Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal: Scientific Reports

Volume number: 11

Issue number: 1

ISSN: 2045-2322

Open access status: Gold

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83786-w

Publisher: Nature Research

Abstract: 
Nitrite (NO2-) is a crucial compound in the N soil cycle. As an intermediate of nearly all N transformations, its isotopic signature may provide precious information on the active pathways and processes. NO2- analyses have already been applied in N-15 tracing studies, increasing their interpretation perspectives. Natural abundance NO2- isotope studies in soils were so far not applied and this study aims at testing if such analyses are useful in tracing the soil N cycle. We conducted laboratory soil incubations with parallel natural abundance and N-15 treatments, accompanied by isotopic analyses of soil N compounds (NO3-, NO2-, NH4+). The double N-15 tracing method was used as a reference method for estimations of N transformation processes based on natural abundance nitrite dynamics. We obtained a very good agreement between the results from nitrite isotope model proposed here and the N-15 tracing approach. Natural abundance nitrite isotope studies are a promising tool to our understanding of soil N cycling.

Harvard Citation style: Lewicka-Szczebak, D., Jansen-Willems, A., Müller, C., Dyckmans, J. and Well, R. (2021) Nitrite isotope characteristics and associated soil N transformations, Scientific Reports, 11(1), Article 5008. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83786-w

APA Citation style: Lewicka-Szczebak, D., Jansen-Willems, A., Müller, C., Dyckmans, J., & Well, R. (2021). Nitrite isotope characteristics and associated soil N transformations. Scientific Reports. 11(1), Article 5008. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83786-w