A globally relevant stock of soil nitrogen in the Yedoma permafrost domain

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Authors

  • Jens Strauss
  • Christina Biasi
  • Tina Sanders
  • Benjamin W Abbott
  • Thomas Schneider von Deimling
  • Carolina Voigt
  • Matthias Winkel
  • Maija E Marushchak
  • Dan Kou
  • Matthias Fuchs
  • Marcus A Horn
  • Loeka L Jongejans
  • Susanne Liebner
  • Jan Nitzbon
  • Lutz Schirrmeister
  • Katey Walter Anthony
  • Yuanhe Yang
  • Sebastian Zubrzycki
  • Sebastian Laboor
  • Claire Treat
  • Guido Grosse

Research Organisations

External Research Organisations

  • Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
  • University of Eastern Finland
  • Brigham Young University
  • Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ)
  • University of Alaska Fairbanks
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
  • Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN)
  • Helmholtz-Zentrum hereon GmbH
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Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number6074
JournalNature Communications
Volume13
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 14 Oct 2022

Abstract

Nitrogen regulates multiple aspects of the permafrost climate feedback, including plant growth, organic matter decomposition, and the production of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. Despite its importance, current estimates of permafrost nitrogen are highly uncertain. Here, we compiled a dataset of >2000 samples to quantify nitrogen stocks in the Yedoma domain, a region with organic-rich permafrost that contains ~25% of all permafrost carbon. We estimate that the Yedoma domain contains 41.2 gigatons of nitrogen down to ~20 metre for the deepest unit, which increases the previous estimate for the entire permafrost zone by ~46%. Approximately 90% of this nitrogen (37 gigatons) is stored in permafrost and therefore currently immobile and frozen. Here, we show that of this amount, ¾ is stored >3 metre depth, but if partially mobilised by thaw, this large nitrogen pool could have continental-scale consequences for soil and aquatic biogeochemistry and global-scale consequences for the permafrost feedback.

Keywords

    Carbon/analysis, Greenhouse Gases, Nitrogen/analysis, Nitrous Oxide, Permafrost/chemistry, Soil/chemistry

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Sustainable Development Goals

Cite this

A globally relevant stock of soil nitrogen in the Yedoma permafrost domain. / Strauss, Jens; Biasi, Christina; Sanders, Tina et al.
In: Nature Communications, Vol. 13, No. 1, 6074, 14.10.2022.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Strauss, J, Biasi, C, Sanders, T, Abbott, BW, von Deimling, TS, Voigt, C, Winkel, M, Marushchak, ME, Kou, D, Fuchs, M, Horn, MA, Jongejans, LL, Liebner, S, Nitzbon, J, Schirrmeister, L, Walter Anthony, K, Yang, Y, Zubrzycki, S, Laboor, S, Treat, C & Grosse, G 2022, 'A globally relevant stock of soil nitrogen in the Yedoma permafrost domain', Nature Communications, vol. 13, no. 1, 6074. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33794-9, https://doi.org/10.15488/13978
Strauss, J., Biasi, C., Sanders, T., Abbott, B. W., von Deimling, T. S., Voigt, C., Winkel, M., Marushchak, M. E., Kou, D., Fuchs, M., Horn, M. A., Jongejans, L. L., Liebner, S., Nitzbon, J., Schirrmeister, L., Walter Anthony, K., Yang, Y., Zubrzycki, S., Laboor, S., ... Grosse, G. (2022). A globally relevant stock of soil nitrogen in the Yedoma permafrost domain. Nature Communications, 13(1), Article 6074. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33794-9, https://doi.org/10.15488/13978
Strauss J, Biasi C, Sanders T, Abbott BW, von Deimling TS, Voigt C et al. A globally relevant stock of soil nitrogen in the Yedoma permafrost domain. Nature Communications. 2022 Oct 14;13(1):6074. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-33794-9, 10.15488/13978
Strauss, Jens ; Biasi, Christina ; Sanders, Tina et al. / A globally relevant stock of soil nitrogen in the Yedoma permafrost domain. In: Nature Communications. 2022 ; Vol. 13, No. 1.
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title = "A globally relevant stock of soil nitrogen in the Yedoma permafrost domain",
abstract = "Nitrogen regulates multiple aspects of the permafrost climate feedback, including plant growth, organic matter decomposition, and the production of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. Despite its importance, current estimates of permafrost nitrogen are highly uncertain. Here, we compiled a dataset of >2000 samples to quantify nitrogen stocks in the Yedoma domain, a region with organic-rich permafrost that contains ~25% of all permafrost carbon. We estimate that the Yedoma domain contains 41.2 gigatons of nitrogen down to ~20 metre for the deepest unit, which increases the previous estimate for the entire permafrost zone by ~46%. Approximately 90% of this nitrogen (37 gigatons) is stored in permafrost and therefore currently immobile and frozen. Here, we show that of this amount, ¾ is stored >3 metre depth, but if partially mobilised by thaw, this large nitrogen pool could have continental-scale consequences for soil and aquatic biogeochemistry and global-scale consequences for the permafrost feedback.",
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author = "Jens Strauss and Christina Biasi and Tina Sanders and Abbott, {Benjamin W} and {von Deimling}, {Thomas Schneider} and Carolina Voigt and Matthias Winkel and Marushchak, {Maija E} and Dan Kou and Matthias Fuchs and Horn, {Marcus A} and Jongejans, {Loeka L} and Susanne Liebner and Jan Nitzbon and Lutz Schirrmeister and {Walter Anthony}, Katey and Yuanhe Yang and Sebastian Zubrzycki and Sebastian Laboor and Claire Treat and Guido Grosse",
note = "Funding information: This study was a result of “The Yedoma Region” Action Group funded by the International Permafrost Association and is embedded into the Permafrost Carbon Network (PCN). We acknowledge the support by the European Research Council PETA-CARB (#338335), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; CACOON (#03F0806A), EISPAC (#03F0809A), PermaRisk (#01LN1709A), Laptev Sea System 2000, Permafrost Dynamics in the Laptev Sea, CarboPerm (#03G0836A), and KoPf (#03F0764), the German Research Foundation (HE 3622/16-1, DI 2544/1-1, WE 4390/7-1, UL426/1-1, KI 849/4-1, HO4020/3-1, HO4020/5-2), and the Initiative and Networking Fund of the Helmholtz Association (#ERC-0013). The work of C.B., C.V., M.E.M. and D.K. was supported by the Academy of Finland/Russian Foundation for Basic Research project NOCA (decision no. 314630), the Yedoma-N project (General Research Grant from the Academy of Finland, decision number 287469) and the N-PERM project (General Research Grant from the Academy of Finland, decision number 341348). C.V. was further supported by the Academy of Finland project MUFFIN (decision no. 332196), and MEM by the Academy of Finland project PANDA (decision no. 317054). B.W.A. was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (award no. 1916565).",
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TY - JOUR

T1 - A globally relevant stock of soil nitrogen in the Yedoma permafrost domain

AU - Strauss, Jens

AU - Biasi, Christina

AU - Sanders, Tina

AU - Abbott, Benjamin W

AU - von Deimling, Thomas Schneider

AU - Voigt, Carolina

AU - Winkel, Matthias

AU - Marushchak, Maija E

AU - Kou, Dan

AU - Fuchs, Matthias

AU - Horn, Marcus A

AU - Jongejans, Loeka L

AU - Liebner, Susanne

AU - Nitzbon, Jan

AU - Schirrmeister, Lutz

AU - Walter Anthony, Katey

AU - Yang, Yuanhe

AU - Zubrzycki, Sebastian

AU - Laboor, Sebastian

AU - Treat, Claire

AU - Grosse, Guido

N1 - Funding information: This study was a result of “The Yedoma Region” Action Group funded by the International Permafrost Association and is embedded into the Permafrost Carbon Network (PCN). We acknowledge the support by the European Research Council PETA-CARB (#338335), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; CACOON (#03F0806A), EISPAC (#03F0809A), PermaRisk (#01LN1709A), Laptev Sea System 2000, Permafrost Dynamics in the Laptev Sea, CarboPerm (#03G0836A), and KoPf (#03F0764), the German Research Foundation (HE 3622/16-1, DI 2544/1-1, WE 4390/7-1, UL426/1-1, KI 849/4-1, HO4020/3-1, HO4020/5-2), and the Initiative and Networking Fund of the Helmholtz Association (#ERC-0013). The work of C.B., C.V., M.E.M. and D.K. was supported by the Academy of Finland/Russian Foundation for Basic Research project NOCA (decision no. 314630), the Yedoma-N project (General Research Grant from the Academy of Finland, decision number 287469) and the N-PERM project (General Research Grant from the Academy of Finland, decision number 341348). C.V. was further supported by the Academy of Finland project MUFFIN (decision no. 332196), and MEM by the Academy of Finland project PANDA (decision no. 317054). B.W.A. was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (award no. 1916565).

PY - 2022/10/14

Y1 - 2022/10/14

N2 - Nitrogen regulates multiple aspects of the permafrost climate feedback, including plant growth, organic matter decomposition, and the production of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. Despite its importance, current estimates of permafrost nitrogen are highly uncertain. Here, we compiled a dataset of >2000 samples to quantify nitrogen stocks in the Yedoma domain, a region with organic-rich permafrost that contains ~25% of all permafrost carbon. We estimate that the Yedoma domain contains 41.2 gigatons of nitrogen down to ~20 metre for the deepest unit, which increases the previous estimate for the entire permafrost zone by ~46%. Approximately 90% of this nitrogen (37 gigatons) is stored in permafrost and therefore currently immobile and frozen. Here, we show that of this amount, ¾ is stored >3 metre depth, but if partially mobilised by thaw, this large nitrogen pool could have continental-scale consequences for soil and aquatic biogeochemistry and global-scale consequences for the permafrost feedback.

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KW - Carbon/analysis

KW - Greenhouse Gases

KW - Nitrogen/analysis

KW - Nitrous Oxide

KW - Permafrost/chemistry

KW - Soil/chemistry

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