Abstract
The amount of nitrogen stored in soil is related to climate through biotic processes associated with productivity of vegetation and decomposition of organic matter. Other factors, particularly rainfall input, dry deposition input, nitrogen fixation and losses of inorganic nitrogen due to leaching contribute to the variability of nitrogen storage. Here we report that soil nitrogen storage ranges from 0.2 kg m−3 in warm deserts to 2 kg m−3 in rain tundra, with a peak of 1.6 kg m−3 in subtropical wet forests. Soil carbon storage shows a similar pattern. The global nitrogen pool in the surface metre of soil comprises an estimated 9.5 × 1013 kg. Each soil profile examined was classified according to the Holdridge life zone1 in which it was found. Soil carbon/nitrogen ratios range from <10 in tropical deserts to >20 in cool, wet forests or rain forests. We determined C/N ratios of 15–20 in cool life zones and 10–15 in warm life zones. These results indicate that: (1) relatively large amounts of soil nitrogen in wet tropical regions are associated with recalcitrant humic materials in an advanced state of decay, with low C/N ratios; (2) the seasonal climate contrast in temperate regions, combined with variable litter quality due to the mix of coniferous and deciduous species, results in moderate carbon and nitrogen storage in soil and variable C/N ratios; and (3) slow decomposition in wet tundra regions results in high carbon and nitrogen storage, with high C/N ratios.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Holdridge, L. R. Science 105, 367–368 (1947).
Zinke, P. J., Stangenberger, A. G., Post, W. M., Emanuel, W. R. & Olson, J. S. Worldwide Organic Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Data ORNL/TM-8857 (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1984).
Holdridge, L. R., Grenke, W. C., Hatheway, W. H., Liang, T. & Tosi, J. A. Forest Environments in Tropical Life Zones—A Pilot Study (Pergamon, New York, 1971).
Sawyer, J. O. & Lindsey, A. A. Indiana Acad. Sci. J. 73, 105–112 (1963).
MacMahon, J. A. & Weiboldt, T. F. Great Basin Natural Mem. 2, 245–257 (1978).
Emanuel, W. R., Shugart, H. H. & Stevenson, M. P. Clim. Change 7, 29–43 (1985).
Post, W. M., Emmanuel, W. R., Zinke, P.J. & Stangenberger, A. Nature 298, 156–159 (1982).
Waksman, S. A. Humus (Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, 1938).
Meentemeyer, V. Ecology 59, 465–472 (1978).
Aber, J. D. & Melillo, J. M. Can. J. Bot. 60, 2263–2269 (1982).
Pastor, J. & Post, W. M. Biogeochemistry (in the press).
Miller, P. C. et al. Ecol. Monogr. 54, 316–405 (1984).
Rodin, L. E. & Bazilevich, N. I. Production and Mineral Cycling in Terrestrial Vegetation (Oliver & Boyd, London, 1967).
Cole, D. W. & Rapp, M. in Dynamic Properties of Forest Ecosystems (ed. Reichte, D. E.) 341–409 (Cambridge University Press, 1980).
Schlesinger, W. H., Gray, J. T., Gill, D. S. & Mahall, B. E. Bot. Rev. 48, 71–117 (1982).
Vitousek, P. M. Ecology 65, 285–298 (1984).
Bray, J. R. & Gorham, E. Adv. ecol. Res. 2, 101–157 (1964).
Olson, J. S. Ecology 44, 322–331 (1963).
Melillo, J. M. & Gosz, J. R. in SCOPE 21: The Major Biogeochemical Cycles and Their Interactions (eds Bolin, B. & Cook, R. B.) (Wiley, New York, 1983).
Wallace, A., Romney, E. M., Kleinkopf, G. E. & Soufi, S. M. Nitrogen in Desert Ecosystems (eds West, N. E. & Skujuns, J. J.) 130–151 (Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, 1978).
Sonderlund, R. & Svensson, B. H. Ecol. Bull. 22, 3–73 (1976).
Burns, R. C. & Harder, R. W. F. Nitrogen Fixation in Bacteria and Higher Plants (Springer, New York, 1975).
Maybeck, M. Am. J. Sci. 282, 401–450 (1982).
Jenny, H. The Soil Resource (Springer, New York, 1980).
Cole, C. V. & Heil, R. D. Ecol. Bull. 33, 363–373 (1981).
Woodmansee, R. G. BioScience 28, 448–453 (1978).
McElroy, M. Global Change: A Biogeochemical Perspective JPL-Publ. 83–51 (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, 1983).
Stevenson, F. J. in Soil Nitrogen Vol. 10 (eds Bartholomew, W. V. & Clark, F. E.) 1–42 (Am. Soc. Agronomy, Madison, Wisconsin, 1965).
Sweeney, R. E., Liu, K. K. & Kaplan, I. R. in Stable Isotopes in the Earth Sciences (ed. Robinson, B. W.) 9–26 (Dept scient. ind. Res. Sci. Inf. Div. Wellington, New Zealand, 1978).
Delwiche, C. C. Scient. Am. 223(3), 137–146 (1970).
Delwiche, C. C. Ambio 6, 106–111 (1977).
Delwiche, C. C. & Likens, G. E. in Global Chemical Cycles and Their Alteration by Man (ed. Stumm, W.) 73–78 (Dahlem Konferenzen, Berlin, 1977).
Nitrates: An Environmental Assessment (National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., 1978).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Post, W., Pastor, J., Zinke, P. et al. Global patterns of soil nitrogen storage. Nature 317, 613–616 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/317613a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/317613a0
This article is cited by
-
Uncertainties in measuring precipitation hinders precise evaluation of loss of diversity in biomes and ecotones
npj Climate and Atmospheric Science (2024)
-
The chemical stoichiometry characteristics of plant-soil carbon and nitrogen in subtropical Pinus massoniana natural forests
Scientific Reports (2024)
-
Nutrient utilization strategies and age-related changes in Larix principis-rupprechtii forests
Plant and Soil (2024)
-
Tree diversity increases decadal forest soil carbon and nitrogen accrual
Nature (2023)
-
Metabolomic response to high light from pgrl1 and pgr5 mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences (2023)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.