| Abstract | High mountain lakes are sensitive to environmental change and the effects of air pollution and lake acidification have been recorded in many countries. The EU funded EMERGE programme included a pan-European assessment of the extent of acidification in mountain lakes located above the tree-line. A static critical loads model, the First-order Acidity Balance (FAB) model, was used to assess (1) the extent of critical load exceedance in 300 lakes in nine European lake districts and (2) the relative importance of sulphur and nitrogen deposition in contributing to acidification. The regional sensitivity of FAB to the choice of critical acid neutralising capacity (ANC: 0 or 20 meq L-1) was explored. With a critical ANC value of 0 meq L-1 only four lake districts had sites showing exceedance of critical loads; Piedmont Ticino, the Pyrenees, the Retezat Mountains and the Tatras. When a more stringent critical ANC of 20 meq L-1 was used, all nine lake districts showed critical load exceedance in one or more lakes. For two lake districts, the Retezat Mountains of Romania and the Rila Mountains of Bulgaria, critical load exceedance is recorded here for the first time. Nitrogen is a more important agent of acidification in some areas such as the Pyrenees and Piedmont Ticino, and its relative importance is likely to increase elsewhere as pan-European measures to reduce sulphur deposition continue to take effect. Given the coarse scale deposition data used and potentially underestimated loads at high altitudes, the extent of the acidification problem may be under-represented here. |
| Text | 52867 2005 10.1007/s00027 005 0742 0 ISI Web of Science WOS 000232030000003 FAB model sulphur nitrogen regionalisation alpine lakes Acidification in European mountain lake districts A regional assessment of critical load exceedance Curtis C.J. 1 ; Botev I. 2 ; Camarero L. 3 ; Catalan J. 3 ; Cogalniceanu D. 4 ; Hughes M. 1 ; Kernan M. 1 ; Kopaeek J. 5 ; Korhola A. 6 ; Psenner R. 7 ; Rogora M. 8 ; Stuchlik E. 9 ; Veronesi M. 10 ; Wright R.F. 11 1 Environmental Change Research Centre, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AP, United Kingdom 2 Institute of Zoology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Boul.Tsar Osvoboditel 1, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria 3 Limnology Group, CEAB CSIC, Acces Cala St. Francesc 14, Blanes 17300, Spain 4 Dept. of Ecology, Bucharest University, Splaiul Independentai 91 95, 76201 Bucharest, Romania 5 Czech Rep. Academy of Sciences, Na sadkach 7, Ceske Budejovice, CZ 370 05, Czech Republic 6 Dept. of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Division of Aquatic Sciences / ECRU, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65 Viikinkaari 1 , FIN 00014, Finland 7 Inst. of Zool. and Limnology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A 6020 Innsbruck, Austria 8 C.N.R. Institute of Ecosystem Study, Largo Tonolli 50 52, I 28922 Verbania Pallanza, Italy 9 Charles University, Vinicna 7, Prague, CZ 128 44, Czech Republic 10 Uff. Protezione e Depurazione Acque SPAAS, Riva Paradiso 15, CH 6900 Paradiso Lugano, Switzerland 11 Norway Institute for Water Research, P.O. Box 173, Kjelsaas N 0411 Oslo, Norway High mountain lakes are sensitive to environmental change and the effects of air pollution and lake acidification have been recorded in many countries. The EU funded EMERGE programme included a pan European assessment of the extent of acidification in mountain lakes located above the tree line. A static critical loads model, the First order Acidity Balance FAB model, was used to assess 1 the extent of critical load exceedance in 300 lakes in nine European lake districts and 2 the relative importance of sulphur and nitrogen deposition in contributing to acidification. The regional sensitivity of FAB to the choice of critical acid neutralising capacity ANC 0 or 20 meq L 1 was explored. With a critical ANC value of 0 meq L 1 only four lake districts had sites showing exceedance of critical loads; Piedmont Ticino, the Pyrenees, the Retezat Mountains and the Tatras. When a more stringent critical ANC of 20 meq L 1 was used, all nine lake districts showed critical load exceedance in one or more lakes. For two lake districts, the Retezat Mountains of Romania and the Rila Mountains of Bulgaria, critical load exceedance is recorded here for the first time. Nitrogen is a more important agent of acidification in some areas such as the Pyrenees and Piedmont Ticino, and its relative importance is likely to increase elsewhere as pan European measures to reduce sulphur deposition continue to take effect. Given the coarse scale deposition data used and potentially underestimated loads at high altitudes, the extent of the acidification problem may be under represented here. 67 Articolo pubblicato 7_AqSci_2005.pdf Articolo in rivista Birkhauser 1015 1621 Aquatic sciences Print. ed. Aquatic sciences Print. ed. Aquat. sci. Print. ed. Aquatic sciences. Print. ed. michela.rogora ROGORA MICHELA TA.P02.014.002 Impatto dei cambiamenti globali sugli ecosistemi acquatici |
