Critical Loads and Dynamic Risk Assessments: Nitrogen, Acidity and Metals in Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems

1. The history and current state of critical loads and dynamic modelling assessments

Part I Assessment of indicators for air pollutant impacts

2. Geochemical indicators for use in the computation of critical loads and dynamic risk assessments

3. Plant species diversity indicators for use in the computation of critical loads and dynamic risk assessments

Part II Empirical and model based critical loads and target loads

4. Effects and empirical critical loads of nitrogen for Europe

5. Effects and empirical critical loads of nitrogen for ecoregions of the United States

6. Mass balance models to derive critical loads of nitrogen and acidity for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems

7. Mass balance approaches to assess critical loads and target loads of metals for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems

Part III Dynamic modeling for the assessment of air pollution impacts at site scale

8. Dynamic geochemical models to assess deposition impacts and target loads of acidity for soils and surface waters

9. Dynamic geochemical models to assess deposition impacts of metals for soils and surface waters

10. Use of combined biogeochemical model approaches and empirical data to assess critical loads of nitrogen

11. Field survey based models for exploring nitrogen and acidity effects on plant species diversity and assessing long-term critical loads

12. Use of an integrated soil-vegetation model to assess impacts of atmospheric deposition and climate change on plant species diversity

13. Evaluation of plant-responses to atmospheric nitrogen deposition in France using integrated soil-vegetation models

14. Use of an empirical model approach for modelling trends of ecological sustainability

Part IV Critical loads and dynamic model applications on a regional scale

15. Assessment of critical loads of sulphur and nitrogen and their exceedances for terrestrial ecosystems in the Northern Hemisphere

16. Critical load assessments for sulphur and nitrogen for soils and surface waters in China

17. Assessment of critical loads of acidity and their exceedances for European lakes

18. National-scale dynamic model applications for Nordic lake catchments

19. Critical load assessments and dynamic model applications for lakes in North America

20. Critical loads and critical limits of cadmium, copper, lead and zinc and their exceedances for terrestrial ecosystems in the United Kingdom

21. Critical loads of cadmium, lead and mercury and their exceedances in Europe

22. Derivation of critical loads of nitrogen for habitat types and their exceedances in the Netherlands

23. Assessing the impacts of nitrogen deposition on plant species richness in Europe

Part V Integrated assessment policy applications and synthesis

24. Integrated assessment of impacts of atmospheric deposition and climate change on forest ecosystem services in Europe

25. Effects-based integrated assessment modelling for the support of European air pollution abatement policies

26. Synthesis

Appendix: Direct impacts on ecosystems and human health induced by exposure to ambient concentrations of air pollutants and related critical levels

Wim de Vries holds a Ph.D. in Soil Chemistry and worked from 1983-88 at the Netherlands Soil Survey Institute on the accumulation and leaching of nutrients, aluminium and acidity in soils in response to changed inputs. From 1989-1999 he worked at the DLO-Winand Staring Centre, mainly concentrating on critical loads of nitrogen and acidity in view of effects on soil and soil solution chemistry, growth, vitality and species diversity of terrestrial ecosystems. Since 2000, he is a senior research scientist at Alterra, part of Wageningen University and Research Centre. Wim de Vries is also professor at the Environmental Systems Analysis Group of Wageningen University where he holds the chair "Integrated nitrogen impact modelling". His research is organized around impacts of the changes in land use, air quality and climate change on ecosystem services and the environment. This includes impacts on productivity and carbon sequestration of terrestrial ecosystems, greenhouse gas emissions, plant species diversity and soil and water quality.

Jean-Paul Hettelingh holds a Ph.D. in economics. He has held research positions at the Free University (Amsterdam) from 1978-1985, at the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA-Austria) from 1986-1989. He was professor in environmetrics at the University of Leiden from 1997-2002. Since 1990 he directs the Coordination Centre for Effects (CCE) located at RIVM. The CCE is a program centre under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution focussing on the development of effect-based modelling methods and data. The CCE also participates in consortia funded by the European Union. He has extensive experience with the analysis of environmental systems in general and of effects of air pollution in particular. He is co-author of environmental impact modules of integrated assessment models of air pollution in Europe (RAINS) and Asia (RAINS-Asia). He conducts the development and policyapplication of methodologies for the computation and use of critical thresholds for air pollution effects in Europe.

Maximilian Posch holds a Ph.D. in Physics and a Masters degree in Mathematics from the Technical University of Vienna and worked from 1981-89 at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg (Austria) on the integrated assessment of acidification in Europe (the RAINS/GAINS model). From 1990-1994 he worked at the Finnish Water and Environment Research Institute in Helsinki on the environmental impacts of acid deposition and agricultural practices. Since 1995 he is senior researcher at the Coordination Centre for Effects (CCE) at the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). His research concentrates on modelling the effects of air pollution on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the transfer of that knowledge to policy making.