Substrate respiration, mineralizable nitrogen, and nitrogen fixation rates, substrate moisture content, and temperature were measured in trenched and undisturbed plots within two western Oregon Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) stands. The stands represent two different environments and ages. Woods Creek, the site of the lower elevation mature 70-year-old stand, is...
Di-nitrogen (N₂) fixation plays a well-recognized role in the enhancement of primary production
and arguably particle export in oligotrophic regions of the subtropical and tropical oceans.
However, recent evidence suggests that N₂ fixation may also be significant in regions of the
surface ocean proximate to or overlying zones of intense...
Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is a key ecological process that can restore nitrogen (N) lost in wildfire and shape the pace and pattern of post-fire forest recovery. To date, there is limited information on how climate and soil fertility interact to influence different pathways of BNF in early forest succession....
Nitrogen (N) fixation by specialized microorganisms (diazotrophs) influences global plankton productivity because it provides the ocean with most of its bio-available N. However, its global rate and large-scale spatial distribution is still regarded with considerable uncertainty. Here we use a global ocean nitrogen isotope model, in comparison with δ15NO3 observations,...
We present a spatially extensive record of dinitrogen (N₂) fixation rates and distributions
of N₂ fixing microorganisms along with the results of exogenous phosphorus (P) addition experiments
conducted during a series of cruises in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG). We measured the
N₂ and carbon (C) fixation rates of...
We conducted 11 independent short-term carbon dioxide (CO₂) manipulation experiments using colonies of
the filamentous cyanobacteria Trichodesmium isolated on three cruises in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
(NPSG). Dinitrogen (N₂) and carbon (C) fixation rates of these colonies were compared over CO₂ conditions
ranging from ~ 18 Pa (equivalent to...
We report significant rates of dinitrogen (N₂) fixation in the central basins of the Gulf
of California (GC) during July–August 2005. Mixing model estimates based upon
δ¹⁵N values of particulate matter in the surface mixed layer indicate that N₂ fixation
provides as much as 35% to 48% of the phytoplankton-based...
We present a new nitrogen isotope model incorporated into the three-dimensional ocean component of a global Earth system climate model designed for millennial timescale simulations. The model includes prognostic tracers for the two stable nitrogen isotopes, 14N and 15N, in the nitrate (NO3−), phytoplankton, zooplankton, and detritus variables of the...
The size of the bioavailable (i.e., “fixed”) nitrogen inventory in the ocean influences global marine productivity and the biological carbon pump. Despite its importance, the pre-industrial rates for the major source and sink terms of the oceanic fixed nitrogen budget, N₂ fixation and denitrification, respectively, are not well known. These...
Symbiotic N₂-fixing tree species can accelerate ecosystem N dynamics through decomposition feedbacks via both direct and indirect pathways. Direct pathways include the production of readily decomposed leaf litter and increased N supply to decomposers, whereas indirect pathways include increased tissue N and altered detrital dynamics of non-fixing vegetation. To evaluate...