Nitrogen cycling in Latin America: Drivers, impacts and vulnerabilities

The policy brief highlights the risks of nitrogen mismanagement in Latin America, where excess fertilizer use and poor wastewater treatment threaten ecosystems and food security. It advocates for the creation of specific policy frameworks and management tools, such as threshold levels for nutrient application, to prevent soil degradation and water pollution. The brief also notes that without improved wastewater treatment, coastal nitrogen levels in South America could triple by 2050.

• Excessive application of nitrogen fertilizers, when done without regard for environmental and agronomic knowledge, results in water pollution and the degradation of soils.
• In South America, only 20 percent of wastewater is treated; failure to increase and improve treatment plants could lead to a tripling of coastal nitrogen levels by 2050.
• The IAI-supported Nnet research project, involving scientists from several American countries, aims to monitor nitrogen release into the atmosphere, its effect on soil erosion, and its impact on food security.
• The project has developed tools including regional maps of nitrogen emissions, quantification of nitrogen fluxes, and impact models to address the current lack of information on human activity's impact on the nitrogen cycle in the region.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (n.d.). Nitrogen cycling in Latin America: Drivers, impacts and vulnerabilities. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/Policybrief_NitrogenBalance_CRN3005.pdf

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Nitrogen cycling in Latin America: Drivers, impacts and vulnerabilities. n.d. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/Policybrief_NitrogenBalance_CRN3005.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Nitrogen cycling in Latin America: Drivers, impacts and vulnerabilities |url=https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/Policybrief_NitrogenBalance_CRN3005.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearchndnitrogen, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Nitrogen cycling in Latin America: Drivers, impacts and vulnerabilities}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, url = {https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/Policybrief_NitrogenBalance_CRN3005.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }