Nitrogen pollution, largely from automobile exhaust, can reduce drinking water quality and make air difficult to breathe.
Thanks to a $1.1 million grant, UC Riverside scientists will soon understand how much nitrogen dry ecosystems in Southern California can absorb before they produce negative effects.
“Levels of nitrogen pollution in Riverside’s atmosphere, and in the areas that surround this city, are among the highest in the country,” said UCR soil scientist Peter Homyak, who is leading the new study. “Nitrogen pollutants can move downwind from megacities like Los Angeles, adversely affecting our air, water, and soils.”
Scientists know nitrogen pollution can cause acid rain, damage waterways, and leach beneficial nutrients from soils. However, most of the previous research on nitrogen pollution’s environmental effects has been conducted in forests, like those in northeastern U.S.
Largely unknown is the threshold at which nitrogen becomes problematic in dryland ecosystems like those surrounding UC Riverside.
Read more at University of California – Riverside
Image: UCR soil scientists (left to right) Peter Homyak, Alex Krichels and Aral Greene investigating Southern California's nitrogen pollution. (UCR/Peter Homyak)