Soil net nitrogen mineralisation across global grasslands

• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12948-2
• Publication Date: 2019-10-31T11:08:43Z
• Authors: A. C. Risch; S. Zimmermann; R. Ochoa-Hueso; M. Schütz; B. Frey; J. L. Firn; P. A. Fay; F. Hagedorn; E. T. Borer; E. W. Seabloom; W. S. Harpole; J. M. H. Knops; R. L. McCulley; A. A. D. Broadbent; C. J. Stevens; M. L. Silveira; P. B. Adler; S. Báez; L. A. Biederman; J. M. Blair; C. S. Brown; M. C. Caldeira; S. L. Collins; P. Daleo; A. di Virgilio; A. Ebeling; N. Eisenhauer; E. Esch; A. Eskelinen; N. Hagenah; Y. Hautier; K. P. Kirkman; A. S. MacDougall; J. L. Moore; S. A. Power; S. M. Prober; C. Roscher; M. Sankaran; J. Siebert; K. L. Speziale; P. M. Tognetti; R. Virtanen; L. Yahdjian; B. Moser
• Keywords: Cycling; Nitrogen Cycle

Soil nitrogen mineralisation (Nmin), the conversion of organic into inorganic N, is important for productivity and nutrient cycling. The balance between immobilisation (net Nmin) varies with soil properties climate. However, because most global-scale assessments net Nmin are laboratory-based, its regulation under field-conditions implications real-world functioning remain uncertain. Here, we explore drivers realised (field) potential (laboratory) across 30 grasslands worldwide. We find that largely explained by temperature wettest quarter, microbial biomass, clay content bulk density. Potential only weakly correlates Nmin, but contributes to explain when combined climatic variables. provide novel insights global show data available in literature could be parameterised climate better predict Nmin.