There is a lot of discussion about nitrogen: but what exactly is it?

When Koen asks on the street whether people know what nitrogen is, he gets answers like: “Something with the farmers,” and “that’s in the air, isn’t it?” Many people have no idea what nitrogen is. Professor Matty Berg of animal ecology at the Free University knows that. In the lecture hall he explains: “Nitrogen is a very essential element. It is a nutrient for plants, animals and humans. Nitrogen is built into our masses. Every organism needs nitrogen. But excess is always wrong. Like too much salt or water isn’t good for us either.”

“Nitrogen can enter the air as NH3 via manure and then land in nature. As NH4 it ends up on the soil via the rain. Fungi and bacteria separate nitrogen from hydrogen. Then acid is formed, which is detrimental to plants and animals that can’t stand it.”

dune area

What does nitrogen do to nature reserves? Koen Bugter has made an appointment with Martijn van Schaik. He belongs to the water company PWN, which manages the dune area near Heemskerk. Van Schaik is conducting experiments to see what the effects of nitrogen are and whether intervention is necessary. “The dune area is special in terms of nature because it has a wide variety of species. More than 60 percent of the Dutch biodiversity occurs in the dune area. We see that nitrogen affects the lime. Certain plants can benefit from this and they overshadow typical dune species that going on nutrient-poor conditions.”

Professor Matty Berg agrees: “You get rid of species that do not tolerate an excess of nitrogen well, and the species that do well will dominate the system. That has all kinds of consequences. You lose plants, but also all the species that depend on it.”

In the vicinity of Landsmeer, nitrogen also has effects on the nature of the peat meadow area. Policy advisor Huib van Veen of the province sees the blackberry bush grow enormously due to nitrogen, but other special plants have to pay for it. “You see round sundews sporadically and the blackberries take over. And as more nitrogen precipitates, the blackberries increase even more.”

But can’t you remove those blackberry bushes? “We also do that, as much as we can, but there is a limit. You also have to leave the area alone: ​​you have nesting birds and when mowing you also remove plants that you want to keep.”