Spatial Planning as a Complementary Tool to Abate the Effects of Atmospheric Ammonia Deposition at the Landscape Scale

Ammonia (NH 3 ) is emitted mainly from agricultural practices, with NH 3 concentrations decreasing rapidly away from sources (e.g. Sutton et al. 1998; Pitcairn et al. 1998, 2003). As a consequence there is a high spatial variability in N deposition and its ecological effects in agricultural landscapes (e.g. Dragosits et al. 2002, 2005, 2006), in addition to differences in sensitivity to additional nitrogen between habitat types (e.g. Fangmeier et al. 1994; Pitcairn et al. 1998, 2003; Mitchell et al. 2004). This variability (Fig. 18.1) points to the potential to include locally tailored abatement measures as part of strategies to protect sensitive vegetation from NH 3 deposition (Dragosits et al. 2006).