Long-Term Change in the Nitrogen Cycle of Tropical Forests

Abstract

Deposition of reactive nitrogen (N) from human activities has large effects on temperate forests where low natural N availability limits productivity but is not known to affect tropical forests where natural N availability is often much greater. Leaf N and the ratio of N isotopes (d15N) increased substantially in a moist forest in Panama between ~1968 and 2007, as did tree-ring d15N in a dry forest in Thailand over the past century. A decade of fertilization of a nearby Panamanian forest with N caused similar increases in leaf N and d15N. Therefore, our results indicate regional increases in N availability due to anthropogenic N deposition. Atmospheric nitrogen dioxide measurements and increased emissions of anthropogenic reactive N over tropical land areas suggest that these changes are widespread in tropical forests.

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Hietz, Peter, Turner, Benjamin L., Wanek, Wolfgang, Richter, Andreas, Nock, Charles A., and Wright, S. Joseph. 2011. "<a href="https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/17525">Long-Term Change in the Nitrogen Cycle of Tropical Forests</a>." <em>Science</em>, 334, (6056) 664–666. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1211979">https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1211979</a>.

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