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Title: In Situ Quantification of Biological N 2 Production Using Naturally Occurring 15 N 15 N

Journal Article · · Environmental Science and Technology
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [4]
  1. Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
  2. Department of Integrative Biology and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
  3. Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
  4. Department of Microbiology, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 AJ, The Netherlands
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We describe an approach for determining biological N2 production in soils based on the proportions of naturally occurring 15N15N in N2. Laboratory incubation experiments reveal that biological N2 production, whether by denitrification or anaerobic ammonia oxidation, yields proportions of 15N15N in N2 that are within 1‰ of that predicted for a random distribution of 15N and 14N atoms. This relatively invariant isotopic signature contrasts with that of the atmosphere, which has 15N15N proportions in excess of the random distribution by 19.1 ± 0.1‰. Depth profiles of gases in agricultural soils from the Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research site show biological N2 accumulation that accounts for up to 1.6% of the soil N2. One-dimensional reaction-diffusion modeling of these soil profiles suggests that subsurface N2 pulses leading to surface emission rates as low as 0.3 mmol N2 m-2 d-1 can be detected with current analytical precision, decoupled from N2O production.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0018409
OSTI ID:
1507181
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1508835; OSTI ID: 1511163
Journal Information:
Environmental Science and Technology, Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology Vol. 53 Journal Issue: 9; ISSN 0013-936X
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 13 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Figures / Tables (7)

Table 1(p. 3)table Table 1
Figure 1(p. 4)figure Figure 1
Figure 2(p. 4)figure Figure 2
Figure 3(p. 5)figure Figure 3
Figure 4(p. 5)figure Figure 4
Table 2(p. 5)table Table 2
Figure 5(p. 6)figure Figure 5

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