Leaky nitrogen cycle in pristine African montane rainforest soil
| dc.creator | Ruttink, T. | |
| dc.creator | Cizungu-Ntaboba, L. | |
| dc.creator | Roobroeck, D. | |
| dc.creator | Bauters, M. | |
| dc.creator | Huygens, D. | |
| dc.creator | Boeckx, P. | |
| dc.date | 2015-10 | |
| dc.date | 2016-07-27T12:46:56Z | |
| dc.date | 2016-07-27T12:46:56Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-06-27T15:55:55Z | |
| dc.description | Many pristine humid tropical forests show simultaneously high nitrogen (N) richness and sustained loss of bioavailable N forms. To better understand this apparent upregulation of the N cycle in tropical forests, process-based understanding of soil N transformations, in geographically diverse locations, remains paramount. Field-based evidence is limited and entirely lacking for humid tropical forests on the African continent. This study aimed at filling both knowledge gaps by monitoring N losses and by conducting an in situ 15N labeling experiment in the Nyungwe tropical montane forest in Rwanda. Here we show that this tropical forest shows high nitrate (NO3−) leaching losses, confirming findings from other parts of the world. Gross N transformation rates point to an open soil N cycle with mineralized N nitrified rather than retained via immobilization; gross immobilization of NH4+ and NO3− combined accounted for 37% of gross mineralization, and plant N uptake is dominated by ammonium (NH4+). This study provided new process understanding of soil N cycling in humid tropical forests and added geographically independent evidence that humid tropical forests are characterized by soil N dynamics and N inputs sustaining bioavailable N loss. | |
| dc.identifier | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/76290 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/117802 | |
| dc.language | en | |
| dc.publisher | Wiley | |
| dc.rights | Limited Access | |
| dc.source | Rütting, T., Cizungu Ntaboba, L., Roobroeck, D., Bauters, M., Huygens, D. & Boeckx, P. (2015). Leaky nitrogen cycle in pristine African montane rainforest soil. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 29(10), 1754-1762. | |
| dc.subject | tropical forests | |
| dc.subject | nitrogen cycle | |
| dc.subject | mineralization | |
| dc.title | Leaky nitrogen cycle in pristine African montane rainforest soil | |
| dc.type | Journal Article |