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Limitations and strengths of indicators for evaluating the nitrogen status of forest ecosystems.

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Title: Limitations and strengths of indicators for evaluating the nitrogen status of forest ecosystems.
Authors: Gurmesa, Geshere Abdisa1,2,3 (AUTHOR), de Vries, Wim4 (AUTHOR), Zhu, Weixing5 (AUTHOR), Gundersen, Per6 (AUTHOR), Hobbie, Erik A.7 (AUTHOR), Wang, Ang1,2,3 (AUTHOR), Mgelwa, Abubakari Said1 (AUTHOR), Duan, Yihang1,2,3 (AUTHOR), Zhu, Feifei1,2,3 (AUTHOR), Kang, Ronghua1,2,3 (AUTHOR), Quan, Zhi1,3 (AUTHOR), Fang, Yunting1,3 (AUTHOR) fangyt@iae.ac.cn
Source: Environmental Reviews. 11/17/2025, Vol. 33, p1-33. 33p.
Subject Terms: *Nitrogen, *Forest health, *Forest ecology, *Global environmental change, Nitrogen content of plants, Indicators & test-papers, Saturation (Chemistry)
Abstract: Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition has increased N availability in many forest ecosystems. In contrast, global changes such as elevated atmospheric CO2, longer growing season under warming, and increased precipitation may stimulate plant growth, intensifying biotic demand for N. These diverging trends influence the N status of forests, reflecting the balance between N supply and demand and indicating whether a forest is in a state of N limitation, transition phase, or N saturation. Numerous direct and indirect indicators are used to evaluate forest N status. However, an overview of their effectiveness for N status assessments, which require established threshold values between different phases, is limited. Here, we review N status indicators and their threshold values to evaluate their effectiveness in revealing changes in forest N status. In addition, we assess whether indicators provide insights into forest health conditions such as defoliation, nutritional status, species richness of the forest understory, the prevalence of diseases, and forest growth dynamics. The N status indicators included are categorized as tree-related (N content of foliage, foliage or nutrient ratios particularly N:P, natural 15N abundance (δ15N) of foliage and wood), soil-related (soil C:N, inorganic N concentrations, N transformation rates, δ15N of soil, enrichment factor), and ecosystem-related (litterfall N flux, nitrate leaching, and N2O emissions). Our synthesis suggests that while most indicators are useful to assess N availability, the majority lack clearly defined thresholds to identify N saturation and N limitation. Similarly, we found that the majority of indicators cannot be used for assessing forest health conditions. As most indicators assess specific components of the forest N cycle, a comprehensive assessment of forest N status requires combining indicators to evaluate changes in multiple N cycling processes. This review guides the selection of indicators for assessing forest N status by evaluating their effectiveness in detecting N saturation or limitation, reflecting forest health conditions, responsiveness to N deposition, and the required research effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Environmental Reviews is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Limitations and strengths of indicators for evaluating the nitrogen status of forest ecosystems.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gurmesa%2C+Geshere+Abdisa%22">Gurmesa, Geshere Abdisa</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2,3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22de+Vries%2C+Wim%22">de Vries, Wim</searchLink><relatesTo>4</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Zhu%2C+Weixing%22">Zhu, Weixing</searchLink><relatesTo>5</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gundersen%2C+Per%22">Gundersen, Per</searchLink><relatesTo>6</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hobbie%2C+Erik+A%2E%22">Hobbie, Erik A.</searchLink><relatesTo>7</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Wang%2C+Ang%22">Wang, Ang</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2,3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Mgelwa%2C+Abubakari+Said%22">Mgelwa, Abubakari Said</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Duan%2C+Yihang%22">Duan, Yihang</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2,3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Zhu%2C+Feifei%22">Zhu, Feifei</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2,3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kang%2C+Ronghua%22">Kang, Ronghua</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2,3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Quan%2C+Zhi%22">Quan, Zhi</searchLink><relatesTo>1,3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Fang%2C+Yunting%22">Fang, Yunting</searchLink><relatesTo>1,3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> fangyt@iae.ac.cn</i>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Environmental+Reviews%22">Environmental Reviews</searchLink>. 11/17/2025, Vol. 33, p1-33. 33p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Nitrogen%22">Nitrogen</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Forest+health%22">Forest health</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Forest+ecology%22">Forest ecology</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Global+environmental+change%22">Global environmental change</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Nitrogen+content+of+plants%22">Nitrogen content of plants</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Indicators+%26+test-papers%22">Indicators & test-papers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Saturation+%28Chemistry%29%22">Saturation (Chemistry)</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition has increased N availability in many forest ecosystems. In contrast, global changes such as elevated atmospheric CO2, longer growing season under warming, and increased precipitation may stimulate plant growth, intensifying biotic demand for N. These diverging trends influence the N status of forests, reflecting the balance between N supply and demand and indicating whether a forest is in a state of N limitation, transition phase, or N saturation. Numerous direct and indirect indicators are used to evaluate forest N status. However, an overview of their effectiveness for N status assessments, which require established threshold values between different phases, is limited. Here, we review N status indicators and their threshold values to evaluate their effectiveness in revealing changes in forest N status. In addition, we assess whether indicators provide insights into forest health conditions such as defoliation, nutritional status, species richness of the forest understory, the prevalence of diseases, and forest growth dynamics. The N status indicators included are categorized as tree-related (N content of foliage, foliage or nutrient ratios particularly N:P, natural 15N abundance (δ15N) of foliage and wood), soil-related (soil C:N, inorganic N concentrations, N transformation rates, δ15N of soil, enrichment factor), and ecosystem-related (litterfall N flux, nitrate leaching, and N2O emissions). Our synthesis suggests that while most indicators are useful to assess N availability, the majority lack clearly defined thresholds to identify N saturation and N limitation. Similarly, we found that the majority of indicators cannot be used for assessing forest health conditions. As most indicators assess specific components of the forest N cycle, a comprehensive assessment of forest N status requires combining indicators to evaluate changes in multiple N cycling processes. This review guides the selection of indicators for assessing forest N status by evaluating their effectiveness in detecting N saturation or limitation, reflecting forest health conditions, responsiveness to N deposition, and the required research effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Environmental Reviews is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1139/er-2025-0045
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 33
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    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Nitrogen
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Forest health
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      – SubjectFull: Forest ecology
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      – SubjectFull: Global environmental change
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      – SubjectFull: Nitrogen content of plants
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      – SubjectFull: Indicators & test-papers
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      – SubjectFull: Saturation (Chemistry)
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              Text: 11/17/2025
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