Consecuencias de la deposición de nitrógeno sobre la biodiversidad y el funcionamiento de los ecosistemas terrestresUna aproximación general desde la ecología de ecosistemas

Laburpena

Nitrogen (N) deposition is one of the main five environmental change drivers that are causing a global biodiversity loss, as well as the disruption of the ecological interactions that ensure a correct ecosystem functioning. Nitrogen deposition is predicted to stabilize or even decrease in many parts of Europe and the US due to control strategies and greener technologies, whereas it will keep increasing in many areas of Asia, India and South America, which harbor some of the most valuable ecosystems, including many unique global biodiversity hotspots. In this review article, I will summarize the main effects of N deposition on several biological groups that typically define all terrestrial ecosystems (microorganisms, cryptogams, vascular plants and invertebrates), as well as on the physicochemical properties of soils that, in turn, exert a key influence on the abundance, composition and activity of the organisms that live on them. Finally, I will defend that only through highly integrated studies that jointly consider the multitrophic biodiversity and ecological interactions, thus embracing the inherent complexity of ecosystems that critically determines the realization of emergent properties key for their functioning, we will reach a full understanding of the consequences of N deposition on the ability of our ecosystems to provide key ecosystem services on which our societies depend.