A world of cobenefits : solving the global nitrogen challenge

Houlton, Benjamin Z. University of California. John Muir Institute of the Environment. Davis, CA, USA.Houlton, Benjamin Z. University of California. Department of Land, Air and Water Resources. Davis, CA, USA.Almaraz, Maya. University of California. Department of Land, Air and Water Resources. Davis, CA, USA.Aneja, Viney. North Carolina State University at Raleigh. Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences. Raleigh, NC, USA.Austin, Amy T. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA). Buenos Aires, Argentina.Austin, Amy T. CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA). Buenos Aires, Argentina.Bai, Edith. Chinese Academy of Sciences. Institute of Applied Ecology. CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management. Shenyang, China.Bai, Edith. Northeast Normal University. School of Geographical Sciences. Changchun, China.Cassman, Kenneth. University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. Lincoln. NE, USA.Compton, Jana E. Environmental Protection Agency. Western Ecology Division. Washington, DC, USA.Davidson, Eric A. University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Appalachian Laboratory. Cambridge, MD, USA.865-872Nitrogen is a critical component of the economy, food security, and planetary health. Many of the world's sustainability targets hinge on global nitrogen solutions, which, in turn, contribute lasting benefits for (i) world hunger; (ii) soil, air, and water quality; (iii) climate change mitigation; and (iv) biodiversity conservation. Balancing the projected rise in agricultural nitrogen demands while achieving these 21st century ideals will require policies to coordinate solutions among technologies, consumer choice, and socioeconomic transformation

Nitrogen-induced terrestrial eutrophication: cascading effects and impacts on ecosystem services

Human activity has significantly increased the deposition of nitrogen (N) on terrestrial ecosystems over pre-industrial levels leading to a multitude of effects including losses of biodiversity, changes in ecosystem functioning, and impacts on human well-being. It is challenging to explicitly link the level of deposition on an ecosystem to the cascade of ecological effects triggered and ecosystem services affected, because of the multitude of possible pathways in the N cascade. To address this challenge, we report on the activities of an expert workshop to synthesize information on N-induced terrestrial eutrophication from the published literature and to link critical load exceedances with human beneficiaries by using the STressor–Ecological Production function–final ecosystem Services Framework and the Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Classification System (FEGS-CS). We found 21 N critical loads were triggered by N deposition (ranging from 2 to 39 kg N·ha−1·yr−1), which cascaded to distinct beneficiary types through 582 individual pathways in the five ecoregions examined (Eastern Temperate Forests, Marine West Coast Forests, Northwestern Forested Mountains, North American Deserts, Mediterranean California). These exceedances ultimately affected 66 FEGS across a range of final ecosystem service categories (21 categories, e.g., changes in timber production, fire regimes, and native plant and animal communities) and 198 regional human beneficiaries of different types. Several different biological indicators were triggered in different ecosystems, including grasses and/or forbs (33% of all pathways), mycorrhizal communities (22%), tree species (21%), and lichen biodiversity (11%). Ecoregions with higher deposition rates for longer periods tended to have more numerous and varied ecological impacts (e.g., Eastern Temperate Forests, eight biological indicators) as opposed to other ecoregions (e.g., North American Deserts and Marine West Coast Forests each with one biological indicator). Nonetheless, although ecoregions differed by ecological effects from terrestrial eutrophication, the number of FEGS and beneficiaries impacted was similar across ecoregions. We found that terrestrial eutrophication affected all ecosystems examined, demonstrating the widespread nature of terrestrial eutrophication nationally. These results highlight which people and ecosystems are most affected according to present knowledge, and identify key uncertainties and knowledge gaps to be filled by future research

A World of Cobenefits: Solving the Global Nitrogen Challenge

Nitrogen is a critical component of the economy, food security, and planetary health. Many of the world\u27s sustainability targets hinge on global nitrogen solutions, which, in turn, contribute lasting benefits for (i) world hunger; (ii) soil, air, and water quality; (iii) climate change mitigation; and (iv) biodiversity conservation. Balancing the projected rise in agricultural nitrogen demands while achieving these 21st century ideals will require policies to coordinate solutions among technologies, consumer choice, and socioeconomic transformation

Mangrove-Exported Nutrient Incorporation by Sessile Coral Reef Invertebrates

Coastal mangrove forests were historically considered as a source of organic matter (OM) for adjacent marine systems due to high net primary production; yet recent research suggesting little uptake through the food web because of low nutritional quality, challenges the concept of trophic linkage between mangrove forests and coral reefs. To examine the importance of mangrove forests to coral reef nutrient availability, we examined sessile reef-forming invertebrate consumers including hard corals, sponges, a bivalve mollusc, polychaete annelid and tunicate, and potential sources of OM (decaying mangrove leaves, microalgae, macroalgae, and seagrass) in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Using stable isotope analyses of δ34S and δ13C and a concentration-dependent version of the IsoSource mixing model, we were able to discriminate among and determine the range of potential contributions of our four OM sources to consumers. Contributions of microalgae and macroalgae were often indeterminate due to high variability, yet seagrass and mangrove contributions were often substantial. Mangrove OM ranged across sites and species of filter feeders from 0 to 57%, 7 to 41%, and 18 to 52% for sponges, file clams, and feather duster worms, respectively. Mangrove contribution to corals (Acropora cervicornis, Agaricia fragilis, Agaricia tenuifolia, Montastrea annularis, Diploria sp.) ranged from 0 to 44%. To examine whether OM contribution varied with distance from mangroves, we conducted a sponge transplant experiment that demonstrated declining mangrove contribution across three sponge species with increasing distance from the shore. These results supported the hypothesis of mangrove-coral reef nutrient linkages, providing the first evidence that mangrove inputs of OM to sessile invertebrates are substantial, accounting for 0–57% of the composition

Soil respiration and ecosystem carbon stocks in New England forests with varying soil drainage

Northern temperate forests play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle. Individual stands can differ in C content and storage, based on characteristics such as vegetation type, site history, and soil properties. These site differences may cause stands to vary in their response to extreme weather events such as droughts. We examined ecosystem C pools, soil respiration, and litterfall in four hardwood stands with widely varying soil drainage in Rhode Island. Total ecosystem C increased as soils became more poorly drained, ranging from 181 Mg C ha-in the excessively drained Entisol to 547 Mg C ha-in the very poorly drained Histosol. The proportion of ecosystem C contained in the soil was much higher in the poorly drained soils, and ranged from 57% in the excessively drained Entisol to 91% in the poorly drained Histosol. While total ecosystem C stocks varied by a factor of three, rates of litterfall and soil respiration were similar among sites. Soil carbon content was highest in the very poorly drained site, and respiration was lowest from this site. During the summer drought of 1999, all soils except the Histosol had lower respiration rates than predicted from temperature alone. Rain events that ended the drought produced a pulse of soil respiration in all mineral soils, stimulating soil C flux more than expected from temperature alone. The effect of drought and rewetting on soil respiration varied by site, suggesting that the response to climate variability will depend upon soil drainage to some extent. Soil respiration rates were most variable in dry conditions, and current and antecedent soil moisture conditions played an important role during those times. In general, soil respiration was much more variable over time than across sites, even among these sites with very different total soil C content, indicating that climatemainly temperatureis the main determinant of soil CO2 release even across soils with widely varying drainage

Factors influencing export of dissolved inorganic nitrogen by major rivers: A new, seasonal, spatially explicit, global model

Substantial effort has focused on understanding spatial variation in dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) export to the coastal zone and specific basins have been studied in depth. Much less is known, however, about seasonal patterns and controls of coastal DIN delivery across large spatial scales. Understanding seasonal patterns of DIN export is critical to efforts to predict impacts of coastal eutrophication, such as algal blooms and hypoxic areas, which are often seasonal phenomena. Here we describe, test, and apply a global model that predicts seasonal DIN export to coastal regions for >6000 rivers using the Nutrient Export from Watersheds (NEWS2) model. NEWS2-DIN-S used spatially explicit, seasonal N inputs and was calibrated with measured DIN yield (kgNkm(-2) season(-1)) for 77 rivers, distributed globally. Of the characteristics considered, DIN-transport efficiency was positively related to runoff and negatively related to temperature (r(2)=0.34-0.60, depending on season p<0.0001), likely due to flushing effects and increased retention by plants and soils, respectively. NEWS2-DIN-S incorporated these insights and performed well in predicting DIN yield (Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency=0.54-0.65, depending on season). Catchments were effective in retaining DIN and average export rates were lower during the growing season (3-5% of total nitrogen inputs) compared to other seasons (6-10%) for major latitude bands. Model output was insensitive to changes in the magnitude of N inputs, suggesting that refinement of seasonal N input budgets will not substantially improve model performance. Rather, better representation of land-to-river N transfers could improve future models because of strong landscape N attenuation.Key PointsCatchment DIN attenuation is greater in summer compared to other seasons Both runoff and temperature influence seasonal DIN-transport efficiency Depending on season and latitude, 3-10% of TN inputs are exported as DI

Spatial distribution of soil carbon in Southern New England hardwood forest landscapes

Understanding soil organic C (SOC) spatial variability is critical when developing C budgets, explaining the cause and effects of climate change, and for basic ecosystem characterization. We investigated delineations of four soil series to elucidate the factors that affect the size, distribution, and variability of SOC pools from horizon to landscape scales. These soils, classified as Udipsamments, Dystrudepts, Endoaquepts, and Haplosaprists, were sampled along random transects to a depth of 1 m. In very poorly and poorly drained soils 75 and 45% of total SOC was found below 30 cm, respectively. In contrast, only 30% of the total SOC could be accounted for below 30 cm in the well and excessively drained soils. Soils formed in outwash and young alluvium sequestered a greater portion of total SOC within the subsoil, while soils formed in loess held approximately 70% of the SOC within O and A horizons. Total SOC contents among the four soil types differed significantly (p \u3c 0.001), with the wetter soils having greater accumulations of C. Soil C pools ranged from 110 Mg C ha-1 in the excessively drained Psamments (double the mean national value) to 586 Mg C ha-1 in the very poorly drained Saprists (30-60% lower than the mean national value). The two-fold differences between our data and the national averages support the need for regional assessments of soil C pools. Based on the coefficient of variation (CV) values, there appears to be nearly as much variability in the SOC pool within a delineation (CVs ranged 9 to 30%) as among delineations (CVs ranged from 15 to 31%) for the same soil type. Since significant differences were found for total SOC among delineations of the same soil type, we concluded that sampling from a significant number of delineations of the same series will provide a more accurate representation of SOC for scaling to the landscape or region than sampling at multiple locations within a single representative delineation

Where Have All the Nutrients Gone? Long-Term Decoupling of Inputs and Outputs in the Willamette River Watershed, Oregon, United States

Better documentation and understanding of long-term temporal dynamics of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in watersheds is necessary to support effective water quality management, in part because studies have identified time lags between terrestrial nutrient balances and water quality. We present annual time series data from 1969 to 2012 for terrestrial N and P sources and monthly data from 1972 to 2013 for river N and P for the Willamette River Basin, Oregon, United States. Inputs to the watershed increased by factors of 3 for N and 1.2 for P. Synthetic fertilizer inputs increased in total and relative importance over time, while sewage inputs decreased. For N, increased fertilizer application was not matched by a proportionate increase in crop harvest; N use efficiency decreased from 69% to 38%. P use efficiency increased from 52% to 67%. As nutrient inputs to terrestrial systems increased, river concentrations and loads of total N, total P, and dissolved inorganic P decreased, and annual nutrient loads were strongly related to discharge. The N:P ratio of both sewage and fertilizer doubled over time but there was no similar trend in riverine export; river N:P concentrations declined dramatically during storms. River nutrient export over time was related to hydrology and waste discharge, with relatively little influence of watershed balances, suggesting that accumulation within soils or groundwater over time is mediating watershed export. Simply managing yearly nutrient balances is unlikely to improve water quality; rather, many factors must be considered, including soil and groundwater storage capacity, and gaseous loss pathways

Seasonality of nitrogen balances in a Mediterranean climate watershed, Oregon, US

We constructed a seasonal nitrogen (N) budget for the year 2008 in the Calapooia River Watershed (CRW), an agriculturally dominated tributary of the Willamette River (Oregon, U.S.) under Mediterranean climate. Synthetic fertilizer application to agricultural land (dominated by grass seed crops) was the source of 90% of total N input to the CRW. Over 70% of the stream N export occurred during the wet winter, the primary time of fertilization and precipitation, and the lowest export occurred in the dry summer. Averaging across all 58 tributary subwatersheds, 19% of annual N inputs were exported by streams, and 41% by crop harvest. Regression analysis of seasonal stream export showed that winter fertilization was associated with 60% of the spatial variation in winter stream export, and this fertilizer continued to affect N export in later seasons. Annual N inputs were highly correlated with crop harvest N (r2 = 0.98), however, seasonal dynamics in N inputs and losses produced relatively low overall nitrogen use efficiency (41%), suggesting that hydrologic factors may constrain improvements in nutrient management. The peak stream N export during fall and early winter creates challenges to reducing N losses to groundwater and surface waters. Construction of a seasonal N budget illustrated that the period of greatest N loss is disconnected from the period of greatest crop N uptake. Management practices that serve to reduce the N remaining in the system at the end of the growing season and prior to the fall and winter rains should be explored to reduce stream N expor