Abstract
We present a significant relationship between the natural abundance isotopic composition of ecosystem pools and the abundance of a microbial gene. Natural abundance 15N of soils and soil DNA were analysed and compared with archaeal ammonia oxidizer abundance along an elevation gradient in northern Arizona and along a substrate age gradient in Hawai'i. There was a significant positive correlation between the abundance of archaeal amoA genes and natural abundance δ15N of total soil or DNA suggesting that ammonia oxidizing archaea play an important role in ecosystem N release.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 313-315 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Soil Biology and Biochemistry |
Volume | 65 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2013 |
Keywords
- Ammonia oxidation
- Ammonia oxidizing archaea
- Ecosystem N release
- Natural abundanceN Composition
- Nitrification
- Soil DNA
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Microbiology
- Soil Science