Land (Jul 2016)

Nitrogen Pollution and the Meltdown of Urban Ecosystems

  • Brenton Ladd

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/land5030023
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5, no. 3
p. 23

Abstract

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Urban ecosystems are carrying an extinction debt. Mitigating this debt will require the development of a predictive framework that improves our understanding of the factors causing decline of native biodiversity in urban areas. I argue that nitrogen is a common currency around which such a predictive framework could be built. I first summarise the evidence that shows the probable extent of nitrogen enrichment in urban ecosystems. I then review the body of empirical evidence that describes how nitrogen enrichment affects ecosystem process and function. By unifying these two bodies of empirical evidence, I generate a series of testable hypotheses that may allow for a better understanding of native biodiversity loss in urban areas.

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