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Title: Global Patterns and Controls of Nutrient Immobilization on Decomposing Cellulose in Riverine Ecosystems

Journal Article · · Global Biogeochemical Cycles
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  1. Kent State Univ., Kent, OH (United States)
  2. Oakland Univ., Rochester, MI (United States)
  3. Univ. of the Basque Country, Donostia (Spain); Ikerbasque, Bilbao (Spain)
  4. Univ., of Coimbra (Portugal)
  5. Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States)
  6. Universite de Lorraine, Metz (France)
  7. Trent Univ., Peterborough, ON (Canada)
  8. Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Stechlin (Germany); Berlin Institute of Technology (Germany)
  9. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  10. Univ. of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR (United States)
  11. Univ. of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS (United States)
  12. Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI (United States)
  13. Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States)
  14. Universidad Nacional Comahue, San Carlos de Bariloche (Argentina)
  15. Univ. of Central Washington, Ellensburg, WA (United States)
  16. Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki (Finland)
  17. Idaho State Univ., Pocatello, ID (United States)
  18. City of Austin, TX (United States)
  19. Univ. of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Canobbio (Switzerland)
  20. Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dubendorf (Switzerland)
  21. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte (Brazil)
  22. Univ. of Valencia, Paterna (Spain)
  23. Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, Lyon (France)
  24. Univ. of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Manno (Switzerland)
  25. Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, Quito (Ecuador)
  26. Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT (United States)
  27. Univ. Du Quebec a Montreal, Montreal (Canada)
  28. Univ. of Western Australia, Perth (Australia)
  29. Univ. of the Basque Country, Bilbao (Spain)
  30. Marine Institute, Galway (Ireland)
  31. Univ. of Coimbra (Portugal)
  32. Univ. of Valencia (Spain)
  33. Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow (Poland)
  34. Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
  35. UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø (Norway); Univ. of Tromsø (Norway)
  36. Charles Darwin University, Casuarina (Australia)
  37. Univ. of Vigo (Spain)
  38. Univ. of San Carlos of Guatemala, Guatamala City (Guatamala); Univ. of Montana, Missoula, MT (United States)
  39. Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Stechlin (Germany); Univ. of Canberra (Australia); CSIRO Land and Water, Canberra (Australia)
  40. Univerdiad Mayor de San Andres, La Paz (Bolivia)
  41. Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Stechlin (Germany); Potsdam University (Germany)
  42. Univ. of Lorraine, Metz (France)
  43. Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul,Campo Grande (Brazil)
  44. International Institute for Sustainable Development, Winnipeg (Canada)
  45. Kyushu University (Japan)
  46. Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja (Ecuador)
  47. Univ. of Yamanashi, Kofu (Japan)
  48. Ontario Tech University, Oshawa (Canada)
  49. Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV (United States)
  50. Radboud University, Nijmegen (The Netherlands)
  51. Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Umea (Sweden)
  52. Univ. of Regina (Canada)
  53. Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil)
  54. Memorial Univ. of Newfoundland, St. Johns (Canada)
  55. Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA (United States)
  56. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
  57. Univ. of Eldoret (Kenya)
  58. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
  59. Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden)
  60. Federal Univ. of Bahia, Salvador (Brazil)
  61. Univ. of Zagreb (Croatia)
  62. Ehime Univ., Matsuyama (Japan)
  63. Univ. of Oulu (Finland)
  64. Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia (Chile)
  65. National Antarctic Scientific Center of Ukraine, Kiev, (Ukraine); National Institute of Science of Ukraine, Kiev (Ukraine)
  66. College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA (United States)
  67. Wageningen University (The Netherlands)
  68. Research Center on Ecosystems of Patagonia Centro de Investigacion en Ecosistemas de La Patagonia, Valdivia (Chile)
  69. Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada)
  70. Universidad Del Zulia, Maracaibo (Venezuela)
  71. Univ. of Bucharest (Romania)
  72. Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dubendorf (Switzerland)
  73. Univ. of Latvia, Riga (Latvia)
  74. Umea University (Sweden)
  75. Universidad de La República (CURE), Maldonado (Uruguay)
  76. Univ. of Life Sciences, Tartu (Estonia)
  77. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
  78. Canadian Rivers Institute, Saint John (Canada); Univ. of Waterloo, ON (Canada)
  79. Univ. of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore (Australia)
  80. Soochow Univ. (China); Univ. of Hong Kong, Kowloon (Hong Kong)
  81. US Geological Survey, Reston, VA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Microbes play a critical role in plant litter decomposition and influence the fate of carbon in rivers and riparian zones. When decomposing low-nutrient plant litter, microbes acquire nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from the environment (i.e., nutrient immobilization), and this process is potentially sensitive to nutrient loading and changing climate. Nonetheless, environmental controls on immobilization are poorly understood because rates are also influenced by plant litter chemistry, which is coupled to the same environmental factors. Here we used a standardized, low-nutrient organic matter substrate (cotton strips) to quantify nutrient immobilization at 100 paired stream and riparian sites representing 11 biomes worldwide. Immobilization rates varied by three orders of magnitude, were greater in rivers than riparian zones, and were strongly correlated to decomposition rates. In rivers, P immobilization rates were controlled by surface water phosphate concentrations, but N immobilization rates were not related to inorganic N. The N:P of immobilized nutrients was tightly constrained to a molar ratio of 10:1 despite wide variation in surface water N:P. Immobilization rates were temperature-dependent in riparian zones but not related to temperature in rivers. However, in rivers nutrient supply ultimately controlled whether microbes could achieve the maximum expected decomposition rate at a given temperature. Collectively, we demonstrated that exogenous nutrient supply and immobilization are critical control points for decomposition of organic matter.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Ecuadorian Ministry of Science; Huron Mountain Wildlife Foundation; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; Oakland University Research Development; USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1855646
Journal Information:
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Journal Name: Global Biogeochemical Cycles Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 36; ISSN 0886-6236
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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