Abiotic nitrate incorporation in soil: Is it real?

Benjamin P. Colman; Noah Fierer; Joshua P. Schimel

doi:10.1007/s10533-007-9111-5

Abiotic nitrate incorporation in soil: Is it real?

Benjamin P. Colman
, Noah Fierer
, Joshua P. Schimel

W. A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

61 Scopus citations

Abstract

In acid forest soils nitrate (NO ₃^- ) from anthropogenic nitrogen deposition is retained at levels beyond what can be explained by known biological mechanisms. A number of researchers have hypothesized that abiotic NO ₃^- incorporation into soil organic matter might be responsible for this phenomenon, however studies have been limited to a few temperate forest sites. The goal of this study was to determine if abiotic NO ₃^- incorporation is important across a wide range of soil types. We collected 44 soils from a number of different ecosystem types in North and South America and measured the extent of abiotic NO ₃^- incorporation. Significant abiotic nitrate incorporation did not occur in any of the soils examined. We show that the apparent abiotic incorporation observed in previous studies is likely the result of iron interference with NO ₃^- measurements. Our results suggest that abiotic NO ₃^- incorporation is not a likely explanation for the high rates of NO ₃^- retention observed in some ecosystems.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	161-169
Number of pages	9
Journal	Biogeochemistry
Volume	84
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-007-9111-5
State	Published - Jun 2007

Funding

Acknowledgements We thank the many individuals who donated their time and resources to help with soil collection, and scientists from the LTER research network who made their sites available. We also want to thank Shona R. Saxon and Robert B. Jackson for their valuable assistance on this project, Bryan Dail for his comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript, and our reviewers for their feedback and comments. This work was supported by a Kearney Foundation Fellowship to Colman, and an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship to Fierer.

Keywords

Abiotic nitrate incorporation
Iron
Nitrogen deposition
Nitrogen retention

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10.1007/s10533-007-9111-5

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title = "Abiotic nitrate incorporation in soil: Is it real?",

abstract = "In acid forest soils nitrate (NO 3- ) from anthropogenic nitrogen deposition is retained at levels beyond what can be explained by known biological mechanisms. A number of researchers have hypothesized that abiotic NO 3- incorporation into soil organic matter might be responsible for this phenomenon, however studies have been limited to a few temperate forest sites. The goal of this study was to determine if abiotic NO 3- incorporation is important across a wide range of soil types. We collected 44 soils from a number of different ecosystem types in North and South America and measured the extent of abiotic NO 3- incorporation. Significant abiotic nitrate incorporation did not occur in any of the soils examined. We show that the apparent abiotic incorporation observed in previous studies is likely the result of iron interference with NO 3- measurements. Our results suggest that abiotic NO 3- incorporation is not a likely explanation for the high rates of NO 3- retention observed in some ecosystems.",

keywords = "Abiotic nitrate incorporation, Iron, Nitrogen deposition, Nitrogen retention",

author = "Colman, \{Benjamin P.\} and Noah Fierer and Schimel, \{Joshua P.\}",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements We thank the many individuals who donated their time and resources to help with soil collection, and scientists from the LTER research network who made their sites available. We also want to thank Shona R. Saxon and Robert B. Jackson for their valuable assistance on this project, Bryan Dail for his comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript, and our reviewers for their feedback and comments. This work was supported by a Kearney Foundation Fellowship to Colman, and an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship to Fierer.",

year = "2007",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1007/s10533-007-9111-5",

language = "English",

volume = "84",

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journal = "Biogeochemistry",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Abiotic nitrate incorporation in soil

T2 - Is it real?

AU - Colman, Benjamin P.

AU - Fierer, Noah

AU - Schimel, Joshua P.

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements We thank the many individuals who donated their time and resources to help with soil collection, and scientists from the LTER research network who made their sites available. We also want to thank Shona R. Saxon and Robert B. Jackson for their valuable assistance on this project, Bryan Dail for his comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript, and our reviewers for their feedback and comments. This work was supported by a Kearney Foundation Fellowship to Colman, and an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship to Fierer.

PY - 2007/6

Y1 - 2007/6

N2 - In acid forest soils nitrate (NO 3- ) from anthropogenic nitrogen deposition is retained at levels beyond what can be explained by known biological mechanisms. A number of researchers have hypothesized that abiotic NO 3- incorporation into soil organic matter might be responsible for this phenomenon, however studies have been limited to a few temperate forest sites. The goal of this study was to determine if abiotic NO 3- incorporation is important across a wide range of soil types. We collected 44 soils from a number of different ecosystem types in North and South America and measured the extent of abiotic NO 3- incorporation. Significant abiotic nitrate incorporation did not occur in any of the soils examined. We show that the apparent abiotic incorporation observed in previous studies is likely the result of iron interference with NO 3- measurements. Our results suggest that abiotic NO 3- incorporation is not a likely explanation for the high rates of NO 3- retention observed in some ecosystems.

AB - In acid forest soils nitrate (NO 3- ) from anthropogenic nitrogen deposition is retained at levels beyond what can be explained by known biological mechanisms. A number of researchers have hypothesized that abiotic NO 3- incorporation into soil organic matter might be responsible for this phenomenon, however studies have been limited to a few temperate forest sites. The goal of this study was to determine if abiotic NO 3- incorporation is important across a wide range of soil types. We collected 44 soils from a number of different ecosystem types in North and South America and measured the extent of abiotic NO 3- incorporation. Significant abiotic nitrate incorporation did not occur in any of the soils examined. We show that the apparent abiotic incorporation observed in previous studies is likely the result of iron interference with NO 3- measurements. Our results suggest that abiotic NO 3- incorporation is not a likely explanation for the high rates of NO 3- retention observed in some ecosystems.

KW - Abiotic nitrate incorporation

KW - Iron

KW - Nitrogen deposition

KW - Nitrogen retention

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/34249818494

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DO - 10.1007/s10533-007-9111-5

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:34249818494

SN - 0168-2563

VL - 84

SP - 161

EP - 169

JO - Biogeochemistry

JF - Biogeochemistry

IS - 2

ER -

Abiotic nitrate incorporation in soil: Is it real?

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Keywords

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