Nitrogen Session at Planet under Pressure

The International Nitrogen Initiative (INI), Global Partnership on Nutrient Management (GPNM) and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) organized a successful session on Nitrogen: too much of a good thing at the Planet under Pressure conference March 26 in London. About 150 - 200 people visited the session, which covered a scientific and policy context as well as showing the issues from a different regional perspective. The session was followed by a poster session later that day, which was visited by most of the 3000 visitors and included more than 30 posters. The sessions were organized by: Jan Willem Erisman, Louis Bolk Institute; Jim Galloway, University of Virginia; Mercedes Bustamante, Universidade de Brasilia; Eric Davidson, The Woods Hole Research Center; Lex Bouwman, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Institute

 

Preamble:

• Nitrogen
  positively contributes to food and energy security.
• Human activity has doubled the level of Nr in circulation, largely as a result of fertilizer application, fossil-fuel burning and widespread cultivation of N-fixing crops, and increased livestock and manure production.
• This caused problems on climate change, human health and ecosystem services.
• A better understanding is an essential component for developing policies to achieve sustainability.

 

The program was as follows:

Are Reactive Nitrogen Concentrations In Air, Soil And Water Useful Indicators For Too Much Nitrogen?

Mr. K.W. Van der Hoek; RIVM, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

 

N₂ fixation by natural stands of tree and shrub legumes in Botswana: implications for climate change scenario.

Dr. F. Pule-Meulenberg; Prof. F.D. Dakora; Tshwane Uni of Technology, South Africa

 

Latin America and the modern N cycle: a cross-road.

Prof. M. Bustamante; Prof. A. Austin; Dr. N. Ascarrunz; Dr. M. Forti; Prof. M. Gavito; Universidade de Brasília, Brazil

 

Overuse of nitrogen: insights from the Chinese experience.

Prof. D.N. Norse; Prof. D.S. Powlson; Prof. F.S. Zhang; Dr. W.F. Zhang; Prof. J.K. Huang; Dr. D.C. Chadwick; Dr. Y.L. Lu; University College London, UK ²Rothamsted research, UK

 

Analysis of international trade of reactive nitrogen as food and fertilizer.

Ms. A.M. Leach; Prof. J.N. Galloway; Mr. J. Kitzes; Dr. J-W. Erisman; Dr. A. Bleeker; University of Virginia, USA ²University of California, Berkeley, USA

 

Scenarios of improved agriculture efficiencies and diet modification consistent with representative concentration pathways (RCPs) of nitrous oxide.

Dr. E.A. Davidson; Woods Hole Research Center, USA

 

Priorities for a new global treaty on nitrogen.

Prof. M.A. Sutton; Prof. O. Oenema; Prof. M. Bekunda; Prof. F.S. Zhang; Prof. D. Fowler; Dr. R. Kilaparti⁶; Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), UK

 

The presentations of this session can be found below.