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
Published: 2019-10-31
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12948-2
Source: Full article
AbstractSoil nitrogen mineralisation (Nmin), the conversion of organic into inorganic N, is important for productivity and nutrient cycling. The balance between mineralisation and immobilisation (net Nmin) varies with soil properties and climate. However, because most global-scale assessments of net Nminare laboratory-based, its regulation under field-conditions and implications for real-world soil functioning remain uncertain. Here, we explore the drivers of realised (field) and potential (laboratory) soil net Nminacross 30 grasslands worldwide. We find that realised Nminis largely explained by temperature of the wettest quarter, microbial biomass, clay content and bulk density. Potential Nminonly weakly correlates with realised Nmin, but contributes to explain realised net Nminwhen combined with soil and climatic variables. We provide novel insights of global realised soil net Nminand show that potential soil net Nmindata available in the literature could be parameterised with soil and climate data to better predict realised Nmin.