Relaties tussen de hoeveelheid stikstofdepositie en de kwaliteit van habitattypen

Samenvatting

Nitrogen deposition is influencing the quality of Habitat types. To assess at what deposition level the quality is influenced significantly critical loads have been estimated. To estimate the extent of the quality loss we estimated doses-response curves for nitrogen deposition per habitat type. This was done by collecting field data from empirical gradient studies and by estimating response curves for habitat types based on response curves of qualifying species per habitat type. The latter also includes a study to the response of so-called displacement species. The number of empirical studies is very limited but the results from the view that are available are very promising. Statistical relations could be estimated for 60 out of 61 nitrogen deposition sensitive habitat types occurring in the Netherlands. Comparison between the empirical and statistical relations showed that they showed very similar responses for part of the habitat types and no relation for a minor part of the types.