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Impacto de la deposición de nitrógeno en la riqueza de especies de las praderas

Carly J Stevens¹, Nancy B Dise, J Owen Mountford

¹Department of Earth Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK. c.j.stevens@open.ac.uk

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|March 20, 2004

Resumen

La deposición crónica de nitrógeno reduce significativamente la riqueza de especies vegetales en las praderas ácidas. Los niveles más altos de nitrógeno conducen a una disminución lineal de las especies, con una reducción del 23% observada en las tasas promedio de deposición europeas.

Área de la Ciencia:

Ecología Ecología Ecología.
Ciencias ambientales Ciencias ambientales.
Botánica La botánica es la botánica.

Sus antecedentes:

Las praderas ácidas son ecosistemas sensibles.
Las regiones industrializadas experimentan diferentes niveles de deposición de nitrógeno.
La deposición crónica de nitrógeno es una preocupación ambiental global.

Objetivo del estudio:

Para investigar el impacto de la deposición crónica de nitrógeno en la riqueza de especies vegetales en las praderas ácidas británicas.
Para cuantificar la relación entre las tasas de deposición de nitrógeno y la pérdida de especies.

Principales métodos:

Una encuesta de 68 sitios de pastizales ácidos en toda Gran Bretaña.
Análisis de la riqueza de especies vegetales en relación con la deposición anual de nitrógeno en el ambiente (5-35 kg N ha-1 año-1).
Modelado estadístico para determinar la relación funcional entre la deposición y la riqueza de especies.

Principales resultados:

Se encontró una correlación lineal negativa significativa entre la deposición de nitrógeno y la riqueza de especies vegetales.
La riqueza de especies disminuyó en una especie por cuadrado de 4 m2 por cada 2,5 kg N ha-1 año-1 de deposición.
Las especies adaptadas a condiciones infértiles se redujeron sistemáticamente bajo una alta deposición de nitrógeno.

Conclusiones:

La deposición de nitrógeno a largo plazo es el principal impulsor de la pérdida de especies en praderas ácidas.
Incluso rangos más bajos de deposición de nitrógeno pueden tener efectos perjudiciales en la biodiversidad vegetal.
Los hallazgos destacan la necesidad de gestionar las emisiones de nitrógeno para conservar los ecosistemas de pastizales.

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