Biogeosciences
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Articles | Volume 14, issue 4
Articles | Volume 14, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-989-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-989-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Articles | Volume 14, issue 4
Research article
 | 
03 Mar 2017
Research article |  | 03 Mar 2017

Abiotic versus biotic controls on soil nitrogen cycling in drylands along a 3200 km transect

Dongwei Liu, Weixing Zhu, Xiaobo Wang, Yuepeng Pan, Chao Wang, Dan Xi, Edith Bai, Yuesi Wang, Xingguo Han, and Yunting Fang

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Short summary
The use of 15N natural abundance of soil ammonium and nitrate demonstrates a clear shifting contribution from abiotic to biotic controls on N cycling along a 3200 km dryland transect in northern China, with a threshold at mean annual precipitation of 100 mm. Abiotic factors were the main driver below threshold, shown by the accumulation of atmospheric N and NH3 losses. In the area above threshold, soil N cycling was controlled mainly by biological factors, e.g., plant uptake and denitrification.
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