Nitrogen Pollution and the Meltdown of Urban Ecosystems

• Main Author: Brenton Ladd
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2016-07-01
• Series: Land
• Subjects: biodiversity; competition; extinction; eutrophication; herbivory; nitrogen; urban ecology
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/5/3/23

Urban ecosystems are carrying an extinction debt. Mitigating this debt will require the development of a predictive framework that improves our understanding of the factors causing decline of native biodiversity in urban areas. I argue that nitrogen is a common currency around which such a predictive framework could be built. I first summarise the evidence that shows the probable extent of nitrogen enrichment in urban ecosystems. I then review the body of empirical evidence that describes how nitrogen enrichment affects ecosystem process and function. By unifying these two bodies of empirical evidence, I generate a series of testable hypotheses that may allow for a better understanding of native biodiversity loss in urban areas.