Ammonium Nitrogen Deposition as a Dominant Source of Nitrogen in a Forested Watershed Experiencing Acid Rain in Central Japan

To clarify nitrogen (N) sources, the overall N budget in a forested watershed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Central Japan was estimated by measuring dissolved inorganic N (DIN; NH₄ ⁺ + NO₃ ^– + NO₂ ^–) from Nov 2004 through Oct 2005. The estimated N budget (–1.43 kg N ha^–1 year^–1) showed that the N output rate (stream water N) was higher than the N input rate (bulk deposition N) in the watershed. The annual NO₂ ^– and NO₃ ^– input rates were 0.02 and 1.99 kg N ha^–1 year^–1, respectively. NH₄ ⁺ was the predominant source in this forested watershed, accounting for 71% (4.99 kg N ha^–1 year^–1) of DIN input rate. In addition, this study estimated rainfall pH, air temperature, and wind direction, which were considered as controlling factors related to the atmospheric deposition rate of NH₄ ⁺. This study showed that the rainfall NH₄ ⁺ was inversely proportional to the initial pH of the rainfall, which was calculated by adding the amount of H⁺ consumed by the dissociation process of NH_3(aq) to the measured rainfall pH. This result implies that acid rain can elevate the solubility of NH_3(g) and the dissociation capacity of NH₄ ⁺ throughout the process of precipitation. Also, this study provides strong evidence that the high NH₄ ⁺ deposition rate is mainly derived from NH_3(g) emitted from livestock wastes under the NH₃ transport condition of warm summer and favorable wind direction.