Effects of enhanced nitrogen deposition and phosphorus limitation on nitrogen budgets of semi-natural grasslands

Increased reactive atmospheric N deposition has been implicated in floristic changes in species‐rich acidic and calcareous grasslands, but the fate of this pollutant N in these ecosystems is unknown. This paper reports the first analysis of N budgets and N fluxes for two grasslands in the White Peak area of Derbyshire, one of the most heavily N‐polluted locations in the UK. N fluxes were monitored in lysimeter cores (retaining the original turfs) taken from field plots of unimproved acidic and calcareous grasslands that had received (in addition to ambient N deposition) simulated enhanced N deposition treatments of 3.5 and 14 g N m−2 yr−1 for 6 years. The influence of reducing phosphorus limitation was assessed by factorial additions of P. Seasonal leached losses of nitrate, ammonia and organic N were monitored in detail along with estimates of N removal through simulated grazing and gaseous losses through denitrification and volatilization. The rates of N fluxes by these pathways were used to create N budgets for the grasslands. Both grasslands were found to be accumulating much of the simulated additional N deposition: up to 89% accumulated in the calcareous grassland and up to 38% accumulated in the acidic grassland. The major fluxes of N loss from these grasslands were by simulated grazing and leaching of soluble organic N (constituting 90% of leached N under ambient conditions). Leached inorganic N (mainly nitrate) contributed significantly to the output flux of N under the highest N treatment only. Loss of N through ammonia volatilization accounted for less than 6% of the N added as simulated deposition, while denitrification contributed significantly to output fluxes only in the acidic grassland during winter. The implications of the results for ecosystem N balances and the likely consequences of N accumulation on these grasslands are discussed.