Reactive nitrogen does not cascade at the same rate through all sectors of the environment. Some systems (most notably forest and grassland soils) are able to slow down the continuation of the cascade by accumulating reactive nitrogen and therefore acting as reservoirs. However, most systems have a finite capacity to accumulate reactive nitrogen. As a system becomes saturated, more and more reactive nitrogen moves from these storage reservoirs to systems downwind or downstream. Table 1 shows those systems that have large accumulation potential and those from which reactive nitrogen is most readily transferred. It also shows where reactive nitrogen is likely to move to, and some potential effects of excess nitrogen within each system.

Table 1. Characteristics of different systems in relation to the nitrogen cascade
System	Accumulation potential	Transfer potential	Links to other systems	Effects potential
Atmosphere	Low	Very high	All but groundwater	Human and ecosystem health, climate change
Agroecosystems	Low to moderate	Very high	All	Human and ecosystem health, climate change
Forests	High	Moderate, high in places	All	Biodiversity, net primary productivity, plant mortality, groundwater
Grasslands	High	Moderate, high in places	All	Biodiversity, net primary productivity, groundwater
Groundwater	Moderate	Moderate	Surface water, atmosphere	Human and ecosystem health, climate change
Wetlands, streams, lakes, rivers	Low to moderate	Very high	Atmosphere, marine coastal systems	Biodiversity, ecological structure, eutrophication, harmful algal blooms
Marine coastal regions	Low to moderate	Moderate	Atmosphere	Biodiversity, ecological structure, fish, eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, hypoxia
Source: Galloway and others 2003

With more anthropogenic reactive nitrogen present in the environment, it is likely to be increasingly mobilized from storage reservoirs, compounding the consequences on people and ecosystems. However, just as anthropogenic activities have substantially increased the rate of reactive nitrogen formation, so is it possible to intervene at critical points along the nitrogen cascade and make reactive nitrogen less abundant. This can be done in two ways – decreasing the rate of reactive nitrogen creation during energy and food production, or converting reactive nitrogen back to N₂ after it has been created and used.