Suppressed N fixation and diazotrophs after four decades of fertilization.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:N fixation is one of the most important microbially driven ecosystem processes on Earth, allowing N to enter the soil from the atmosphere, and regulating plant productivity. A question that remains to be answered is whether such a fundamental process would still be that important in an over-fertilized world, as the long-term effects of fertilization on N fixation and associated diazotrophic communities remain to be tested. Here, we used a 35-year fertilization experiment, and investigated the changes in N fixation rates and the diazotrophic community in response to long-term inorganic and organic fertilization. RESULTS:It was found that N fixation was drastically reduced (dropped by 50%) after almost four decades of fertilization. Our results further indicated that functionality

SUBMITTER: Fan K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6824023 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature