Introduction: Nitrogen (N) gradient studies in some cases use N deposition in throughfall as measure of N deposition to forests. For evaluating critical loads of N, however, information on total N deposition is required, i.e., the sum of estimates of dry, wet and occult deposition.
Methods: The present paper collects a number of studies in Europe where throughfall and total N deposition were compared in different forest types. From this dataset a function was derived which allows to estimate total N deposition from throughfall N deposition.
Results: At low throughfall N deposition values, the proportion of canopy uptake is high and thus the underestimation of total deposition by throughfall N needs to be corrected. At throughfall N deposition values > 20 kg N ha^-1 yr^-1 canopy uptake is getting less important.
Conclusion: This work shows that throughfall clearly underestimates total deposition of nitrogen. With the present data set covering large parts of Europe it is possible to derive a critical load estimate from gradient studies using throughfall data.