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Microscale pH variations during drying of soils and desert biocrusts affect HONO and NH(3) emissions

Microscale interactions in soil may give rise to highly localised conditions that disproportionally affect soil nitrogen transformations. We report mechanistic modelling of coupled biotic and abiotic processes during drying of soil surfaces and biocrusts. The model links localised microbial activity...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kim, Minsu, Or, Dani
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6718665/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31477724
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11956-6
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author Kim, Minsu
Or, Dani
author_facet Kim, Minsu
Or, Dani
author_sort Kim, Minsu
collection PubMed
description Microscale interactions in soil may give rise to highly localised conditions that disproportionally affect soil nitrogen transformations. We report mechanistic modelling of coupled biotic and abiotic processes during drying of soil surfaces and biocrusts. The model links localised microbial activity with pH variations within thin aqueous films that jointly enhance emissions of nitrous acid (HONO) and ammonia (NH(3)) during soil drying well above what would be predicted from mean hydration conditions and bulk soil pH. We compared model predictions with case studies in which reactive nitrogen gaseous fluxes from drying biocrusts were measured. Soil and biocrust drying rates affect HONO and NH(3) emission dynamics. Additionally, we predict strong effects of atmospheric NH(3) levels on reactive nitrogen gas losses. Laboratory measurements confirm the onset of microscale pH localisation and highlight the critical role of micro-environments in the resulting biogeochemical fluxes from terrestrial ecosystems.
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spelling pubmed-67186652019-09-04 Microscale pH variations during drying of soils and desert biocrusts affect HONO and NH(3) emissions Kim, Minsu Or, Dani Nat Commun Article Microscale interactions in soil may give rise to highly localised conditions that disproportionally affect soil nitrogen transformations. We report mechanistic modelling of coupled biotic and abiotic processes during drying of soil surfaces and biocrusts. The model links localised microbial activity with pH variations within thin aqueous films that jointly enhance emissions of nitrous acid (HONO) and ammonia (NH(3)) during soil drying well above what would be predicted from mean hydration conditions and bulk soil pH. We compared model predictions with case studies in which reactive nitrogen gaseous fluxes from drying biocrusts were measured. Soil and biocrust drying rates affect HONO and NH(3) emission dynamics. Additionally, we predict strong effects of atmospheric NH(3) levels on reactive nitrogen gas losses. Laboratory measurements confirm the onset of microscale pH localisation and highlight the critical role of micro-environments in the resulting biogeochemical fluxes from terrestrial ecosystems. Nature Publishing Group UK 2019-09-02 /pmc/articles/PMC6718665/ /pubmed/31477724 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11956-6 Text en © The Author(s) 2019 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
spellingShingle Article
Kim, Minsu
Or, Dani
Microscale pH variations during drying of soils and desert biocrusts affect HONO and NH(3) emissions
title Microscale pH variations during drying of soils and desert biocrusts affect HONO and NH(3) emissions
title_full Microscale pH variations during drying of soils and desert biocrusts affect HONO and NH(3) emissions
title_fullStr Microscale pH variations during drying of soils and desert biocrusts affect HONO and NH(3) emissions
title_full_unstemmed Microscale pH variations during drying of soils and desert biocrusts affect HONO and NH(3) emissions
title_short Microscale pH variations during drying of soils and desert biocrusts affect HONO and NH(3) emissions
title_sort microscale ph variations during drying of soils and desert biocrusts affect hono and nh(3) emissions
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6718665/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31477724
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11956-6
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