NitroEurope IP: The nitrogen cycle and its influence on the European greenhouse has balance. Fifth year activity report.

The NitroEurope IP – or NEU for short – addresses the major question: What is the
effect of reactive nitrogen (Nr) supply on net greenhouse gas budgets for Europe? The
objectives are to:
1. establish robust datasets of N fluxes and net greenhouse-gas exchange (NGE) in
relation to C-N cycling of representative European ecosystems, as a basis to
investigate interactions and assess long-term change,
2. quantify the effects of past and present global changes (climate, atmospheric
composition, land-use/land-management) on CN cycling and NGE,
3. simulate the observed fluxes of N and NGE, their interactions and responses to
global change/land-management decisions, through refinement of plot-scale models,
4. quantify multiple N and C fluxes for contrasting European landscapes, including
interactions between farm-scale management, atmospheric and water dispersion, and
consideration of the implications for net fluxes and strategies,
5. scale up Nr and NGE fluxes for terrestrial ecosystems to regional and European
levels, considering spatial variability and allowing assessment of past, present and
future changes,
6. assess uncertainties in the European model results and use these together with
independent measurement/inverse modelling approaches for verification of
European N2O and CH4 inventories and refinement of IPCC approaches.
These objectives are met by a programme that integrates: 1) an observing system for N
fluxes and pools, 2) a network of manipulation experiments, 3) plot-scale C-N
modelling, 4) landscape analysis, 5) European up-scaling and 6) uncertainty and
verification of European estimates. Cross-cutting activities address management,
databases, training & dissemination.
NEU will advance the fundamental understanding of C-N interactions at different scales
and deliver: process-based models, landscape-level assessments, European maps of C-N
pools, Nr fluxes and NGE, and independent verification of GHG inventories, as required
under the Kyoto Protocol.