Articles | Volume 1, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-381-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
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the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-381-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Review article
| 
21 Apr 2015
Review article |
| 21 Apr 2015
A new synthesis for terrestrial nitrogen inputs
B. Z. Houlton
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA
S. L. Morford
Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA
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Short summary
Nitrogen is necessary for life; this element is found in all DNA and protein molecules on Earth. Nitrogen also regulates the CO2 uptake capacity of land ecosystems, with important consequences for climate change. Here we provide evidence for a new source of nitrogen that is found in many of the rock materials on which natural ecosystems form. The idea that rocks are a widely distributed source of nitrogen challenges the standard paradigm of botany, soil, and ecosystem science.
Nitrogen is necessary for life; this element is found in all DNA and protein molecules on Earth....
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