IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v454y2008i7202d10.1038_nature07028.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A unifying framework for dinitrogen fixation in the terrestrial biosphere

Author

Listed:
  • Benjamin Z. Houlton

    (Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
    Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford, California 94305, USA
    Present address: Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA.)

  • Ying-Ping Wang

    (CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research and Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, Aspendale VIC 3195, Victoria, Australia)

  • Peter M. Vitousek

    (Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA)

  • Christopher B. Field

    (Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford, California 94305, USA)

Abstract

Nitrogen fixation: The forest paradox In contrast to marine environments, nitrogen fixation in temperate and tropical forests seems not to obey the law of supply and demand. Symbiotic trees that fix atmospheric nitrogen are more abundant in the tropics, where nitrogen is readily available in the soil, than in mature temperate forests where it is scarce. A possible explanation of this paradox is offered in a model that takes account of two extra factors: temperature and phosphorus abundance. In phosphate-limited soils, nitrogen-fixers may gain an advantage in the form of enhanced phosphate acquisition. And at high latitudes, the temperature may limit nitrogen fixation.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin Z. Houlton & Ying-Ping Wang & Peter M. Vitousek & Christopher B. Field, 2008. "A unifying framework for dinitrogen fixation in the terrestrial biosphere," Nature, Nature, vol. 454(7202), pages 327-330, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:454:y:2008:i:7202:d:10.1038_nature07028
    DOI: 10.1038/nature07028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature07028
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature07028?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. J. Hakl & E. Kunzová & J. Konečná, 2016. "Impact of long-term organic and mineral fertilization on lucerne forage yield over an 8-year period," Plant, Soil and Environment, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 62(1), pages 36-41.
    2. Reichert, Tatiana & Rammig, Anja & Papastefanou, Phillip & Lugli, Laynara F. & Darela Filho, João P. & Gregor, Konstantin & Fuchslueger, Lucia & Quesada, Carlos A. & Fleischer, Katrin, 2023. "Modeling the carbon costs of plant phosphorus acquisition in Amazonian forests," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 485(C).
    3. Meighen Whitehead & Marney E. Isaac, 2012. "Effects of Shade on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Acquisition in Cereal-Legume Intercropping Systems," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 2(1), pages 1-13, January.
    4. Tipping, E. & Rowe, E.C. & Evans, C.D. & Mills, R.T.E. & Emmett, B.A. & Chaplow, J.S. & Hall, J.R., 2012. "N14C: A plant–soil nitrogen and carbon cycling model to simulate terrestrial ecosystem responses to atmospheric nitrogen deposition," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 11-26.
    5. Wojciech Bierza & Joanna Czarnecka & Agnieszka Błońska & Agnieszka Kompała-Bąba & Agnieszka Hutniczak & Bartosz Jendrzejek & Jawdat Bakr & Andrzej M. Jagodziński & Dariusz Prostański & Gabriela Woźnia, 2023. "Plant Diversity and Species Composition in Relation to Soil Enzymatic Activity in the Novel Ecosystems of Urban–Industrial Landscapes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-18, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:454:y:2008:i:7202:d:10.1038_nature07028. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.