Critical Loads And Dynamic Risk Assessments

This book provides a unique overview of research methods over the past 25 years assessing critical loads and temporal effects of the deposition of air pollutants. It includes critical load methods and applications addressing acidification, eutrophication and heavy metal pollution of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Applications include examples for each air pollution threat, both at local and regional scale, including Europe, Asia, Canada and the US. The book starts with background information on the effects of the deposition of sulphur, nitrogen and heavy metals and geochemical and biological indicators for risk assessments. The use of those indicators is then illustrated in the assessment of critical loads and their exceedances and in the temporal assessment of air pollution risks. It also includes the most recent developments of assessing critical loads and current and future risks of soil and water chemistry and biodiversity under climate change, with a special focus on nitrogen. The book thus provides a complete overview of the knowledge that is currently used for the scientific support of policies in the field of air pollution control to protect ecosystem services.

Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition in Global Forests: Spatial Variation, Impacts, and Management Implications provides the most comprehensive knowledge on spatial variation and ecological impacts of reactive nitrogen deposition in global forests, as well as forest management options to mitigate the negative impacts. Written and edited by international experts in the field, this book synthesizes recent research developments and insights in monitoring and modeling nitrogen deposition in global forests. The book also assesses ecological impacts of enhanced nitrogen deposition on forest structure and function and responses of forest ecosystems to decreasing nitrogen deposition in regions such as the European Union and North America. Finally, the book reviews indicators and thresholds for nitrogen saturation in global forests and analyzes remediation options to reduce impacts of excess nitrogen deposition. This is an important resource for researchers in forestry and biodiversity conservation, as well as graduate students, policymakers and others who want to understand environmental issues of reactive nitrogen deposition in global forests. Offers a systematic view of the ecological impacts of enhanced nitrogen deposition Provides the most comprehensive knowledge on spatial variation and the ecological impacts of reactive nitrogen deposition in global forests Presents expert research and findings on forest management options to remediate negative impacts

This book is an open access publication. Forest ecosystems in Central Europe are changing as a result of anthropogenic influences and changing climate conditions. As such, a large-scale monitoring programme was undertaken in order to understand the influence of site modification, deposition of air pollutants, and climate. This book presents the scientific findings of this study for Germany, including the major challenges with regard to the future preservation and management of forest ecosystems under environmental change. In addition, it addresses a number of central questions: what are the main factors affecting forest stands and soil integrity? How, and how rapidly, are forest ecosystems changing? How diverse are the changes across Germany? What will be the main risks in sustainable forest management in the future? And how can policy support the development and maintenance of adaptive and resilient forests that provide essential ecosystem services, today and in the future? Helping readers understand the importance of soils and related ecosystem processes for future sustainable forestry, and sharing essential findings on environmental change and related changes in forest status and dynamics, the book is a valuable resource for researchers and policymakers interested in science-based decisions.

This edited book is devoted to environmental risk management in gas industry impacted polar ecosystems of Russia, one of the hottest topics of modern environmental science. The contributions from experts cover topics that shed new light on the impacts of oil and natural gas production on arctic ecosystems in the country as well as biogeochemical engineering technologies to manage pollution in these areas. Readers will also discover new insights on potential ecological indicators for assessing geo-environmental risks of these impacted ecosystems, and climate modeling in polar areas. The book has interdisciplinary appeal, and specialists and practitioners in environmental sciences, ecology, biogeochemistry and those within the energy sector who are interested in understanding ecosystems affected by anthropogenic impacts in severe climatic conditions will find it particularly engaging. Through this book, readers will learn more about biogeochemical cycling through food chains and specific reactions of biota to environmental pollution in extreme environments through the lens of experts.

This is the only book to offer an up-to-date overview of air pollution in East Asia and the effects of air pollutants such as ozone, acid deposition and aerosols on Asian crops and trees. It is unique in that it discusses the fundamentals of environmental plant science and research advances in the area at the plant ecophysiology level. It addresses various topics, including gaseous air pollutants such as ozone; soil acidification and atmospheric nitrogen deposition due to acid deposition; PM2.5 and the effects of air pollutants on growth, yield and physiological functions such as photosynthesis of crops and trees in East Asia. It is a valuable resource for environmental scientists, plant scientists, government officials, industrialists, environmentalists, undergraduate and graduate students and anyone interested in the application of the latest findings to agricultural production and protection of forest ecosystems in Asia. It also provides useful information for professionals involved in research, development, production, processing and marketing of agricultural products, including those in developing countries who are interested in advanced environmental science in this field.

This book offers perspectives on how to develop a sustainable global balance of urbanization, land-use intensification, land abandonment, and multifunctional cultural landscapes. The focus is on the latter by describing the large variety of traditional cultural landscapes having evolved through centuries or even millennia by the use of the natural, terrestrial and aquatic resources. Those cultural landscapes encompass pasture, agroforestry, terraced, irrigation, coastal, monastic, and sacred landscapes as well as lake-, river-, and saltscapes. The restoration of low-input land-use systems which often carry a high biodiversity on the species, ecosystem, and landscape level as well as agrobiodiversity and agrodiversity is outlined. The restoration of multifunctional and diverse landscapes, however, is not only an ecological issue but encompasses many socio-economic aspects such as e.g., the revitalization of villages, eco-tourism, healthy food production, infrastructure, and rural-urban partnerships. Global environmental problems, which are related to urbanization and the intensification of the use of land and water resources are comprehensively outlined. Land abandonment which occurs on all continents is qualitatively and quantitatively assessed and the consequences for natural and cultural heritage loss is highlighted. With the presentation of current rural development and landscape conservation strategies on the national as well as international level, the topic reflects the high significance of environmental policy on the global scale. The global implementation of natural and cultural heritage conservation is, for example, given by the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, National Parks, Biosphere Reserves, Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Sites, High Nature Value Farmland, and the Satoyama initiative. However, also the “every-day” landscapes can contribute to biodiversity and strong sustainability. This comprehensive compendium, based on about 4,000 references of scientific studies, literature reviews, project reports, and environmental policy papers is thought for all students, scholars, and stakeholders from multifaceted disciplines, interested in multifunctional cultural landscapes and how traditions and innovation on the landscape level can be merged for a sustainable future on our planet. Case studies from all over the world are presented which can be used in Higher Education or to demonstrate the numerous approaches of sustainable rural development.

This two-volume set provides an extensive review of the abundant past and recent literature on the atmospheric chemistry in the Mediterranean region. The books document the experience gained on the atmospheric composition over the Mediterranean basin and close areas after six decades of research, starting from early studies of radioactive aerosol fallouts and intense desert dust events in the 1960s, followed by studies of aerosols collected during oceanographic cruises in the early 1980s, and including subsequent knowledge from various surface monitoring stations, intensive campaigns, satellite climatologies, laboratory studies, as well as chemistry-transport and climate models. Through ten thematic sections, the authors examine the sources and fates of atmospheric pollutants over the Mediterranean basin and what we know about the main impacts of the regional atmospheric chemistry. This overview not only considers the full regional cycle of both aerosol and reactive gases including emissions, transport, transformations, and sinks, but also addresses their major impacts on air quality and health, on the radiative budget and climate, on marine chemistry and biogeochemistry . The volumes are an initiative from the ChArMEx project that has federated many studies on those topics in the 2010-2020decade, and update the scientific knowledge by integrating the ChArMEx and non-ChArMEx literature. The books are contributed by a large pool of well-known authors from the respective fields, mainly from France and Greece, but also from six other Mediterranean and eight non-Mediterranean countries. All Chapters have been peer-reviewed by international scientific experts in the corresponding domains. Volume 2 focuses on emissions and their sources, recent progress on chemical processes, aerosol properties, atmospheric deposition, and the impacts of air pollution on human health, regional climate and ecosystems. Recommendations for future research in these fields are finally proposed. The targeted audience is the academic community working on atmospheric chemistry and its impacts, especially teams having a special interest in the Mediterranean region, which includes many countries and institutes worldwide.

Provides an overview of the important role that environmental experts play at the science-policy interface, and the complex challenges they face.