Adjustment of microbial nitrogen use efficiency to carbon:nitrogen imbalances regulates soil nitrogen cycling.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Mooshammer M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3997803 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Adjustment of microbial nitrogen use efficiency to carbon:nitrogen imbalances regulates soil nitrogen cycling.
Mooshammer Maria M Wanek Wolfgang W Hämmerle Ieda I Fuchslueger Lucia L Hofhansl Florian F Knoltsch Anna A Schnecker Jörg J Takriti Mounir M Watzka Margarete M Wild Birgit B Keiblinger Katharina M KM Zechmeister-Boltenstern Sophie S Richter Andreas A
Nature communications 20140416
Microbial nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) describes the partitioning of organic N taken up between growth and the release of inorganic N to the environment (that is, N mineralization), and is thus central to our understanding of N cycling. Here we report empirical evidence that microbial decomposer communities in soil and plant litter regulate their NUE. We find that microbes retain most immobilized organic N (high NUE), when they are N limited, resulting in low N mineralization. However, when the ...[more]
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