Climate change decreases nitrogen pools and mineralization rates in northern hardwood forests

Durán, Jorge; Morse, Jennifer L.; Groffman, Peter M.; Campbell, John L.; Christenson, Lynn M.; Driscoll, Charles T.; Fahey, Timothy J.; Fisk, Melany C.; Likens, Gene E.; Melillo, Jerry M.; Mitchell, Myron J.; Templer, Pamela H.; Vadeboncoeur, Matthew A.

doi:10.1002/ecs2.1251

Cited by 63 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…, Durán et al. ), but the patterns observed have been inconsistent, likely due to differences among field sites and experimental design. Interactions among MAT, mean annual precipitation (MAP) (Idol et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ammonia oxidizer populations vary with nitrogen cycling across a tropical montane mean annual temperature gradient

Pierre

Hewson

Sparks

et al. 2017

Ecology

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Functional gene approaches have been used to better understand the roles of microbes in driving forest soil nitrogen (N) cycling rates and bioavailability. Ammonia oxidation is a rate limiting step in nitrification, and is a key area for understanding environmental constraints on N availability in forests. We studied how increasing temperature affects the role of ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) in soil N cycling and availability by using a highly constrained natural mean annual temperature (MAT) elevation gradient in a tropical montane wet forest. We found that net nitrate (NO ) bioavailability is positively related to MAT (r = 0.79, P = 0.0033), and AOA DNA abundance is positively related to both NO availability (r = 0.34, P = 0.0071) and MAT (r = 0.34, P < 0.001). In contrast, AOB DNA was only detected in some soils across the gradient. We identified three distinct phylotypes within the AOA which differed from one another in abundance and relative gene expression. In addition, one AOA phylotype increased in abundance with MAT, while others did not. We conclude that MAT is the primary driver of ecosystem N availability across this gradient, and AOA population size and structure appear to mediate the relationship between the nitrification and N bioavailability. These findings hold important implications for nutrient limitation in forests and feedbacks to primary production under changing climate.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, Durán et al. ) have suggested that plant N demand increases with MAT, leading to decreased N bioavailability. An alternative to this hypothesis suggests that increasing MAT influences reaction kinetics in microbial processes, thereby increasing N cycling and bioavailability (Price and Sowers ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ammonia oxidizer populations vary with nitrogen cycling across a tropical montane mean annual temperature gradient

Pierre

Hewson

Sparks

et al. 2017

Ecology

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“…In forest ecosystems without human interference, changing climate and community population are the most important factors, which affect the soil available N and P. Generally, an increase in temperature will accelerate the decay of soil organic matter, accumulating more soil available nutrients [16]. However, in some regions, with global warming, the available nutrients for plant uptake continue to decrease [17]. The aim of this work was to determine how the soil available N and P are influenced by different factors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Degradation and the Decline of Available Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Soils of the Main Forest Types in the Qinling Mountains of China

Zheng

Yuan

Zhang

et al. 2017

Forests

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Soil degradation has been reported worldwide. To better understand this degradation, we selected Pinus armandii and Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata forests, and a mixed forest of Q. aliena var. acuteserrata and P. armandii in the Qinling Mountains in China for our permanent plots and conducted three investigations over a 20-year period. We determined the amounts of available nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the soil to track the trajectory of soil quality and compared these with stand characteristics, topographic and climatic attributes to analyze the strength of each factor in influencing the available N and P in the soil. We found that the soil experienced a severe drop in quality, and that degradation is continuing. Temperature is the most critical factor controlling the soil available N, and species composition is the main factor regulating the soil available P. Given the huge gap in content and the increasing rate of nutrients loss, this reduction in soil quality will likely negatively affect ecosystem sustainability.

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“…Though not a perfect analog, Durán et al. () similarly reported that time‐integrated snowpack depth (depth × duration) decreased significantly from 1971 to 2012. Likewise, Vincent et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Northern forest winters have lost cold, snowy conditions that are important for ecosystems and human communities

Contosta

Casson

Garlick³

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

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Winter is an understudied but key period for the socioecological systems of northeastern North American forests. A growing awareness of the importance of the winter season to forest ecosystems and surrounding communities has inspired several decades of research, both across the northern forest and at other mid‐ and high‐latitude ecosystems around the globe. Despite these efforts, we lack a synthetic understanding of how winter climate change may impact hydrological and biogeochemical processes and the social and economic activities they support. Here, we take advantage of 100 years of meteorological observations across the northern forest region of the northeastern United States and eastern Canada to develop a suite of indicators that enable a cross‐cutting understanding of (1) how winter temperatures and snow cover have been changing and (2) how these shifts may impact both ecosystems and surrounding human communities. We show that cold and snow covered conditions have generally decreased over the past 100 years. These trends suggest positive outcomes for tree health as related to reduced fine root mortality and nutrient loss associated with winter frost but negative outcomes as related to the northward advancement and proliferation of forest insect pests. In addition to effects on vegetation, reductions in cold temperatures and snow cover are likely to have negative impacts on the ecology of the northern forest through impacts on water, soils, and wildlife. The overall loss of coldness and snow cover may also have negative consequences for logging and forest products, vector‐borne diseases, and human health, recreation, and tourism, and cultural practices, which together represent important social and economic dimensions for the northern forest region. These findings advance our understanding of how our changing winters may transform the socioecological system of a region that has been defined by the contrasting rhythm of the seasons. Our research also identifies a trajectory of change that informs our expectations for the future as the climate continues to warm.

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Climate change decreases nitrogen pools and mineralization rates in northern hardwood forests

Cited by 63 publications

References 46 publications

Ammonia oxidizer populations vary with nitrogen cycling across a tropical montane mean annual temperature gradient

Ammonia oxidizer populations vary with nitrogen cycling across a tropical montane mean annual temperature gradient

Soil Degradation and the Decline of Available Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Soils of the Main Forest Types in the Qinling Mountains of China

Northern forest winters have lost cold, snowy conditions that are important for ecosystems and human communities

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