Enhanced atmospheric phosphorus deposition in Asia and Europe in the past two decades

磷是植物生长必需的元素,磷缺乏将限制植被生产力及碳汇功能.为厘清全球大气磷沉降的时空格局,本文收集了1959-2020年发表的396条观测资料.结果发现,全球大气磷沉降的几何均值为0.32 kg ha~(-1)yr~(-1),全球大气磷库约4.4 Tg yr~(-1).与1959-2000年相比,近20年亚洲和欧洲大气磷沉降呈现上升趋势,主要来源是农业活动,沙尘传输和燃烧源排放.碳中和背景下,清洁空气行动是否会改变磷沉降的途径和形态,进而影响到生态系统的结构和功能,是需要回答的科学问题.

There is increasing interest in understanding atmospheric phosphorus(P)deposition and its impacts on plant pro-ductivity and carbon sinks in ecosystems.However,the global pattern of P deposition remains poorly understood,primarily due to the sparseness of data in Asia.In this study,the authors compiled 396 published observations of atmospheric P deposition from 1959 to 2020 on the global scale.The results gave a geometric mean bulk P deposition value of 0.32 kg ha−1 yr−1,or a global P budget of 4.4 Tg yr−1.Compared with the period 1959-2000,the authors found an elevated P deposition in Europe and Asia during 2001-2020,likely due to the increas-ing agricultural emissions and fossil fuel combustion-related sources in addition to dust emissions.The findings highlight the need to quantify the impacts of elevated P deposition from anthropogenic emissions on long-term ecosystem development in the context of carbon neutrality and clean-air actions.