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Fluorescently Labeled Bacteria as a Tracer to Reveal Novel Pathways of Organic Carbon Flow in Aquatic Ecosystems
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Ecosystem scale trade-off in nitrogen acquisition pathways.

Meifeng Deng1,2, Lingli Liu3,4, Lin Jiang5

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

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|September 26, 2018
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Global nitrogen (N) cycling is shifting. Increased N resorption efficiency reduces N mineralization, impacting ecosystem productivity and plant nutrient strategies.

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Biogeochemistry
  • Environmental Science

Background:

  • Terrestrial nitrogen (N) cycling is crucial for ecosystem productivity, driven by resorption (before litter fall) and mineralization (after litter fall).
  • The interplay between these N pathways and their response to environmental change, particularly climate, is not well understood.
  • Understanding these dynamics is vital for predicting nutrient limitations in a changing global environment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the global-scale relationship between nitrogen resorption efficiency and nitrogen mineralization rates.
  • To examine how climate change (temperature and precipitation) influences the balance between N resorption and mineralization pathways.
  • To explore the consequences of altered N cycling on plant and microbial community characteristics.

Main Methods:

  • A global synthesis study analyzing existing data on nitrogen resorption and mineralization.
  • Statistical analysis to identify correlations between N cycling processes, climate variables, and ecosystem characteristics.
  • Comparison of ecosystem traits (foliar N:P ratios, microbial fungi:bacteria ratios) across different N cycling rates.

Main Results:

  • A significant negative correlation was found: increased nitrogen resorption efficiency globally leads to decreased nitrogen mineralization rates.
  • Rising temperatures and precipitation correlate with faster N cycling rates, characterized by a shift from resorption to mineralization.
  • Ecosystems with accelerated N cycling support plant species with higher foliar N:P ratios and microbial communities with lower fungi:bacteria ratios.

Conclusions:

  • An ecosystem-scale trade-off exists between nitrogen resorption and mineralization as N-acquisition strategies.
  • Climate change is driving a shift in dominant N cycling pathways, with implications for ecosystem structure and function.
  • Integrating the dynamic interaction between N resorption and mineralization into Earth system models is essential for accurate predictions of ecosystem productivity.