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Nitrogen emissions could sink plant diversity in species hotspots Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com April 11, 2006 Rising nitrogen emissions from human activities -- such as fossil fuel burning and livestock farming -- may soon threaten plant species in some of the world's most biodiverse places according to researchers at the Universities of Sheffield and York. Nitrogen gas is released into the atmosphere by fossil fuel combustion and returns to Earth in rainfall. Nitrogen deposition has been shown to damage plants by altering the nutrient content of the soil. While nitrogen emissions from industrialized countries are stabilizing, emissions from developing countries climbing. "Until recently, scientists have focused on the threat of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in Europe and North America — partially since these were the first areas of the world to receive high levels of this pollutant. However, our work shows that atmospheric nitrogen deposition is becoming a global threat, " said Dr Gareth Phoenix in a statement.
"Scientists know very little about the sensitivity of the hotspot ecosystems to nitrogen deposition, so accurate estimates of the amount of likely species loss are not possible," said Hicks. "Understanding the impacts of [Nitrogen] deposition in hotspots is, therefore, a priority for future research." The paper, "Atmospheric nitrogen deposition in world biodiversity hotspots: the need for a greater global perspective in assessing N deposition impacts" is published in the March 2006 issue of Global Change Biology [12, 470—476] This article is based on press materials from the University of Sheffield.
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