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Summary Nitrogen (N2)‐fixing moss microbial communities play key roles in nitrogen cycling of boreal forests. Forest type and leaf litter inputs regulate moss abundance, but how they control moss microbiomes and N2‐fixation remains understudied. We examined the impacts of forest type and broadleaf litter on microbial community composition and N2‐fixation rates ofHylocomium splendensandPleurozium schreberi.We conducted a moss transplant and leaf litter manipulation experiment at three sites with paired paper birch (Betula neoalaskana) and black spruce (Picea mariana) stands in Alaska. We characterized bacterial communities using marker gene sequencing, determined N2‐fixation rates using stable isotopes (15N2) and measured environmental covariates.Mosses native to and transplanted into spruce stands supported generally higher N2‐fixation and distinct microbial communities compared to similar treatments in birch stands. High leaf litter inputs shifted microbial community composition for both moss species and reduced N2‐fixation rates forH. splendens, which had the highest rates. N2‐fixation was positively associated with several bacterial taxa, including cyanobacteria.The moss microbiome and environmental conditions controlled N2‐fixation at the stand and transplant scales. Predicted shifts from spruce‐ to deciduous‐dominated stands will interact with the relative abundances of mosses supporting different microbiomes and N2‐fixation rates, which could affect stand‐level N inputs.
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This content will become publicly available on October 8, 2026
Experimental warming alters free‐living nitrogen fixation in a humid tropical forest
Summary Microbial nitrogen (N) fixation accounts forc. 97% of natural N inputs to terrestrial ecosystems. These microbes can be free‐living in the soil and leaf litter (asymbiotic) or in symbiosis with plants. Warming is expected to increase N‐fixation rates because warmer temperatures favor the growth and activity of N‐fixing microbes.We investigated the effects of warming on asymbiotic components of N fixation at a field warming experiment in Puerto Rico. We analyzed the function and composition of bacterial communities from surface soil and leaf litter samples.Warming significantly increased asymbiotic N‐fixation rates in soil by 55% (to 0.002 kg ha−1 yr−1) and by 525% in leaf litter (to 14.518 kg ha−1 yr−1). This increase in N fixation was associated with changes in the N‐fixing bacterial community composition and soil nutrients.Our findings suggest that warming increases the natural N inputs from the atmosphere into this tropical forest due to changes in microbial function and composition, especially in the leaf litter. Given the importance of leaf litter in nutrient cycling, future research should investigate other aspects of N cycles in the leaf litter under warming conditions.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2120085
- PAR ID:
- 10642766
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- New Phytologist
- ISSN:
- 0028-646X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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