Biogeosciences
Biogeosciences
Biogeosciences
Articles | Volume 14, issue 4
Articles | Volume 14, issue 4
Biogeosciences, 14, 751–754, 2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-751-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Biogeosciences, 14, 751–754, 2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-751-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Articles | Volume 14, issue 4

Peer-reviewed comment 17 Feb 2017

Peer-reviewed comment | 17 Feb 2017

Nitrogen mineralization, not N2 fixation, alleviates progressive nitrogen limitation – Comment on “Processes regulating progressive nitrogen limitation under elevated carbon dioxide: a meta-analysis” by Liang et al. (2016)

Tobias Rütting Tobias Rütting
Show author details
  • Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
Received: 24 Oct 2016 – Discussion started: 28 Oct 2016 – Revised: 24 Jan 2017 – Accepted: 30 Jan 2017 – Published: 17 Feb 2017
How to cite. Rütting, T.: Nitrogen mineralization, not N2 fixation, alleviates progressive nitrogen limitation – Comment on “Processes regulating progressive nitrogen limitation under elevated carbon dioxide: a meta-analysis” by Liang et al. (2016), Biogeosciences, 14, 751–754, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-751-2017, 2017.
Download
Short summary
The response of ecosystems to elevated atmospheric CO2 is affected by nitrogen (N) availability. It has been hypothesized that N limitation becomes progressively stronger (progressive N limitation, PNL). Most long-term free air CO2 enrichment studies did not see a PNL. This paper shows that enhanced biological N2 fixation only prevents PNL in plant communities with symbiotic N2 fixation. In most ecosystems a stimulation of gross N mineralization prevents the development of a PNL.
Read more
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint