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Element cycles are the biogeochemical pathways by which elements are transformed and moved through various states by geological and biological processes.
A comprehensive model framework is used to estimate the global net direct radiative forcing of anthropogenic reactive nitrogen as being about −0.34 W m−2, which has a cooling effect on the climate.
Oxygen is generated abiotically at the abyssal seafloor in the presence of polymetallic nodules, potentially by seawater electrolysis, according to in situ chamber and ex situ incubation experiments.
Iron oxides serve as both adsorbents and catalysts to generate inorganic phosphorus from organic phosphorus in environmental matrices. This abiotic dephosphorylation, which is comparable to enzymatic rates, is a missing piece in phosphorus cycling.
This study examines the impact of herbivorous insects on biogeochemical cycling within forests. From a global network of 74 plots within 40 mature, undisturbed broadleaved forests, they show that background levels of insect herbivory are sufficiently large to alter both ecosystem element cycling and influence terrestrial carbon cycling.
The biogeochemical roles of the plastisphere regulating N cycling are elusive. This study reveals the plastisphere as an emerging nitrifying niche, featured by distinct shifts in nitrifiers and potential substrate exchanges compared to seawater.
Mariculture, or aquaculture in marine coastal environments, can contribute towards projected food demand increases. Greenhouse gas emissions from mariculture, including methane and nitrous oxide, could be 40% lower than emissions from land-based aquaculture.
A field experiment in Uganda shows how potassium and phosphorus keep leaves functioning during times of water scarcity, highlighting the need to consider ecosystem-scale processes in studying the response of forests to nutrient limitation.
Multidisciplinary culture-dependent and -independent techniques elucidate the unique microbial nitrogen cycle in nutrient-poor coastal Antarctica soils and reveal the contribution of novel key microbes to their nitrogen budget.
Ana Cristina Vasquez discusses how Cu isotopes can trace metal pollution sources from anthropogenic activities, such as urban pollution, traffic emissions, mining and smelting
In vivo mercury demethylation by rice plants, involving neither light nor microorganisms, has major implications for human health and possibly even global mercury cycling.
Increasing nitrogen (N) fertilization does not proportionally increase crop production. The integrative application of knowledge-based N management by synchronizing crop N demand with N supply is effective for enhancing crop N uptake while reducing its losses to the environment.