Nitrogen from the deep

摘要

In many parts of the world, the rates at which plants grow are controlled by the availability of nitrogen, an essential element for all life1. Forest growth is fuelled by the nitrogen capital contained in soils and biomass. Like money in a bank account, this capital increases slowly within ecosystems over hundreds to thousands of years from the accumulation of tiny deposits of nitrogen that arrive each year from the atmosphere2. But on page 78 of this issue, Morford et al.} report that nitrogen-rich bedrock can double nitrogen input rates to forest ecosystems, which flourish as a result.