Articles | Volume 22, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-5497-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-5497-2025
Research article
 | 
10 Oct 2025
Research article |  | 10 Oct 2025

Long-term nitrogen fertilization alters microbial respiration sensitivity to temperature and moisture, potentially enhancing soil carbon retention in a boreal Scots pine forest

Boris Ťupek, Aleksi Lehtonen, Stefano Manzoni, Elisa Bruni, Petr Baldrian, Etienne Richy, Bartosz Adamczyk, Bertrand Guenet, and Raisa Mäkipää

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Cited articles

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We explored soil microbial respiration (Rh) kinetics of low-dose and long-term N fertilization in N-limited boreal forest in connection with CH4 and N2O fluxes and soil and tree C sinks. The insights show that N fertilization affects C retention in boreal forest soils by modifying Rh sensitivities to soil temperature and moisture. The key findings reveal that N-enriched soils exhibited reduced sensitivity of Rh to moisture, which contributed to enhanced soil C sequestration on an annual level.
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