A positive relationship between the abundance of ammonia oxidizing archaea and natural abundance δ15N of ecosystems

Karen Adair, Steven J. Blazewicz, Bruce A. Hungate, Stephen C. Hart, Paul Dijkstra, Egbert Schwartz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

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 languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)313-315
Number of pages3
JournalSoil Biology and Biochemistry
Volume65
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2013

Keywords

  • Ammonia oxidation
  • Ammonia oxidizing archaea
  • Ecosystem N release
  • Natural abundanceN Composition
  • Nitrification
  • Soil DNA

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology
  • Soil Science

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