~ 430 km and did not show a critical distance of 293

urban source influences, i.e. no change with further distance (Fig. 6a, 6b and 6c). The 294

relationships between N deposition and distance from urban hotspots could be useful 295

in modelling N deposition from regional to global scales. 296

297

4.4 Possible underestimation of total nitrogen deposition 298

Most likely, the N flux in throughfall is a significant underestimation of total N 299

deposition, as it neglects the occurrence of foliar N (e.g. Lovett and Lindberg, 1993; 300

Gessler et al., 2002) and deposition of organic N compounds (e.g. Cornell et al., 2003, 301

2009; Jickels et al., 2013). Foliar uptake of ammonium, nitrate and gaseous N 302

compounds including nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ammonia (NH3) can be substantial 303

(Lovett and Lindberg, 1993; Tomaszewski et al., 2003; Sievering et al., 2007; 304

Adriaenssens et al., 2012). For instance, Lovett and Lindberg (1993) examined bulk 305

precipitation and canopy throughfall chemistry at twelve sites across Europe and 306

North America in the early 1990s, and estimated that 41% of bulk N deposition is 307

retained by the canopy. Deposition at these sites was however low, ranging between 308

1.4 and 6.8 kg N.ha-1.yr-1 for eleven sites, and only one site had a relative high input 309

of 15.3 kg N.ha-1.yr-1. It is unlikely that N uptake rates will increase linearly at higher 310

levels of N deposition because nitrogen saturation in the canopy might be expected 311

(Eilers et al., 1997). Nevertheless, based on a canopy budget model approach, 312

described by Bredemeier (1988) and extended by Draaijers and Erisman (1995), De 313

Vries et al. (2000) estimated that the median value of the total deposition of inorganic 314

N compounds at 267 forest monitoring plots in Europe was approximately 1.5 times 315

as large as the throughfall deposition. Harrison et al. (2000) estimated that canopy N 316

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uptake may contribute 16 ~ 42 % to the total N demand of trees, depending on the 317

atmospheric N concentration and N status of the tree species. 318

Deposition of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) compounds is not included in 319

this study due to a lack of observed data. This may also lead to a significant 320

underestimation of total N deposition. Jickells et al (2013) suggested that on a global 321

basis, DON deposition accounts for approximately 25% of total N deposition. 322

Similarly, Zhang et al. (2012) and Du and Liu (2014) estimated that DON is 323

approximately 25% of bulk deposition in China. Assuming that the same ratio holds 324

for dry deposition, this also leads to a ratio of DON versus total deposition at 0.25. 325

In summary, these overviews suggest that total N deposition can be 25 ~ 75% 326

higher than the throughfall flux of inorganic N compounds reported in this study, with 327

fractions becoming lower when the throughfall flux is higher. Considering the range 328

in throughfall of TIN of 3.2 ~ 111 (mean = 21.5) kg N ha-1 yr-1, this implies that the 329

overall range may be somewhere between 5.6 ~ 139 (mean= 32.2) kg N ha-1 yr-1. 330

These values are generally much higher than estimates of critical loads of N 331

deposition in forest ecosystems, which mostly ranged from 10 ~ 20 kg N ha-1 yr-1 332

(Bobbink et al., 2010). The high loads of N deposition in China may thus lead to 333

severe biodiversity loss and even result in N saturation when N availability exceeds 334

the total combination of plant and microbial nutritional demand (Aber et al., 1989; 335

Bobbink et al., 2010). The dominance of ammonium may even lower the levels of 336

critical loads because it exerts more detrimental effects than nitrate (Brittoa and 337

Kronzucker, 2002; Erisman et al., 2007). The high N deposition in China’s forests 338

thus indicates an urgent need to assess and mitigate the negative effects of the N 339

deposition, specifically of ammonium deposition. 340

341

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5. Conclusions 342

Our results showed that ammonium dominated N deposition with a mean NH4+-N : 343

NO3--N ratio of ~ 2.5 in bulk deposition and throughfall in China’s forests. Mean 344

throughfall N deposition in China’s forests was as high as 14.0 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for 345

ammonium, 5.5 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for nitrate and 21.5 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for TIN, respectively. 346

Mean bulk deposition was 9.4 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for ammonium, 3.9 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for 347

nitrate and 14.0 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for TIN, respectively. Mean canopy captured dry 348

deposition was estimated at 5.4 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for ammonium, 1.5 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for 349

nitrate, and 6.9 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for TIN, respectively. Spatial patterns of bulk and 350

throughfall TIN deposition were in accordance with the urban hotspot hypothesis, 351

showing a strong power-law reduction of ammonium rather than nitrate deposition 352

with increasing distance to the nearest large cities. Field observations and experiments 353

should be conducted to assess the impacts of N deposition on the health of China’s 354

forest in context of increasing N deposition. 355

China has recently set goals to reduce NOx emissions by 10% in 2015 against 2010 356

emissions (Twelfth Five Year Plan), while an anticipated increase in meat and dairy 357

consumption and the absence of an NH3 regulation policy may accelerate NH3 358

emissions. Simultaneously, new urban hot-spots of N deposition are emerging due to 359

rapid urbanization in China. This implies that N deposition in China is likely to 360

increase continuously in the next few decades with ammonium deposition becoming 361

even more dominating. Unless measures are taken to reduce ammonium pollution by 362

improving agricultural N use efficiency and managing emissions from livestock 363

breeding, negative effects of excessive N on forest ecosystems may increase in the 364

next decades. 365

366

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Acknowledgement 367

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 368

41171067) and National Basic Research Program of China on Global Change (No. 369

2010CB950600). 370

371

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527

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FIGURE LEGENDS 528

Figure 1. Locations of 38 forest stands with bulk precipitation and throughfall 529

observations in this study. Some forest stands could not be distinguished due to close 530

locations. 531

Figure 2. Histograms showing the distributions of ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3

-) 532

and total inorganic N (TIN) concentrations (mg N L-1), and NH4+ : NO3

- ratios in bulk 533

precipitation (BP) and throughfall (TF) for 38 forests in China. AM and GM are 534

abbreviations for arithmetic mean and geometric mean, respectively. 535

Figure 3. Histograms showing the distributions of ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3

-) 536

and total inorganic N (TIN) fluxes (kg N ha-1 yr-1) in bulk precipitation (BP) and 537

throughfall (TF) for 38 forests in China. 538

Figure 4. Histograms showing the distributions of enrichment ratios (ER) and 539

enrichment in fluxes (∆Flux) (kg N ha-1 yr-1) of ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3

-) and 540

total inorganic N (TIN) for 38 forests in China. 541

Figure 5. Changes of ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3

-) and TIN concentrations (mg 542

N L-1), and NH4+:NO3- ratios in the bulk precipitation (BP) and throughfall (TF) 543

with increasing distance to the nearest large cities. Data are transformed using natural 544

logarithm. 545

Figure 6. Changes of ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3

-) and TIN fluxes (kg N ha-1 546

yr-1) in the bulk precipitation (BP) and throughfall (TF) with increasing distance to the 547

nearest large cities. Data are transformed using natural logarithm. 548

Figure 7. Changes of enrichment ratios (ER) and enrichment in fluxes (∆Flux) (kg N 549

ha-1 yr-1) of ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3

-) and total inorganic N (TIN) with 550

increasing distance to the nearest large cities. Values of the distance are transformed 551

using natural logarithm. 552

553

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Figure 1 554

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Figure 2 558

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Figure 3 561

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Figure 4 565

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Figure 5 569

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Figure 6 572

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Table S1 Information on the forest stands. 1

2

Site Lon (E) Lat (N) AT (˚C) AP (mm) Forest type* Year Reference 1 128.87 47.18 -0.3 676 DBF 2008 Li et al., 2009

2 113.03 28.11 17.2 1411 DBF 2007-2008 Luo and Wen, 2010

3 128.89 47.18 -0.3 676 DCF 2006 Wu et al., 2008

4 121.51 50.83 -5.4 500 DCF 2008 Su, 2009

5 130.71 46.43 2.7 550 DCF 2008 Liang et al., 2010

6 121.57 24.57 18.2 2900 EBF 1995-1996 Lin et al., 2000

7 112.57 23.17 20.9 1929 EBF 2009 Zhang et al., 2010b

8 113.58 23.55 22 1740 EBF 2001-2003 Chen and Mulder, 2007

9 107.02 27.08 13 1043 EBF 2001-2005 Zhang et al., 2007

10 116.92 28.25 17.6 1795 EBF 2009-2010 Wang and Wang, 2011

11 117.55 29.58 16.3 1750 EBF 2009-2010 Zhang, 2010

12 117.75 30.38 16.4 1550 EBF 2008-2009 Zhang et al., 2010a

13 117.35 30.02 16 1626 EBF 2009-2010 Zhang, 2010

14 113.30 23.18 22 1600 EBF 1998-1999 Zhou et al., 2000

15 112.90 27.83 17.4 1549 EBF 2003-2004 Chen et al., 2006

16 101.02 24.53 11.3 1931 EBF 1998-1999 Liu et al., 2002

17 112.88 22.67 21.7 1801 EBF 1996 Liu et al., 2000

18 112.88 22.67 21.7 1801 EBF 1996 Liu et al., 2000

19 118.10 26.55 19.3 1664 ECF 1995-1996 Fan and Hong, 2001

20 118.10 26.55 19.3 1664 ECF 1995-1996 Fan and Hong, 2001

21 104.50 32.91 2.7 805 ECF 2002-2003 Gong et al., 2005

22 116.92 28.25 17.6 1795 ECF 2009-2010 Wang and Wang, 2011

23 104.80 32.97 2.7 805 ECF 2002-2003 Gong et al., 2005

24 112.90 27.83 17.5 1450 ECF 2001 Zhang et al., 2003

25 112.88 22.67 21.7 1801 ECF 1996 Liu et al., 2000

26 113.30 23.18 22 1600 ECF 1998-1999 Zhou et al., 2000

27 116.08 40.06 11.7 586 ECF 2004 Wang et al., 2006

28 128.89 47.18 -0.3 676 ECF 2006 Wu et al., 2008

29 117.34 31.80 15.7 1000 ECF 2009-2010 Zhang, 2010

30 109.83 26.75 16.8 1300 ECF 2000 Tian, 2002

31 113.30 23.18 22 1600 ECF 1998-1999 Zhou et al., 2000

32 113.83 23.70 20.3 2144 EMF 2006-2008 Zhou et al., 2009

33 108.18 26.37 15.7 2210 EMF 2001-2003 Chen and Mulder, 2007

34 106.72 26.63 15.3 1120 EMF 2001-2003 Chen and Mulder, 2007

35 106.43 28.63 13.7 1200 EMF 2004 Chen et al., 2009

36 112.43 27.92 17.5 1250 EMF 2001-2003 Chen and Mulder, 2007

37 104.68 29.63 18.2 1230 EMF 2001-2003 Chen and Mulder, 2007

38 106.37 29.75 13.6 1612 EMF 2009-2010 Guo et al., 2012

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*Note: The abbreviations DBF, DCF, EBF, ECF and EMF indicate the forest types of deciduous 3

broadleaved forest, deciduous coniferous forest, evergreen broadleaved forest, evergreen coniferous forest, 4

and evergreen broadleaved and coniferous mixed forest, respectively. 5

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