Wet depositions of cations in forests across NADP, EMEP, and EANET monitoring networks over the last two decades

Studies focused on emissions and acid deposition of sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) and the consequent precipitation acidity have a long history. However, atmospheric depositions of cations play a critical role in buffering precipitation acidity, and providing cationic nutrients for vegetation growth lacks sufficient studies equally. The spatiotemporal patterns of cation depositions and their neutralization potential across broad scales remain unclear. Through synthesizing the long-term data in forest sites (n = 128) derived from three monitoring networks (NADP in Northern America, EMEP in Europe, and EANET in East Asia) on wet deposition of cations (Na(+), NH(4)-N, K(+), Mg(2+), and Ca(2+)), this study assesses the temporal changes and spatial patterns of cation depositions and their neutralization potential over the last two decades. The results showed that the depositions of cationic nutrients were considerably higher in EANET compared to NADP and EMEP. The depositions of sea salt-associated sodium exhibited a significant transition from marine (> 15 kg ha(−1) year(−1)) to inland (< 3.0 kg ha(−1) year(−1)) forest sites attributable to the precipitation quantity and influences of sea spray. The higher emissions of NH(3) and particulate matter in East Asia explained the higher cation depositions in EANET than NADP and EMEP. The annual trends of cations revealed that only 20–30% of the forest sites showed significant changing trends and the sites widely spread across the three networks. Possibly, base cation (BC) deposition has reached a low and stable condition in NADP and EMEP, while it has high spatial heterogeneity in the temporal change in EANET. The difference in BC deposition among the three networks reflects their distinct development of economy. Our synthesis indicates that the annual trends of neutralization factor (NF) in NADP can be explained by the declining of acid potential (AP), not by neutralization potential (NP) as BC deposition has been stably low over the past two decades. Whereas, the concurrent decreases of AP and NP in EMEP or plateau period of both AP and NP in EANET have come to a standstill of acid neutralizing capacity. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-24129-8.