Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Sinks for nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems: a meta-analysis of 15N tracer field studies

August 14, 2012

Effects of anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition and the ability of terrestrial ecosystems to store carbon (C) depend in part on the amount of N retained in the system and its partitioning among plant and soil pools. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies at 48 sites across four continents that used enriched 15N isotope tracers in order to synthesize information about total ecosystem N retention (i.e., total ecosystem 15N recovery in plant and soil pools) across natural systems and N partitioning among ecosystem pools. The greatest recoveries of ecosystem 15N tracer occurred in shrublands (mean, 89.5%) and wetlands (84.8%) followed by forests (74.9%) and grasslands (51.8%). In the short term (

Publication Year 2012
Title Sinks for nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems: a meta-analysis of 15N tracer field studies
DOI 10.1890/11-1146.1
Authors P.H. Templer, M.C. Mack, F. Chapin, L.M. Christenson, J.E. Compton, H.D. Crook, W.S. Currie, C.J. Curtis, D.B. Dail, C. D’Antonio, B.A. Emmett, H.E. Epstein, C.L. Goodale, P. Gundersen, S.E. Hobbie, K. Holland, D.U. Hooper, B.A. Hungate, S. Lamontagne, K.J. Nadelhoffer, C.W. Osenberg, S.S. Perakis, P. Schleppi, J. Schimel, I.K. Schmidt, M. Sommerkorn, J. Spoelstra, A. Tietema, W.W. Wessel, D.R. Zak
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Ecology
Index ID 70039616
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Was this page helpful?