Experimental warming alters free‐living nitrogen fixation in a humid tropical forest

IF 8.1 1区生物学 Q1 PLANT SCIENCES

New Phytologist Pub Date : 2025-10-09 DOI:10.1111/nph.70592

Parker M. Bartz, Iana F. Grullón‐Penkova, Molly A. Cavaleri, Sasha C. Reed, Saima Shahid, Tana E. Wood, Benedicte Bachelot

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Summary

Microbial nitrogen (N) fixation accounts for c. 97% of natural N inputs to terrestrial ecosystems. These microbes can be free‐living in the soil and leaf litter (asymbiotic) or in symbiosis with plants. Warming is expected to increase N‐fixation rates because warmer temperatures favor the growth and activity of N‐fixing microbes.

We investigated the effects of warming on asymbiotic components of N fixation at a field warming experiment in Puerto Rico. We analyzed the function and composition of bacterial communities from surface soil and leaf litter samples.

Warming significantly increased asymbiotic N‐fixation rates in soil by 55% (to 0.002 kg ha−1 yr−1) and by 525% in leaf litter (to 14.518 kg ha−1 yr−1). This increase in N fixation was associated with changes in the N‐fixing bacterial community composition and soil nutrients.

Our findings suggest that warming increases the natural N inputs from the atmosphere into this tropical forest due to changes in microbial function and composition, especially in the leaf litter. Given the importance of leaf litter in nutrient cycling, future research should investigate other aspects of N cycles in the leaf litter under warming conditions.

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实验变暖改变了湿润热带森林中游离氮的固定

微生物固氮占陆地生态系统自然氮输入的约97%。这些微生物可以自由生活在土壤和凋落叶中（非共生），也可以与植物共生。由于温度升高有利于固氮微生物的生长和活动，预计气候变暖会增加固氮速率。在波多黎各进行的田间增温试验中，研究了增温对固氮非共生组分的影响。分析了表层土壤和凋落叶细菌群落的功能和组成。变暖显著提高了土壤非共生固氮率55%（达到0.002 kg ha - 1 year - 1），凋落叶固氮率提高了525%（达到14.518 kg ha - 1 year - 1）。固氮量的增加与固氮细菌群落组成和土壤养分的变化有关。我们的研究结果表明，由于微生物功能和组成的变化，特别是凋落叶的变化，变暖增加了从大气到热带森林的自然氮输入。鉴于凋落叶在养分循环中的重要性，未来的研究应进一步探讨增温条件下凋落叶中N循环的其他方面。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

New Phytologist 生物-植物科学

自引率

5.30%

发文量

728

期刊介绍： New Phytologist is an international electronic journal published 24 times a year. It is owned by the New Phytologist Foundation, a non-profit-making charitable organization dedicated to promoting plant science. The journal publishes excellent, novel, rigorous, and timely research and scholarship in plant science and its applications. The articles cover topics in five sections: Physiology & Development, Environment, Interaction, Evolution, and Transformative Plant Biotechnology. These sections encompass intracellular processes, global environmental change, and encourage cross-disciplinary approaches. The journal recognizes the use of techniques from molecular and cell biology, functional genomics, modeling, and system-based approaches in plant science. Abstracting and Indexing Information for New Phytologist includes Academic Search, AgBiotech News & Information, Agroforestry Abstracts, Biochemistry & Biophysics Citation Index, Botanical Pesticides, CAB Abstracts®, Environment Index, Global Health, and Plant Breeding Abstracts, and others.