Global distribution and climate sensitivity of the tropical montane forest nitrogen cycle

Justin D. Gay, Bryce Currey and E. N. J. Brookshire ()
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Justin D. Gay: Montana State University
Bryce Currey: Montana State University
E. N. J. Brookshire: Montana State University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Tropical forests are pivotal to global climate and biogeochemical cycles, yet the geographic distribution of nutrient limitation to plants and microbes across the biome is unresolved. One long-standing generalization is that tropical montane forests are nitrogen (N)-limited whereas lowland forests tend to be N-rich. However, empirical tests of this hypothesis have yielded equivocal results. Here we evaluate the topographic signature of the ecosystem-level tropical N cycle by examining climatic and geophysical controls of surface soil N content and stable isotopes (δ15N) from elevational gradients distributed across tropical mountains globally. We document steep increases in soil N concentration and declining δ15N with increasing elevation, consistent with decreased microbial N processing and lower gaseous N losses. Temperature explained much of the change in N, with an apparent temperature sensitivity (Q10) of ~1.9. Although montane forests make up 11% of forested tropical land area, we estimate they account for >17% of the global tropical forest soil N pool. Our findings support the existence of widespread microbial N limitation across tropical montane forest ecosystems and high sensitivity to climate warming.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35170-z

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