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Abstract Anthropogenic activities add more reactive nitrogen (N) to the environment than all natural sources combined, and the fate of this N is of environmental concern. If N that is deposited on terrestrial ecosystems through atmospheric deposition is retained in plant tissues or soil organic matter, it could stimulate carbon (C) storage in plant biomass or soils. However, added N also could increase soil inorganic N concentrations and leaching, potentially polluting watersheds, particularly in areas with low-N soils and/or a high propensity for leaching, such as sandy or arid areas. Here, we assessed N allocation and retention across a 13-year experimental N addition gradient in a temperate grassland. We found that N accumulation decreased significantly at mid- to high levels of N addition compared to the Control, such that ecosystem N pools were equivalent across a 10 g m−2 year−1range of annual N addition rates (0–10 g N m−2 year−1), which spans most of the global range of N deposition. Nitrogen addition increased plant tissue percent N, but the total pool of N did not increase because of reduced plant biomass, particularly in roots. Nitrogen addition also increased soil inorganic N concentrations. Our results indicate that N addition is unlikely to increase grassland N pools, particularly in sandy or low-fertility ecosystems with a high potential for leaching because high application rates lead to N saturation, and additional inputs are lost.
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Long-term fertilization increases soil but not plant or microbial N in a Chihuahuan Desert grassland
Abstract. Although the negative consequences of increased nitrogen (N) supply for plant communities and soil chemistry are well known, most studies have focused on mesic grasslands, and the fate of added N in arid and semi-arid ecosystems remains unclear. To study the impacts of long-term increased N deposition on ecosystem N pools, we sampled a 26-year-long fertilization (10 g N m−2 yr−1) experiment in the northern Chihuahuan Desert at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) in New Mexico. To determine the fate of the added N, we measured multiple soil, microbial, and plant N pools in shallow soils at three time points across the 2020 growing season. We found small but significant increases with fertilization in soil-available NO3--N and NH4+-N, yet the soil microbial and plant communities do not appear to be taking advantage of the increased N availability, with no changes in biomass or N content in either community. However, there were increases in total soil N with fertilization, suggesting increases in microbial or plant N earlier in the experiment. Ultimately, the majority of the N added in this multi-decadal experiment was not found in the shallow soil or the microbial or plant community and is likely to have been lost from the ecosystem entirely.
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- PAR ID:
- 10575144
- Publisher / Repository:
- EGU
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Biogeosciences
- Volume:
- 21
- Issue:
- 11
- ISSN:
- 1726-4189
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 2655 to 2667
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2655-2024
