Microbial denitrification dominates nitrate losses from forest ecosystems

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1416776112
• Publication Date: 2015-01-21T06:19:22Z
• Authors: Yunting Fang; Keisuke Koba; Akiko Makabe; Chieko Takahashi; Weixing Zhu; Takahiro Hayashi; Azusa A. Hokari; Rieko Urakawa; Edith Bai; Benjamin Z. Houlton; Dan Xi; Shasha Zhang; Kayo Matsushita; Ying Tu; Dongwei Liu; Feifei Zhu; Zhenyu Wang; Guoyi Zhou; Dexiang Chen; Tomoko Makita; Hiroto Toda; Xueyan Liu; Quansheng Chen; Deqiang Zhang; Yide Li; Muneoki Yoh
• Keywords: Terrestrial ecosystem; Nitrogen Cycle

Significance Nitrogen (N) losses from terrestrial ecosystems can occur as inert forms or heat-trapping greenhouse gases, and via nitrate (NO 3 − ) leaching to drainage waters, which contribute eutrophication anoxia in downstream ecosystems. Here, we use natural isotopes demonstrate that microbial gaseous N production denitrification is the dominant pathway of NO removal forest ecosystems, with are up ∼60-fold higher than those based on traditional techniques. Denitrification becomes less efficient compared more N-polluted has important implications for assessing connections between soils under rising anthropogenic deposition.