Nitrogen additions and microbial biomass: a meta-analysis of ecosystem studies
Open accessAbstract
Nitrogen (N) enrichment is an element of global change that could influence the growth and abundance of many organisms. In this meta‐analysis, I synthesized responses of microbial biomass to N additions in 82 published field studies. I hypothesized that the biomass of fungi, bacteria or the microbial community as a whole would be altered under N additions. I also predicted that changes in biomass would parallel changes in soil CO 2 emissions. Microbial biomass declined 15% on average under N fertilization, but fungi and bacteria were not significantly altered in studies that examined each group separately. Moreover, declines in abundance of microbes and fungi were more evident in studies of longer durations and with higher total amounts of N added. In addition, responses of microbial biomass to N fertilization were significantly correlated with responses of soil CO 2 emissions. There were no significant effects of biomes, fertilizer types, ambient N deposition rates or methods of measuring biomass. Altogether, these results suggest that N enrichment could reduce microbial biomass in many ecosystems, with corresponding declines in soil CO 2 emissions.
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Nitrogen fertilization can have negative impact on fungal development.
“At the same time, nitrogen fertilization can have negative impact on fungal development (Treseder, 2008;Zhang et al., 2018).”
From The hidden potential of saprotrophic fungi in arable soil: Patterns of short-term stimulation by organic amendments (2020) · cites this paper as Treseder, 2008
Reduction in fungal biomass was observed in N-fertilized soils for a range of ecosystems.
“Reduction in fungal biomass was observed in N-fertilized soils for a range of ecosystems (Treseder, 2008).”
From The hidden potential of saprotrophic fungi in arable soil: Patterns of short-term stimulation by organic amendments (2020) · cites this paper as Treseder, 2008
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Functional- and abundance-based mechanisms explain diversity loss due to N fertilization
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- Authors
- Treseder, K. K.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Treseder, Kathleen K.
- Venue
- Ecology Letters
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2008-09
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1111-1120
- ISSN
- 1461-023X (ISSN-L)
- 1461-0248
- OpenAlex
- W2122215641
- Cited by
- 1,607
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 98 · 2025: 92 · 2024: 117 · 2023: 122 · 2022: 145 · 2021: 151 · 2020: 120 · 2019: 151 · 2018: 107 · 2017: 87 · 2016: 87 · 2015: 79 · 2014: 59 · 2013: 57 · 2012: 44
- FWCI
- 4.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- escholarship.org
- Locations
- Ecology Letters (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Keywords
- nitrogen addition, microbial biomass, nitrogen fertilization, soil fungi, soil bacteria, soil CO2 efflux, global change, ecosystem responses, nitrogen deposition
- MeSH terms
- Bacteria, Carbon Dioxide, Fertilizers, Fungi, Nitrogen, Soil, Soil Microbiology, Ecosystem, Biomass
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