Nitrogen fixation in deteriorating wood: The incorporation of 15N2 and the effect of environmental conditions on acetylene reduction

The seen and unseen world of the fallen tree.

“…Nitrogen fixation by free-living bacteria is another mechanism of nitrogen accrual (Cornaby and Waide 1973, Larsen and others 1978, Sharp 1975, Sharp and Millbank 1973, Silvester and others 1982, Triska and others 1982. Although nitrogen fixation in wood is modest compared with that occurring in other substrates in forests, the persistence of decaying wood allows small increments of nitrogen to accrue over many decades.…”

Microbial communities in large-scale wood piles and their effects on wood quality and the environment

“…As the concentration of nitrogen in wood is very low (Weißhaupt et al 2011) and the bioavailability of nitrogen derived of atmospheric deposition is also low, fixation of atmospheric N 2 is a reasonable additional nitrogen source for the wood-decomposing community (Granhall and Lindberg 1978;Hendrickson 1991;Jurgensen et al 1989). Several studies have noted a relationship between nitrogen fixation rates in woody debris and temperature, moisture or oxygen concentration (Sharp 1975;Silvester 1989;Sollins et al 1987;Hicks et al 2003). Members of the genera Pseudomonas and Rahnella were discovered in pine wood chip piles and tree logs, respectively (Noll et al 2010b;Zhang et al 2008), and these genera have been previously characterised as diazotrophs (Kim et al 1997;Yan et al 2008).…”