English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Zendy Pro

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Presents AI Discovery search usage as a premium feature

AI Discovery

Presents AI Discovery explain and summary usage as a premium feature

Content Analysis

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

1500 Top-up

3000 Top-up

Zendy Basic

2500 Top-up

Zendy Unlimited

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Loss of nitrogen (N) from land limits the uptake and storage of atmospheric CO(2) by the biosphere, influencing Earth's climate system and myriads of the global ecological functions and services on which humans rely. Nitrogen can be lost in both dissolved and gaseous phases; however, the partitioning of these vectors remains controversial. Particularly uncertain is whether the bacterial conversion of plant available N to gaseous forms (denitrification) plays a major role in structuring global N supplies in the nonagrarian centers of Earth. Here, we use the isotope composition of N ((15)N/(14)N) to constrain the transfer of this nutrient from the land to the water and atmosphere. We report that the integrated (15)N/(14)N of the natural terrestrial biosphere is elevated with respect to that of atmospheric N inputs. This cannot be explained by preferential loss of (14)N to waterways; rather, it reflects a history of low (15)N/(14)N gaseous N emissions to the atmosphere owing to denitrifying bacteria in the soil. Parameterizing a simple model with global N isotope data, we estimate that soil denitrification (including N(2)) accounts for approximately 1/3 of the total N lost from the unmanaged terrestrial biosphere. Applying this fraction to estimates of N inputs, N(2)O and NO(x) fluxes, we calculate that approximately 28 Tg of N are lost annually via N(2) efflux from the natural soil. These results place isotopic constraints on the widely held belief that denitrifying bacteria account for a significant fraction of the missing N in the global N cycle.

Imprint of denitrifying bacteria on the global terrestrial biosphere