Atmospheric Reactive Nitrogen in China

Atmospheric reactive nitrogen (N) emissions, as an important component of global N cycle, have been significantly altered by anthropogenic activities, and consequently have had a global impact on air pollution and ecosystem services. Due to rapid agricultural, industrial, and urban development, China has been experiencing an increase in reactive N emissions and deposition since the late 1970s. Based on a literature review, this book summarizes recent research on: 1) atmospheric reactive N in China from a global perspective (Chapter 1); 2) atmospheric reactive N emissions, deposition and budget in China (Chapters 2-5); 3) the contribution of atmospheric reactive N to air pollution (e.g., haze, surface O3, and acid deposition) (Chapters 6-8); 4) the impacts of N deposition on sensitive ecosystems (e.g., forests, grasslands, deserts and lakes) (Chapters 9-12); and 5) the regulatory strategies for mitigation of atmospheric reactive N pollution from agricultural and non-agricultural sectors in China (Chapters 13-14). As such it offers graduate students, researchers, educators in agricultural, ecological and environmental sciences, and policy makers a glimpse of the environmental issues related to reactive N in China .

Dr. Xuejun Liu is a Professor at the China Agricultural University. He has been conducting studies on nitrogen (N) cycling, in particular on the source, fate and impacts on soil acidification, eutrophication and greenhouse gas emission in major Chinese croplands. He has published more than 130 peer-reviewed SCI papers in a number of leading international journals including Nature, Science and PNAS. He has established long-term cooperations with Hohenheim University (Germany), Rothamsted Research Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UK), Colorado State University and Stanford University (USA), as well as Wageningen University (NL). He has received support from China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists (2014), the national Ten-thousand Talents Program (2016) and was chosen to be the 2016 Figure of the Scientific Chinese in Environmental Science and Light Industry. His current research interests are atmospheric N deposition, PM2.5 pollution, agricultural NH3 mitigation and their impacts on food security, ecosystem and human health.   

Dr. Enzai Du is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University. His research interests focus on biogeochemical processes in forest ecosystems and their responses to multiple global change factors, especially nitrogen deposition, climate change and air pollution. He has authored and co-authored about 40 peer-reviewed papers in international journals, many of which focus on the pattern of atmospheric nitrogen deposition and its impacts on forest ecosystems. He also serves as the coordinator of the IUFRO (International Union of Forest Research Organizations) research unit (7.01.03) on atmospheric deposition, soils and nutrient cycles. He has co-chaired several sessions at IUFRO conferences and served as a member of the international scientific advisory board of 10th International Conference on Acid Deposition. Together with IUFRO colleagues, he has recently co-edited two special issues, including one on "Forest response to environmental stress: Impacts and adaptation" (Science of the Total Environment) and the other on “Global atmospheric nitrogen deposition and forests: Status and ecological impacts” (Environmental Pollution).