Modelling and Mapping of Atmospherically-induced Ecosystem Impacts in Europe

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1 Modelling and Mapping of Atmospherically-induced Ecosystem Impacts in Europe CCE Status Report 2012 M. Posch, J. Slootweg, J.-P. Hettelingh (eds) CCE Status Report

2 The work reported here has been performed by order and for the account of the Directorate for Climate and Air Quality of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, for the account of the European Commission (a) LIFE III Programme within the framework European Consortium for Modelling Air Pollution and Climate Strategies (EC4MACS) and (b) under the Seventh Framework Programme, Theme [ENV ], Grant agreement no Effects of Climate Change on Air Pollution Impacts and Response Strategies for European Ecosystems, and for the account of (the Working Group on Effects within) the trust fund for the effect-oriented activities under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. Report-report ISBN CCE 2012 Parts of this publication may be reproduced provided that reference is made to the source. A reference to this report reads as Posch M, Slootweg J, Hettelingh J-P (eds) (2012) Modelling and Mapping of Atmospherically-induced Ecosystem Impacts in Europe, CCE Status Report 2012, Coordination Centre for Effects, RIVM, Bilthoven, The Netherlands 2 CCE Status Report 2012

3 Acknowledgements The methods and results presented in this report are the product of close collaboration within the Effects Programme of the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP), involving many institutions and individuals throughout Europe. Participants in the Effects Programme and National Focal Centres of the International Co-operative Programme (ICP) on Modelling and Mapping of Critical Levels and Loads and Air Pollution Effects, Risks and Trends are acknowledged for their commitment and contributions to the work of the Coordination Centre for Effects (CCE). In particular, the CCE wishes to acknowledge: the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, and Dr J.M. Prins in particular, for their continued support; the Working Group on Effects and the Task Force of the ICP on Modelling and Mapping for their collaboration and assistance; the EMEP Meteorological Synthesizing Centres and the EMEP Centre for Integrated Assessment Modelling for their collaboration in the field of atmospheric dispersion and integrated assessment modelling; the secretariat of the LRTAP Convention for supporting mechanisms for contributions to the trust fund for the financing, by parties, of CCE activities; the contribution of Poland to support the CCE workshop and the M&M Task Force meeting in Warsaw in 2012; the European Commission s LIFE III Programme, for co-funding the participation of the CCE in the European Consortium for Modelling Air pollution and Climate Strategies (EC4MACS); The European Seventh Framework Programme, Theme [ENV ], Grant agreement no Effects of Climate Change on Air Pollution Impacts and Response Strategies for European Ecosystems (ECLAIRE); Martin Middelburg (VijfKeerBlauw) for preparing the design and layout, and the RIVM-Traffic department for ensuring publication-logistics, of this report. CCE Status Report

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5 Summary The revision of the Gothenburg Protocol, concluded in 2012, foresees the further reduction of air pollution (by sulphur, nitrogen, volatile organic compounds and for the first time particulate matter), with positive effects on the environment and human health. To this end, the revised Protocol requires EU member states to meet stricter emissions ceilings for these four air pollutants from In Chapter 1, the effects of these emission reduction commitments on acidification, eutrophication and biodiversity indicators are described. As one of its tasks, the Coordination Centre for Effects (CCE) maintains and updates the European database on critical loads of acidity and nutrient nitrogen. The negotiations were based on critical loads data from 2008; however, the latest updates to the critical loads database are now available on a much finer spatial resolution and these are described in Chapter 2. The availability of both the old and the new critical loads database, together with the results from the updated atmospheric transport model, allows the old and new data to be compared as also reported in Chapter 1. Reassuringly, the results based on calculations using these two datasets do not differ greatly, although nutrient nitrogen remains a problem: critical loads of nutrient nitrogen are exceeded on 62% of the ecosystem area in the EU-27 countries. Also in Chapter 1, the authors of the report examine which (uniform) emission reductions are needed to virtually eliminate the exceedance of critical loads in the whole of Europe. respectively. The suitability of these (and other) such models to predict changes in floral diversity has been investigated by several countries within the framework of the 2011/12 Call for Contributions issued by the CCE to the National Focal Centres of the CCE (see also Chapter 2). This CCE Status Report is part of the Workplan of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) in support of integrated assessment in Europe. This Workplan assesses policy options for the (further) reduction of nitrogen and sulphur depositions, as well as of particulate matter and greenhouse gases, in the context of environmental and health effects. In 2001, the National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive of the EU also used critical loads in its design. In Chapter 3, the results of a study for and with the European Environment Agency (EEA) are reported, thereby providing answers to the question of whether the goals of the NEC Directive with respect to critical loads are achieved. This study was performed using both the data and models that were available during the negotiations of the Directive ( old knowledge ) and current knowledge on critical loads and deposition models. The main conclusion is that nitrogen remains a major problem. The further development and application of soil and vegetation models, as also pursued in the project entitled Effects of Climate Change on Air Pollution Impacts and Response Strategies for European Ecosystems (ECLAIRE) under the seventh Framework Programme, have been carried out to enable the assessment of vegetation changes due to air pollution and climate change. The current state of (regional-scale) modelling of forest growth and vegetation change is described in Chapters 4 and 5, CCE Status Report

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7 Rapport in het kort Modellering van effecten op ecosystemen door luchtverontreiniging CCE Status Report 2012 In 2012 is het Gothenborg Protocol (1999), dat de uitstoot van luchtvervuilende stoffen reguleert, aangescherpt. Desondanks blijft de hoge depositie van stikstof op de bodem in de toekomst een risico vormen voor de natuur in Europa. Bij het aangescherpte beleid is er in 2020 een teveel aan stikstof op 62 procent van het natuuroppervlak van de 27 lidstaten van de Europese Unie. Zelfs als alle beschikbare technische maatregelen worden ingevoerd, zou dat 38 procent zijn. Een hoge stikstofdepositie verstoort onder andere de chemische samenstelling van de bodem, waardoor de variatie in plantensoorten afneemt. De verzuring is de afgelopen decennia als gevolg van het Gothenborg Protocol sterk afgenomen, maar verdwijnt niet volledig (nog 4 procent in heel Europa). Dit blijkt uit het jaarlijkse statusrapport van het Coordination Centre for Effects (CCE) van het RIVM. Europese richtlijnen verzuring niet gehaald Ook de Europese richtlijn uit 2001 voor nationale emissieplafonds (NEC) maakt gebruik van geïntegreerde analyse. Met de toenmalige kennis van onder andere kritische belastingsgrenzen zouden de gestelde doelen voor verzuring in 2010 zijn bereikt. Volgens de nieuwste inzichten is dat echter niet het geval. Effecten van beleidsopties voor luchtvervuiling geëvalueerd Het protocol is onder andere tot stand gekomen door op Europese schaal in kaart te brengen wat de effecten en kosten zijn van diverse beleidsopties om de uitstoot van luchtvervuilende stoffen te verminderen(geïntegreerde analyse). Het gaat hierbij om de effecten van onder meer stikstof- en zwaveloxides en fijnstof op gezondheid, klimaat en milieu, en biodiversiteit. Het CCE draagt bij aan de geïntegreerde analyse met kennis over zogeheten kritische belastingsgrenzen voor de neerslag van stikstof en zwavel. Deze grenzen geven per ecosysteem aan welke maximale vervuiling ze kunnen verdragen. De waarden worden regelmatig geactualiseerd door de landen als meer kennis of gegevens beschikbaar komen. De kritische belastingsgrenzen worden op verschillende manieren bepaald. De laatste jaren wordt daarbij gewerkt aan modellering die de invloed van stikstofdepositie op de vegetatie weergeeft. Hierbij wordt duidelijk hoe de biodiversiteit door luchtverontreiniging en klimaatverandering verandert. CCE Status Report

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9 Contents Part 1 Progress CCE 11 1 Assessing Effects of the Revised Gothenburg Protocol Introduction Acidification under the RGP with 2008 knowledge Eutrophication under the RGP with 2008 knowledge Effects of applying uniform reductions to achieve protection A tentative assessment of the change of biodiversity Acidification and eutrophication under the RGP with 2012 knowledge Summary and conclusions 18 2 Summary of National Data Introduction NFC responses 21 Annex 2.A 26 3 Assessing NEC Directive Objectives for Acidification and Eutrophication with 2001 and Present Knowledge Introduction Old and present scientific knowledge Results A sensitivity analysis Concluding remarks 38 Part 2 Progress in Modelling 41 4 GrowUp: A tool for computing forest Growth, nutrient Uptake and litterfall Introduction Stem growth and forest management strategies Litterfall and uptake Model input and output User interface 47 5 Combined effects of air pollution and climate change on species diversity in Europe: First assessments with VSD+ linked to vegetation models Introduction Methods Data Climate and deposition scenarios Results Conclusions 58 CCE Status Report

10 Part 3 NFC Report 63 Austria 65 France 73 Germany 81 Ireland 89 Italy 93 Netherlands 97 Norway 101 Poland 105 Romania 109 Slovenia 113 Sweden 119 Switserland 125 Appendix A: Instructions for Replying to the Call for Contribution CCE Status Report 2012