Regional nitrogen budgets of agricultural production systems in Austria constrained by natural boundary conditions

作者：Eva Strenge, Ottavia Zoboli, Bano Mehdi, Juraj Párajka, Martin Schönhart, Jörg Krampe, Matthias Zessner · 发表于：Journal of Environmental Management · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119023 · 被引用次数：15 · 研究领域：Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics、Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Phosphorus and nutrient management

Nitrogen (N) budgets are valuable tools to increase the understanding of causalities between agricultural production and N emissions to support agri-environmental policy instruments. However, regional agricultural N budgets for an entire country covering all major N flows across sectors and environmental compartments, which also distinguish between different N forms, are largely lacking. This study comprehensively analyses regional differences in N budgets pertainting to agricultural production and consumption in the largely alpine and spatially heterogeneous country of Austria. A special focus is on the interconnections between regional agricultural production systems, N emissions, nitrogen use efficiencies (NUE), and natural boundary conditions. Seven regional and one national balance are undertaken via material flow analysis and are analysed with regards to losses into soils, water bodies and atmosphere. Further, NUE is calculated for two conceptual systems of plant and plant-livestock production. The results reveal major differences among regions, with significant implications for agri-environmental management. The high-alpine region, characterized by alpine pastures with a low livestock density, shows consequent low N inputs, the lowest area-specific N outputs and the most inefficient NUE. In contrast, the highest NUE is achieved in a lowland region specialized in arable farming with a low livestock density and a predominance of mineral fertilizer over manure application...