Dissolved and gaseous nitrogen losses in forests controlled by soil nutrient stoichiometry

Oulehle, Filip; Goodale, Christine L.; Evans, Christopher D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7052-354X; Chuman, Tomáš; Hruška, Jakub; Krám, Pavel; Navrátil, Tomáš; Tesař, Miroslav; Ač, Alexandr; Urban, Otmar; Tahovská, Karolina. 2021 Dissolved and gaseous nitrogen losses in forests controlled by soil nutrient stoichiometry. Environmental Research Letters, 16 (6), 064025. 11, pp. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac007b

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Abstract/Summary

Global chronic nitrogen (N) deposition to forests can alleviate ecosystem N limitation, with potentially wide ranging consequences for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, soil and surface water quality, and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the ability to predict these consequences requires improved quantification of hard-to-measure N fluxes, particularly N gas loss and soil N retention. Here we combine a unique set of long-term catchment N budgets in the central Europe with ecosystem 15N data to reveal fundamental controls over dissolved and gaseous N fluxes in temperate forests. Stream leaching losses of dissolved N corresponded with nutrient stoichiometry of the forest floor, with stream N losses increasing as ecosystems progress towards phosphorus limitation, while soil N storage increased with oxalate extractable iron and aluminium content. Our estimates of soil gaseous losses based on 15N stocks averaged 2.5 ± 2.2 kg N ha−1 yr−1 and comprised 20% ± 14% of total N deposition. Gaseous N losses increased with forest floor N:P ratio and with dissolved N losses. Our relationship between gaseous and dissolved N losses was also able to explain previous 15N-based N loss rates measured in tropical and subtropical catchments, suggesting a generalisable response driven by nitrate (NO3−) abundance and in which the relative importance of dissolved N over gaseous N losses tended to increase with increasing NO3− export. Applying this relationship globally, we extrapolated current gaseous N loss flux from forests to be 8.9 Tg N yr−1, which represent 39% of current N deposition to forests worldwide.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac007b
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Soils and Land Use (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	1748-9326
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	nitrogen, catchment, isotope, mass balance, denitrification, carbon, sequestration
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Agriculture and Soil Science
Date made live:	16 Jun 2021 09:26 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530515

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