The Boreal Nitrogen Gap project
About The Boreal Nitrogen Gap project…
The Boreal Nitrogen Gap project is a three year NERC funded research project aiming to explain the size, fate and impacts of biological nitrogen fixation in forest ecosystems of northern Fennoscandia.
Nitrogen is a primary limiting nutrient in boreal and subarctic forests, vital for both plant growth and the decomposition of organic material in soils. A sound understanding of nitrogen sources and dynamics is therefore essential if we are to quantify ecosystem carbon (C) balance - and associated global climate feedbacks - for the boreal region.
10 years ago researchers led by Prof. Tom DeLuca described a major source of nitrogen input to boreal ecosystems (DeLuca et al. 2002) resulting from a close association between cyanobacteria and the ubiquitous feather mosses. We know that significant quantities of N are fixed by this association, but we know very little about the pathways for N release into the ecosystem, and the subsequent impacts on carbon and nutrient cycling.
The Boreal Nitrogen Gap project aims to advance our knowledge of the ecology of the feather moss - cyanobacterial association, and to explore the links between inputs of fixed N, the soil microbial community, forest productivity, and greenhouse gas emissions.
For more details visit the project homepage