Conditions for ecosystem responses to total nitrogen and total sulfur deposition (2021-2023)
Bell MD , Taylor K, Felker-Quinn E. 2025. Conditions for ecosystem responses to total nitrogen and total sulfur deposition (2021-2023). National Park Service. Lakewood, CO
This document identifies risk to ecosystems from nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) air pollution within all National Park Service, US Forest Service, and US Fish and Wildlife Service units. Response rates and critical loads of sensitive ecosystem components are taken from published literature and applied to NPS units using appropriate environmental factors. Critical loads are the amount of deposition below which significant harmful effects on specified sensitive elements of the environment do not occur according to present knowledge. (All values are in kg/ha/yr). Exceedance of critical loads, and thus expected harm to a sensitive ecosystem component, occurs when local deposition of N or S pollution is higher than the critical loads. When response curves have been calculated within a manuscript the deposition at a site can be used to estimated the expected response of the ecosystem component. This analysis uses the most recent (2021-2023) National Atmospheric Deposition Program Total Deposition model (TDep) output for total N deposition and Total S deposition.
- Type
- Tabular Dataset
- Authors
- Bell, Michael; Taylor, Ksienya; Felker-Quinn, Emmi
- Date of Issue
- 2025-05-01
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Keywords
- critical load, ecosystem response, nitrogen deposition, risk assessment, sulfur deposition
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Air and Climate | Air Quality | Wet and Dry Deposition , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Terrestrial Complex , NPS.gov Subject Site: Air