Reviews and syntheses: Iron – a driver of nitrogen bioavailability in soils?
-
Published:2023-09-26
Issue:18
Volume:20
Page:3873-3894
-
ISSN:1726-4189
-
Container-title:Biogeosciences
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:Biogeosciences
Author:
Slimani ImaneORCID, Barker Xia-Zhu, Lazicki Patricia, Horwath William
Abstract
Abstract. An adequate supply of bioavailable nitrogen (N) is critical to soil microbial communities and plants. Over the last decades, research efforts
have rarely considered the importance of reactive iron (Fe) minerals in the processes that produce or consume bioavailable N in soils
compared to other factors such as soil texture, pH, and organic matter (OM). However, Fe is involved in both enzymatic and
non-enzymatic reactions that influence the N cycle. More broadly, reactive Fe minerals restrict soil organic matter (SOM)
cycling through sorption processes but also promote SOM decomposition and denitrification in anoxic conditions. By synthesizing available
research, we show that Fe plays diverse roles in N bioavailability. Fe affects N bioavailability directly by acting as a
sorbent, catalyst, and electron transfer agent or indirectly by promoting certain soil features, such as aggregate formation and stability, which
affect N turnover processes. These roles can lead to different outcomes in terms of N bioavailability, depending on environmental conditions
such as soil redox shifts during wet–dry cycles. We provide examples of Fe–N interactions and discuss the possible underlying
mechanisms, which can be abiotic or microbially meditated. We also discuss how Fe participates in three complex phenomena that influence
N bioavailability: priming, the Birch effect, and freeze–thaw cycles. Furthermore, we highlight how Fe–N bioavailability
interactions are influenced by global change and identify methodological constraints that hinder the development of a mechanistic understanding of
Fe in terms of controlling N bioavailability and highlight the areas of needed research.
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
Subject
Earth-Surface Processes,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Reference231 articles.
1. Allison, S. D.:
Soil minerals and humic acids alter enzyme stability: implications for ecosystem processes, Biogeochemistry, 81, 361–373, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-006-9046-2, 2006. 2. Amelung, W., Lobe, I., and Du Preez, C. C.:
Fate of microbial residues in sandy soils of the South African Highveld as influenced by prolonged arable cropping, Eur. J. Soil Sci., 53, 29–35, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2389.2002.00428.x, 2002. 3. Apel, K. and Hirt, H.:
Reactive oxygen species: metabolism, oxidative stress, and signal transduction, Annu. Rev. Plant. Biol., 55, 373–399, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.arplant.55.031903.141701, 2004. 4. Attygalla, N. W., Baldwin, D. S., Silvester, E., Kappen, P., and Whitworth, K. L.:
The severity of sediment desiccation affects the adsorption characteristics and speciation of phosphorus, Environ. Sci.-Proc. Imp., 18, 64–71, https://doi.org/10.1039/c5em00523j, 2016. 5. Barge, L. M., Flores, E., Baum, M. M., VanderVelde, D. G., and Russell, M. J.:
Redox and pH gradients drive amino acid synthesis in iron oxyhydroxide mineral systems, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 116, 4828–4833, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1812098116, 2019.
|
|