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Changes in global nitrogen cycling during the Holocene epoch

Nature volume 495, pages 352–355 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Human activities have doubled the pre-industrial supply of reactive nitrogen on Earth, and future rates of increase are expected to accelerate1. Yet little is known about the capacity of the biosphere to buffer increased nitrogen influx. Past changes in global ecosystems following deglaciation at the end of the Pleistocene epoch provide an opportunity to understand better how nitrogen cycling in the terrestrial biosphere responded to changes in carbon cycling. We analysed published records of stable nitrogen isotopic values (δ15N) in sediments from 86 lakes on six continents. Here we show that the value of sedimentary δ15N declined from 15,000 years before present to 7,056 ± 597 years before present, a period of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and terrestrial carbon accumulation2. Comparison of the nitrogen isotope record with concomitant carbon accumulation on land and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere suggests millennia of declining nitrogen availability in terrestrial ecosystems during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition around 11,000 years before present. In contrast, we do not observe a consistent change in global sedimentary δ15N values during the past 500 years, despite the potential effects of changing temperature and nitrogen influx from anthropogenic sources. We propose that the lack of a single response may indicate that modern increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide and net carbon sequestration in the biosphere have the potential to offset recent increased supplies of reactive nitrogen in some ecosystems.

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Figure 1: Locations of the 86 sites analysed for lacustrine sedimentary δ15N in this study.
Figure 2: Changes in lacustrine sedimentary δ15N during the late Pleistocene and Holocene.
Figure 3: Three local environmental variables explain site-specific trajectories of sedimentary δ15N in the past 500 yr.
Figure 4: Conceptual diagram of hypothesized drivers of isotopic signatures of sedimentary N.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-0955225 and EPS-0903806) and a James Martin Fellowship at the University of Oxford. We thank the many authors who contributed their data for the purpose of this analysis. We appreciate technical assistance from C. Morris, P. Long and S. McConaghy. We thank J. Marlon, S. Enders, C. Baird and S. Perakis for comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Kansas State University, Manhattan, 66506, Kansas, USA

    Kendra K. McLauchlan & Joseph J. Williams

  2. Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, 66506, Kansas, USA

    Joseph M. Craine

  3. Department of Zoology, Biodiversity Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK,

    Elizabeth S. Jeffers

Authors
  1. Kendra K. McLauchlan
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  2. Joseph J. Williams
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  3. Joseph M. Craine
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  4. Elizabeth S. Jeffers
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Contributions

K.K.M. and E.S.J. designed research, K.K.M., E.S.J. and J.J.W. performed research, K.K.M., J.J.W. and J.M.C. analysed the data, and K.K.M. led the writing of the paper with substantial input from E.S.J., J.J.W. and J.M.C.

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Correspondence to Kendra K. McLauchlan.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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McLauchlan, K., Williams, J., Craine, J. et al. Changes in global nitrogen cycling during the Holocene epoch. Nature 495, 352–355 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11916

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