Das Übereinkommen über weiträumige grenzüberschreitende Luftverunreinigung (engl. Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution) der UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, dt. Wirtschaftskommission der UN für Europa), auch bekannt als Genfer Luftreinhaltekonvention, wurde am 13. November 1979 in Genf beschlossen. 51 Parteien haben die Konvention unterzeichnet, u.a. alle EU-Mitgliedstaaten, die EU-Kommission, viele osteuropäische und zentralasiatische Staaten sowie die USA und Kanada. Das Übereinkommen wurde durch acht Protokolle konkretisiert.
AbstractBackgroundThe critical values for heavy metal fluxes for protecting the human health and ecosystem's integrity in Germany, especially the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG in Gesetz zum Schutz vor schädlichen Umwelteinwirkungen durch Luftverunreinigungen, Geräusche, Erschütterungen und ähnliche Vorgänge (Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz-BImSchG), 1974/2020) with its implementing ordinances (especially the 39th BImSchV in Neununddreißigste Verordnung zur Durchführung des Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetzes Verordnung über Luftqualitätsstandards und Emissionshöchstmengen vom 2. August 2010, zuletzt geändert durch Art. 2 V v. 18.7.2018 I 1222, 2010, 2018), the Federal Soil Protection Ordinance (BBodSchV in Bundes-Bodenschutz- und Altlastenverordnung (BBodSchV) (GBBl. I S. 1554 vom 12. Juli 1999, zuletzt durch Artikel 3 Absatz 4 der Verordnung vom 27. September 2017 (BGBl. I S. 3465) ge-ändert, 1999/2015) and the Technical Instructions on Air Quality Control (Luft in Erste Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift zum Bundes–Immissionsschutzgesetz (Technische Anleitung zur Reinhaltung der Luft – TA Luft), 2002), were analysed, assessed with regard to the possibilities and applicability of the risk assessment, and were prepared for evaluation in comparison to the respective atmospheric deposition modelled with the chemical transport model LOTOS-EUROS. For a comparison of the critical values, the critical loads for cadmium, lead and mercury inputs were updated for Germany on a scale of 1:1 Mio, and critical loads for additional heavy metals (arsenic, copper, zinc, chromium and nickel) were computed, respectively. Due to the methodological differences of their derivation, the critical values of the individual regulations are only conditionally comparable to one another and to the critical loads. Sometimes major differences exist due to different levels of protection, various protective goods and the effect relationship. Only with the critical load calculations, inputs and outputs can be balanced.ResultsFor two unregulated metals (thallium and vanadium) a preliminary rough estimate of the risk of inputs in the receptors was provided as a calculated balance for in- and acceptable outputs. The uncertainty analysis shows, that the highest deviations occurred in the metal contents in plants used to calculate the output through the harvesting of the biomass. The critical load calculation has the highest sensitivity to changes in the pH value. The critical loads for heavy metal fluxes for protecting the human health (CL(M)drink) and ecosystem's integrity CL(M)eco) for arsenic, nickel, zinc and chromium were not exceeded in Germany for 2009–2011. CL(M)drinkand CL(M)ecoare exceeded by Hg and Pb inputs, especially in the low rainfall regions of Germany (Brandenburg, lowlands of Saxony-Anhalt, Leipzig Bay, Ruhr valley) with wood vegetation; in addition CL(Cu)ecois exceeded by copper deposition 2010 in the area surrounding Berlin and in the Ruhr valley. The critical loads for cadmium for the protection of drinking water CL(Cd)drinkand for the protection of human food from wheat products CL(Cd)foodare not exceeded in the German data set due to atmospheric deposition in 2010, but in the worst-case scenario the maximum atmospheric deposition in 2010 could exceeded the lowest CL(Cd)drinkand CL(Cd)food.ConclusionsThat assessment of risks was based on deposition from the atmosphere, which represents only a fraction of the inputs compared to the inputs from the use of fertilisers and other sources. This study suggests the conclusive recommendation to methodically deepen and broaden the assessment and evaluation of atmospheric deposition. This is especially true for the spatial validation and specification of exposure for ecosystem types.
For the calculation of the Critical Loads (CL) for terrestrial ecosystems throughout Europe, but also for the modelling of the air quality, the creation of an up-to-date harmonized land cover map is necessary. This is combined with a spatial extension to Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia (EECCA). The updated harmonized European Land Cover Map must comply with the EUNIS Habitat Classification Scheme with as much Level 3 classes as possible. Based on an evaluation of the availability and suitability of different spatial data it was decided to 1) use CORINE Land Cover 2018 and Ecosystem Type Map v3.1 and apply transition rules towards EUNIS Level 1 and Level 2 for European countries covered by CORINE Land Cover Maps, 2) use Copernicus Global Land Cover Map and apply transition rules towards EUNIS Level 1 and Level 2 for European countries not-covered by CORINE Land Cover Maps, 3) use Global Potential Natural Vegetation (GPNV) maps and the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD) to further disaggregate Level 2 classes towards Level 3. More than 700,000 points from the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) classified at EUNIS Level 3 were provided by the expert system for automatic classification of European vegetation plots to EUNIS habitats. Features were extracted from the GPNV modelled data on BIOMEs and FAPAR. Random stratified sampling was performed to retrieve 60% training and 40% validation samples. Training samples were used to train Random Forest decision tree models. Accuracy assessment was done on the remaining 40% validation samples. Overall accuracies ranged from 60% to more than 90%. Likewise, class specific users' and producers' accuracies found moderate to very high percentages. The decision tree models were to produce the updated EUNIS Level 3 habitat for whole Europe and EECCA countries providing a total of 218 land cover classes from which 204 classes represent EUNISLevel 3 classes.
Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es, für Deutschland flächendeckend Stickstoffimmobilisierungsraten für die Critical-Load-Berechnung abzuleiten. Es soll dabei geprüft werden, inwieweit die landnutzungs - spezifische Bodenübersichtskarte Deutschland 1/1.000.000 (BÜK1000N v2.3) sowohl als Karten- wie auch als Datengrundlage genutzt werden kann. Aufbauend auf dem Vorgängerprojekt (Projektnr. 76011) werden die Stickstoffimmobilisierungsraten anhand rezent gemessenen Stickstoffvorräte und dem dazugehörigen Bodenalter abgeleitet. Die Eignung der BÜK1000N als Datengrundlage wird dabei aufgrund der Datenlage zu den Stickstoffvorräten als unzureichend eingeschätzt. Die Nutzung der Daten der zweiten Bodenzustandserhebung im Wald (BZE II) wird favorisiert. An den BZE-Punkten können Stickstoffvorräte der organischen Auflage und des Mineralbodens bis zu einer Tiefe von 90 cm berechnet werden. Das Bodenalter der BZE-Punkte wird entsprechend dem Vorgehen des Vorgängerprojektes anhand der maximalen Vereisung während der letzten Eiszeit festgelegt. Die Stickstoffvorräte der BZE-Aufnahmepunkte werden den BÜK1000N-Einheiten und Corine Landnutzungsklassen zugeordnet. Es zeigt sich, dass sich die Stickstoffimmobilisierungsraten anhand der BÜK1000N-Einheiten in drei Klassen gruppieren lassen. Die höchsten Immobilisierungsraten finden sich in den organischen Böden der BÜK1000N-Einheiten 6 und 7 mit 1,37 ± 0,29 kg ha -1 a -1, mittlere Raten in Höhe von 0,93 ± 0.06 kg ha -1 a -1 in den BÜK1000-Einheiten 19 - 21 mit mittel- bis tiefgründige Böden vorwiegend aus Geschiebelehm oder -mergel sowie Böden im montanen und subalpinen Bereich des Alpenraums. In den übrigen BÜK1000N-Einheiten weisen die Böden Raten von 0,31 ± 0,04 kg ha -1 a -1 auf. Innerhalb der einzelnen BÜK1000N-Einheiten zeigen sich kaum Unterschiede zwischen den Waldtypen der Corine Landnutzungsdaten, so dass empfohlen wird, die Stratifizierung der Immobilisierungsraten anhand der BÜK1000N-Einheiten vorzunehmen. Mit dem vorliegenden Regionalisierungsansatz können 98,8 % der Rezeptorflächen der Critical-Load-Berechnung abgedeckt werden.
AbstractThe primary task of the BERN database is to document reference data on typical site parameters for the occurrence of plant communities in which their diagnostic species are in competitive equilibrium with each other and in homeostatic equilibrium with the site factors. Common approaches for the creation of a site-plant database such as ordination or bioindication based on individual species like PROPS or MultiMOVE model are of limited use because it is not possible to determine the potential occurrence of a plant species on the basis of site factors, since the competitive influences cannot be determined in advance according to current knowledge. Therefore, the BERN database takes into account the structure of plant communities with the abundance and dominance of species in the competitive equilibrium of plant communities as a reference for determining anthropogenically induced changes. Qualitative knowledge on the relationship between site types and vegetation communities is widely available, as can be seen from the extensive phytosociological publications. For this purpose, synoptic tables and their location descriptions of around 50,000 relevés were evaluated. The BERN database includes currently 887 central European plant communities and links to their diagnostically defining species composition. The database defines the niche of 2210 central European plant species for the soil properties pH, base saturation, carbon to nitrogen ratio, and wetness index and the climatic properties continentality, length of vegetation period, solar radiation and climatic water balance. The BERN model recombines the realised species niches that mainly form the competitively homeostatic structure of a plant community in order to determine the fundamental multifactorial niche of this community. The BERN database contains mainly historical recordings of more or less undisturbed sites. The BERN model (Bioindication for Ecosystem Regeneration towards Natural conditions) as an application module of the BERN database was developed to integrate ecological cause-effect relationships into studies on environmental status assessment and forecasting. The BERN database now has been published for the first time. The methodology of creating the BERN database and the BERN model are documented and applications are demonstrated with examples. The freely available database should invite you to supplement and modify it.
Atmospheric nitrogen (N) pollution is considered responsible for a substantial decline in plant species richness and for altered community structures in terrestrial habitats worldwide. Nitrogen affects habitats through direct toxicity, soil acidification, and in particular by favoring fast-growing species. Pressure from N pollution is decreasing in some areas. In Europe (EU28), overall emissions of NO x declined by more than 50% while NH3 declined by less than 30% between the years 1990 and 2015, and further decreases may be achieved. The timescale over which these improvements will affect ecosystems is uncertain. Here we use 23 European forest research sites with high quality long-term data on deposition, climate, soil recovery, and understory vegetation to assess benefits of currently legislated N deposition reductions in forest understory vegetation. A dynamic soil model coupled to a statistical plant species niche model was applied with site-based climate and deposition. We use indicators of N deposition and climate warming effects such as the change in the occurrence of oligophilic, acidophilic, and cold-tolerant plant species to compare the present with projections for 2030 and 2050. The decrease in N deposition under current legislation emission (CLE) reduction targets until 2030 is not expected to result in a release from eutrophication. Albeit the model predictions show considerable uncertainty when compared with observations, they indicate that oligophilic forest understory plant species will further decrease. This result is partially due to confounding processes related to climate effects and to major decreases in sulphur deposition and consequent recovery from soil acidification, but shows that decreases in N deposition under CLE will most likely be insufficient to allow recovery from eutrophication.
Atmospheric nitrogen (N) pollution is considered responsible for a substantial decline in plant species richness and for altered community structures in terrestrial habitats worldwide. Nitrogen affects habitats through direct toxicity, soil acidification, and in particular by favoring fast-growing species. Pressure fromNpollution is decreasing in some areas. In Europe (EU28), overall emissions ofNOx declined by more than 50% whileNH3 declined by less than 30% between the years 1990 and 2015, and further decreases may be achieved. The timescale over which these improvements will affect ecosystems is uncertain. Here we use 23 European forest research sites with high quality long-term data on deposition, climate, soil recovery, and understory vegetation to assess benefits of currently legislatedNdeposition reductions in forest understory vegetation. A dynamic soil model coupled to a statistical plant species niche model was applied with site-based climate and deposition.Weuse indicators ofNdeposition and climate warming effects such as the change in the occurrence of oligophilic, acidophilic, and cold-tolerant plant species to compare the present with projections for 2030 and 2050. The decrease inNdeposition under current legislation emission (CLE) reduction targets until 2030 is not expected to result in a release from eutrophication. Albeit the model predictions show considerable uncertainty when compared with observations, they indicate that oligophilic forest understory plant species will further decrease. This result is partially due to confounding processes related to climate effects and to major decreases in sulphur deposition and consequent recovery from soil acidification, but shows that decreases inNdeposition under CLE will most likely be insufficient to allow recovery from eutrophication.
Atmospheric nitrogen (N) pollution is considered responsible for a substantial decline in plant species richness and for altered community structures in terrestrial habitats worldwide. Nitrogen affects habitats through direct toxicity, soil acidification, and in particular by favoring fast-growing species. Pressure from N pollution is decreasing in some areas. In Europe (EU28), overall emissions of NO x declined by more than 50% while NH3 declined by less than 30% between the years 1990 and 2015, and further decreases may be achieved. The timescale over which these improvements will affect ecosystems is uncertain. Here we use 23 European forest research sites with high quality long-term data on deposition, climate, soil recovery, and understory vegetation to assess benefits of currently legislated N deposition reductions in forest understory vegetation. A dynamic soil model coupled to a statistical plant species niche model was applied with site-based climate and deposition. We use indicators of N deposition and climate warming effects such as the change in the occurrence of oligophilic, acidophilic, and cold-tolerant plant species to compare the present with projections for 2030 and 2050. The decrease in N deposition under current legislation emission (CLE) reduction targets until 2030 is not expected to result in a release from eutrophication. Albeit the model predictions show considerable uncertainty when compared with observations, they indicate that oligophilic forest understory plant species will further decrease. This result is partially due to confounding processes related to climate effects and to major decreases in sulphur deposition and consequent recovery from soil acidification, but shows that decreases in N deposition under CLE will most likely be insufficient to allow recovery from eutrophication. ; publishedVersion
Atmospheric nitrogen (N) pollution is considered responsible for a substantial decline in plant species richness and for altered community structures in terrestrial habitats worldwide. Nitrogen affects habitats through direct toxicity, soil acidification, and in particular by favoring fast-growing species. Pressure from N pollution is decreasing in some areas. In Europe (EU28), overall emissions of NO x declined by more than 50% while NH3 declined by less than 30% between the years 1990 and 2015, and further decreases may be achieved. The timescale over which these improvements will affect ecosystems is uncertain. Here we use 23 European forest research sites with high quality long-term data on deposition, climate, soil recovery, and understory vegetation to assess benefits of currently legislated N deposition reductions in forest understory vegetation. A dynamic soil model coupled to a statistical plant species niche model was applied with site-based climate and deposition. We use indicators of N deposition and climate warming effects such as the change in the occurrence of oligophilic, acidophilic, and cold-tolerant plant species to compare the present with projections for 2030 and 2050. The decrease in N deposition under current legislation emission (CLE) reduction targets until 2030 is not expected to result in a release from eutrophication. Albeit the model predictions show considerable uncertainty when compared with observations, they indicate that oligophilic forest understory plant species will further decrease. This result is partially due to confounding processes related to climate effects and to major decreases in sulphur deposition and consequent recovery from soil acidification, but shows that decreases in N deposition under CLE will most likely be insufficient to allow recovery from eutrophication.
This report describes the scientific background and results from the review and revision of empirical critical loads of nitrogen that had been established for Europe in 2011 under the auspices of the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention). In 2020, the Coordination Centre for Effects started a project under the LRTAP Convention to bring empirical critical loads up to date. New relevant information from studies (2010 - summer 2021) on the impacts of nitrogen on natural and semi-natural ecosystems was incorporated in the existing European database on empirical critical loads of N (CLempN). The current review and revision used for the first time gradient studies to evaluate and determine the ClempN. The CLempN were structured according to the updated classification used within the European Nature Information System (EUNIS). Consensus on the results was reached in a UNECE expert workshop on empirical critical loads of nitrogen (26-28 October 2021, Berne, Switzerland), organised by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU), the Coordination Centre for Effects, and the B-WARE Research Centre. The results, as presented in Table 1 of the Executive Summary, show that in many cases the outer ranges of the empirical critical loads have decreased. The resulting 2021 European database includes both revised and newly established value ranges of CLempN for each EUNIS class. The outcomes of this report are of major importance for the protection of N-sensitive natural and semi-natural ecosystems across Europe. This knowledge is used to support European policies to reduce air pollution.
