TY - JOUR
T1 - A global dataset of terrestrial biological nitrogen fixation
AU - Reis Ely, Carla R.
AU - Perakis, Steven S.
AU - Cleveland, Cory C.
AU - Menge, Duncan N.L.
AU - Reed, Sasha C.
AU - Batterman, Sarah A.
AU - Crews, Timothy E.
AU - Dynarski, Katherine A.
AU - Gei, Maga
AU - Gundale, Michael J.
AU - Jovan, Sarah E.
AU - Kou-Giesbrecht, Sian
AU - Peoples, Mark B.
AU - Rodríguez-Caballero, Emilio
AU - Salmon, Verity G.
AU - Soper, Fiona M.
AU - Staccone, Anika P.
AU - Taylor, Benton N.
AU - Weber, Bettina
AU - Wurzburger, Nina
N1 - © 2025. The Authors. Parts of this work were authored by US Federal Government authors and are not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.
PY - 2025/8/5
Y1 - 2025/8/5
N2 - Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the main natural source of new nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems, supporting terrestrial productivity, carbon uptake, and other Earth system processes. We assembled a comprehensive global dataset of field measurements of BNF in all major N-fixing niches across natural terrestrial biomes derived from the analysis of 376 BNF studies. The dataset comprises 32 variables, including site location, biome type, N-fixing niche, sampling year, quantification method, BNF rate (kg N ha−1 y−1), the percentage of nitrogen derived from the atmosphere (%Ndfa), N fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, BNF rate per unit of N fixer abundance, and species identity. Overall, the dataset combines 1,207 BNF rates for trees, shrubs, herbs, soil, leaf litter, woody litter, dead wood, mosses, lichens, and biocrusts, 152 herb %Ndfa values, 1,005 measurements of N fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, and 762 BNF rates per unit of N fixer abundance for a total of 424 species across 66 countries. This dataset facilitates synthesis, meta-analysis, upscaling, and model benchmarking of BNF fluxes at multiple spatial scales.
AB - Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the main natural source of new nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems, supporting terrestrial productivity, carbon uptake, and other Earth system processes. We assembled a comprehensive global dataset of field measurements of BNF in all major N-fixing niches across natural terrestrial biomes derived from the analysis of 376 BNF studies. The dataset comprises 32 variables, including site location, biome type, N-fixing niche, sampling year, quantification method, BNF rate (kg N ha−1 y−1), the percentage of nitrogen derived from the atmosphere (%Ndfa), N fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, BNF rate per unit of N fixer abundance, and species identity. Overall, the dataset combines 1,207 BNF rates for trees, shrubs, herbs, soil, leaf litter, woody litter, dead wood, mosses, lichens, and biocrusts, 152 herb %Ndfa values, 1,005 measurements of N fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, and 762 BNF rates per unit of N fixer abundance for a total of 424 species across 66 countries. This dataset facilitates synthesis, meta-analysis, upscaling, and model benchmarking of BNF fluxes at multiple spatial scales.
KW - Ecosystem
KW - Nitrogen
KW - Nitrogen Fixation
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105012638030
U2 - 10.1038/s41597-025-05131-4
DO - 10.1038/s41597-025-05131-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 40764484
AN - SCOPUS:105012638030
SN - 2052-4463
VL - 12
JO - Scientific data
JF - Scientific data
M1 - 1362
ER -
