Carbon cost of plant nitrogen acquisition: global carbon cycle impact from an improved plant nitrogen cycle in the Community Land Model
Abstract
Abstract Plants typically expend a significant portion of their available carbon ( C ) on nutrient acquisition – C that could otherwise support growth. However, given that most global terrestrial biosphere models ( TBM s) do not include the C cost of nutrient acquisition, these models fail to represent current and future constraints to the land C sink. Here, we integrated a plant productivity‐optimized nutrient acquisition model – the Fixation and Uptake of Nitrogen Model – into one of the most widely used TBM s, the Community Land Model. Global plant nitrogen ( N ) uptake is dynamically simulated in the coupled model based on the C costs of N acquisition from mycorrhizal roots, nonmycorrhizal roots, N‐fixing microbes, and retranslocation (from senescing leaves). We find that at the global scale, plants spend 2.4 Pg C yr −1 to acquire 1.0 Pg N yr −1 , and that the C cost of N acquisition leads to a downregulation of global net primary production ( NPP ) by 13%. Mycorrhizal uptake represented the dominant pathway by which N is acquired, accounting for ~66% of the N uptake by plants. Notably, roots associating with arbuscular mycorrhizal ( AM ) fungi – generally considered for their rolemore »
- Authors:
-
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology 4800 Oak Grove Drive Pasadena CA 91109 USA, Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering University of California at Los Angeles Los Angeles CA 90095 USA
- Department of Biology West Virginia University 53 Campus Drive Morgantown WV 26506 USA
- Department of Biology Indiana University 702 N. Walnut Grove Avenue Bloomington IN 47405 USA
- Publication Date:
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1400935
- Resource Type:
- Publisher's Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Global Change Biology
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Global Change Biology Journal Volume: 22 Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 1354-1013
- Publisher:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
Citation Formats
Shi, Mingjie, Fisher, Joshua B., Brzostek, Edward R., and Phillips, Richard P. Carbon cost of plant nitrogen acquisition: global carbon cycle impact from an improved plant nitrogen cycle in the Community Land Model. United Kingdom: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1111/gcb.13131.
Shi, Mingjie, Fisher, Joshua B., Brzostek, Edward R., & Phillips, Richard P. Carbon cost of plant nitrogen acquisition: global carbon cycle impact from an improved plant nitrogen cycle in the Community Land Model. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13131
Shi, Mingjie, Fisher, Joshua B., Brzostek, Edward R., and Phillips, Richard P. Wed .
"Carbon cost of plant nitrogen acquisition: global carbon cycle impact from an improved plant nitrogen cycle in the Community Land Model". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13131.
@article{osti_1400935,
title = {Carbon cost of plant nitrogen acquisition: global carbon cycle impact from an improved plant nitrogen cycle in the Community Land Model},
author = {Shi, Mingjie and Fisher, Joshua B. and Brzostek, Edward R. and Phillips, Richard P.},
abstractNote = {Abstract Plants typically expend a significant portion of their available carbon ( C ) on nutrient acquisition – C that could otherwise support growth. However, given that most global terrestrial biosphere models ( TBM s) do not include the C cost of nutrient acquisition, these models fail to represent current and future constraints to the land C sink. Here, we integrated a plant productivity‐optimized nutrient acquisition model – the Fixation and Uptake of Nitrogen Model – into one of the most widely used TBM s, the Community Land Model. Global plant nitrogen ( N ) uptake is dynamically simulated in the coupled model based on the C costs of N acquisition from mycorrhizal roots, nonmycorrhizal roots, N‐fixing microbes, and retranslocation (from senescing leaves). We find that at the global scale, plants spend 2.4 Pg C yr −1 to acquire 1.0 Pg N yr −1 , and that the C cost of N acquisition leads to a downregulation of global net primary production ( NPP ) by 13%. Mycorrhizal uptake represented the dominant pathway by which N is acquired, accounting for ~66% of the N uptake by plants. Notably, roots associating with arbuscular mycorrhizal ( AM ) fungi – generally considered for their role in phosphorus (P) acquisition – are estimated to be the primary source of global plant N uptake owing to the dominance of AM ‐associated plants in mid‐ and low‐latitude biomes. Overall, our coupled model improves the representations of NPP downregulation globally and generates spatially explicit patterns of belowground C allocation, soil N uptake, and N retranslocation at the global scale. Such model improvements are critical for predicting how plant responses to altered N availability (owing to N deposition, rising atmospheric CO 2 , and warming temperatures) may impact the land C sink.},
doi = {10.1111/gcb.13131},
journal = {Global Change Biology},
number = 3,
volume = 22,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {Wed Jan 06 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Wed Jan 06 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}
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