Patterns of biological nitrogen fixation during 60 000 years of forest development on volcanic soils from south-central Chile

This research paper examines biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) across a 60,000-year chronosequence on volcanic soils at Llaima volcano in south-central Chile to understand how nitrogen gain couples with ecosystem succession.

• Maximum rates of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), ranging from 3 to 6 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, occurred between 776 and 3,470 years of substrate age. This period was associated with high soil carbon (C) and phosphorus (P) contents and the lowest denitrification rates (0.17 to 0.42 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹), resulting in a positive gaseous nitrogen balance of 5.7 to 2.8 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ and the lowest δ15N signal in surface soil (-4.6 ‰).
• The earliest stage of the chronosequence exhibited a negative nitrogen gas exchange balance, as low symbiotic N fixation associated with Racomitrium moss carpets (0.07 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) was insufficient to offset denitrification losses (2.6 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹).
• In the oldest sites of the 60,000-year chronosequence, BNF rates and denitrification rates both reached 1.3 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, supporting the hypothesis that the retrogressive phase of ecosystem succession is characterized by a net nitrogen budget of zero for gaseous fluxes.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2025). Patterns of biological nitrogen fixation during 60 000 years of forest development on volcanic soils from south-central Chile. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/patterns-of-biological-nitrogen-fixation-during-60000-years-of-forest-development-on-volcanic-soils-from-south-central-chile/

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Patterns of biological nitrogen fixation during 60 000 years of forest development on volcanic soils from south-central Chile. 2025. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/patterns-of-biological-nitrogen-fixation-during-60000-years-of-forest-development-on-volcanic-soils-from-south-central-chile/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Patterns of biological nitrogen fixation during 60 000 years of forest development on volcanic soils from south-central Chile |date=16 January 2025 |url=https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/patterns-of-biological-nitrogen-fixation-during-60000-years-of-forest-development-on-volcanic-soils-from-south-central-chile/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2025patterns, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Patterns of biological nitrogen fixation during 60 000 years of forest development on volcanic soils from south-central Chile}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/patterns-of-biological-nitrogen-fixation-during-60000-years-of-forest-development-on-volcanic-soils-from-south-central-chile/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }