Articles | Volume 21, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2655-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2655-2024
Research article
 | 
04 Jun 2024
Research article |  | 04 Jun 2024

Long-term fertilization increases soil but not plant or microbial N in a Chihuahuan Desert grassland

Violeta Mendoza-Martinez, Scott L. Collins, and Jennie R. McLaren

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Nitrogen budget in a Chihuahuan desert grassland long-term nitrogen fertilization experiment at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge ver.3 Violeta Mendoza-Martinez, Scott L. Collins, and Jennie R. McLaren https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/12e09d932b9861b2b8b5402bbfe6a413

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Short summary
We examine the impacts of multi-decadal nitrogen additions on a dryland ecosystem N budget, including the soil, microbial, and plant N pools. After 26 years, there appears to be little impact on the soil microbial or plant community and only minimal increases in N pools within the soil. While perhaps encouraging from a conservation standpoint, we calculate that greater than 95 % of the nitrogen added to the system is not retained and is instead either lost deeper in the soil or emitted as gas.
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