Ecosystem Responses to Nitrogen Deposition in the Colorado Front Range

We asked whether 3?5 kg N y?1 atmospheric N deposition was sufficient to have influenced natural, otherwise undisturbed, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of the Colorado Front Range by comparing ecosystem processes and properties east and west of the Continental Divide. The eastern side receives elevated N deposition from urban, agricultural, and industrial sources, compared with 1?2 kg N y?1 on the western side. Foliage of east side old-growth Englemann spruce forests have significantly lower C:N and lignin:N ratios and greater N:Mg and N:P ratios. Soil % N is higher, and C:N ratios lower in the east side stands, and potential net N mineralization rates are greater. Lake NO3 concentrations are significantly higher...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Colorado, Ecosystems, N isotopes, Rocky Mountains, Springer New York, All tags... alpine and subalpine lakes, diatoms, nitrogen, paleolimnology, sub-alpine forest, Fewer tags