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Nitrogen-15 tracing

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Scientific technique

Nitrogen-15 (N) tracing is a technique to study the nitrogen cycle using the heavier, stable nitrogen isotope N. Despite the different weights, N is involved in the same chemical reactions as the more abundant N and is therefore used to trace and quantify conversions of one nitrogen compound to another. N tracing is applied in biogeochemistry, soil science, environmental science, environmental microbiology and small molecule activation research.

Applications

N tracing allows researchers to distinguish specific nitrogen conversions from a network of simultaneous reactions; e.g. ammonium can at the same time be oxidised by autotrophic microorganisms, produced by mineralisation of organic matter, produced by dissimilatory nitrate reduction and assimilated by microbes and plants. In this case, quantifying the absolute amounts of ammonium does not explain how it is produced or consumed. However, the conversion of one N labelled compound to another can directly be linked through the isotopic signature.

N tracing has been applied to quantify rates of nitrogen transformations in soil and to distinguish the sources of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide under different environmental conditions.

Methodical approaches

The two main approaches are natural abundance and enrichment techniques.

Natural abundance techniques

Natural abundance techniques can be applied without artificial disturbance. The natural N abundances are expressed in delta (δ) notation relative to the N concentration in the air. Due to enzymatic discrimination, natural N abundances change slightly in microbially mediated reactions in soil. Apart from δ values, the site preference of N and N (isotopomers) for the inner or outer position within the nitrous oxide molecule has been used to determine its sources (nitrification or denitrification).

Enrichment techniques

When nitrogen substrates are artificially enriched (labeled) with N, the product of a reaction can directly be linked to its substrate. In contrast to natural abundance techniques, N labeling allows to precisely calculate reaction rates. The amendment of additional nitrogen can also be a bias by changing natural nitrogen transformations. In agricultural soil, however, application of N enriched tracers, such as ammonium and nitrate, resembles conventional fertilisation practise.

A way to calculate nitrogen transformation rates in soil can be achieved by numerical approximation that takes different, simultaneous nitrogen transformations into account. A numerical tool to study the nitrogen cycle is the Ntrace model based on a Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation.

References

  1. Hart, Stephen C.; Myrold, David D. (1996). "15N Tracer Studies of Soil Nitrogen Transformations". Mass Spectrometry of Soils.
  2. Bateman, E. J.; Baggs, E. M. (2005-03-23). "Contributions of nitrification and denitrification to N2O emissions from soils at different water-filled pore space". Biology and Fertility of Soils. 41 (6): 379–388. doi:10.1007/s00374-005-0858-3. ISSN 0178-2762. S2CID 34419659.
  3. Müller, Christoph; Laughlin, Ronnie J.; Spott, Oliver; Rütting, Tobias (2014-05-01). "Quantification of N2O emission pathways via a 15N tracing model". Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 72: 44–54. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.01.013.
  4. Köster, Jan Reent; Cárdenas, Laura; Senbayram, Mehmet; Bol, Roland; Well, Reinhard; Butler, Mark; Mühling, Karl Hermann; Dittert, Klaus (2011-08-01). "Rapid shift from denitrification to nitrification in soil after biogas residue application as indicated by nitrous oxide isotopomers". Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 43 (8): 1671–1677. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.04.004.
  5. Baggs, E. M. (2008-06-15). "A review of stable isotope techniques for N2O source partitioning in soils: recent progress, remaining challenges and future considerations". Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. 22 (11): 1664–1672. Bibcode:2008RCMS...22.1664B. doi:10.1002/rcm.3456. ISSN 1097-0231. PMID 18435506.
  6. Rütting, T.; Müller, C. (2008-04-01). "Process-specific analysis of nitrite dynamics in a permanent grassland soil by using a Monte Carlo sampling technique". European Journal of Soil Science. 59 (2): 208–215. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2389.2007.00976.x. ISSN 1365-2389. S2CID 93882593.
  7. Müller, Christoph; Laughlin, Ronnie J.; Spott, Oliver; Rütting, Tobias (2014-05-01). "Quantification of N2O emission pathways via a 15N tracing model". Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 72: 44–54. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.01.013.
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