Nitrogen Cycle 191
Denitrification 30
Atmosphere
3.8 × 109
NH3 NOx Biological Industrial
Deposition Deposition fixation fixation volatilization
89 36 150 110
Land
Biomass 3.5 × 104
Soils 9.5 × 104
Figure 1 Global nitrogen reservoirs (units kg N yr1) and fluxes (units  109 kg N yr1).
The global nitrogen cycle (Figure 2) is driven by
biological and physical processes, which depend on a
variety of environmental factors such as solar energy,
precipitation, temperature, soil texture, soil moisture,
the presence of other nutrients, and atmospheric CO2
concentrations.
These factors control N fluxes into and out of soils and
vegetation, thereby influencing the mass of N in these
compartments, and therefore its availability. Figure 3
illustrates the global distribution of nitrogen in soil and
vegetation. Tropical forest soils show the least amount of
storage because of high decomposition rates; but vegeta-
tion in temperate and tropical forests have higher N
storage due to the higher production rates. In general
terms, human activity has tended to accelerate nitrogen
cycling, increasing flux rates from one store to another.
Copyright © 2010. Elsevier Science & Technology. All rights reserved.
In order for nitrogen to be used for plant growth,
it must be available in inorganic formal ammonia (NH3),
ammonium (NH4), nitrite, (NO2), or nitrate (NO3). In the
terrestrial nitrogen cycle (Figure 4), soil nitrogen cycling
processes dominate, with surface application (fertilizer
and manure) providing most of the nitrogen inputs.
Microbes break down organic matter to produce
much of the available nitrogen in soils. Mineralization/
immobilization, nitrification, nitrate leaching, denitrifica-
tion, and plant uptake can then occur. Nitrate is
completely soluble in water and since it is not adsorbed
to clay particles, it is vulnerable to being leached out
of the soil by percolating rainfall or irrigation water.
Jorgensen, S. E. (Ed.). (2010). Global ecology. Elsevier Science & Technology.
Created from bibliotecauniandes-ebooks on 2023-03-14 15:38:12.
NOx deposition 11
NH3 deposition 23
Biological fixation 40
NH3 Microbial
NOx Denitrification
122 8 147
Oceans
Runoff /
Flora 3 × 102
rivers
Fauna 1.7 × 102
34
Sedimentation 14
Weathering 14
Rocks
Sediments 4 × 108
Generally, the movement of nitrogen can occur in one of
three directions: (1) upward – crop uptake and gaseous loss,
(2) downward – as leaching to groundwater, and (3) lateral –
via surface and subsurface flow to surface waters.
The nitrogen cycle is strongly influenced by anthro-
pogenic activities. During the twentieth century land-use
changes, such as intensive agriculture, over-fertilization,
deforestation, biomass burning, combustion of fossil fuels,
industrial activities, and energy production, have signifi-
cantly disturbed ‘natural’ N biogeochemical cycling. In
natural ecosystems plant growth rates are low and annual
uptake of N is relatively small. Cultivated crops are much
more demanding with nutrient uptake ranging from about
100 kg N ha yr1 for wheat and up to 450 kg N ha yr1 for
sugar cane. Improved grasslands for livestock rearing
typically require 250 kg N ha yr1. The mineralization
capacity of soils is almost always insufficient to maintain
optimum growth; therefore, chemical fertilizers and man-
ures are required to supply N for intensive agriculture.
This has resulted in changes to the long-term trends
within the N cycle at global, regional, and local scales.
Long-Term Global and Regional Trends
in the Nitrogen Cycle
Globally, nitrogen is found in the terrestrial ecosystem
as dead organic matter (89.5%), with live biomass
accounting for 4% and inorganic nitrogen 6.5% of this
 192 Nitrogen Cycle

Atmosphere

Anthropogenic
Fixation by activities
lightning

Biological
fixation

Land
plants
Denitrification

Biological
fixation Internal
River flow cycling

Soil organic
nitrogen
Ocean Internal
cycling Ground water

Permanent
burial

Figure 2 Global nitrogen cycle.

(a)
0

70

140

210

280

350
0 125 250 375 500 625

0.0 3.5 7.0 10.5 14.0 17.5

(b)
0
Copyright © 2010. Elsevier Science & Technology. All rights reserved.

70

140

210

280

350
0 125 250 375 500 625

0.0 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.6 0.8

2
Figure 3 Global distribution of nitrogen storage (kg m ) in soil (a) and vegetation (b). Reproduced from Bin-Le Lin, Sakoda A,
Shibasaki R, Gato N, and Suzuki M (2007) Modelling a global biochemical nitrogen cycle model in terrestrial ecosystems. Ecological
Modelling 135(1): 89–110, with permission from Elsevier.

Jorgensen, S. E. (Ed.). (2010). Global ecology. Elsevier Science & Technology.

Created from bibliotecauniandes-ebooks on 2023-03-14 15:38:12.
 Nitrogen Cycle 193

Ammonia NH3
Nitrogen input volatilization
N2

Nitrous oxide
N2O

Farm manures
Biological Assimilation by
fixation by plants and Death, decay, and
bacteria microorganisms excretion

Nitrite NO2

Denitrification Ammonification
by bacteria by bacteria

Nitrate NO3 Nitrite NO2 Ammonium NH4

Nitrification
by bacteria

Excess NO3 leached to ground and surface waters

Figure 4 The terrestrial nitrogen cycle.

Table 1 Nitrogen production (109 kg N yr1)
Nitrogen production (109 kg N yr1)
Anthropogenic sources
Terrestrial ecosystem
Marine ecosystems
Fixation by lightning
Total
source. Natural sources of nitrogen have seen a small
decline since 1890 (Table 1). Losses of biomass due to
large-scale burning and forest clearances during the late
twentieth century have contributed to the decline of this
Copyright © 2010. Elsevier Science & Technology. All rights reserved.
America (Table 2). Africa, Latin America, and Oceania
combined contribute less than 12% of global nitrogen
1890 1990
production.
15.0 140.6 Significant changes to the nitrogen cycle have been
100.0 89.0 apparent since the 1960s. This is closely linked to expand-
140.0 140.0
ing human populations and an increasing demand for
5.0 5.0
food and energy. Creation of anthropogenic nitrogen in
260 374
Asia increased from 14.4  109 kg N yr1 in 1961 to
68  109 kg N yr1 by 2000, and is set to increase to
105  109 kg N yr1 by 2030. North America doubled its
N production between 1961 and 1997, with most of the
increase occurring during the 1960s and 1970s. Although
the largest increase was in use of inorganic N fertilizer,
emissions of NOx from fossil fuel combustion also

reservoir. increased substantially. By 1997, even though N fixation

Natural reservoirs now cannot provide nitrogen in the
quantity required for global food production. In 1890,
total anthropogenic N production was approximately
15  109 kg N yr1, but by 1990 this had risen by an
order of magnitude to approximately 140  109 kg N yr1.
In the terrestrial ecosystem, globally, nitrogen produc-
tion is generally driven by the use of fertilizers for
intensive agriculture, with cultivation and combustion
contributing approximately 38% to all anthropogenic
sources. However, this is not evenly distributed across
the world regions. Asia produces almost half the world’s
nitrogen fertilizers, followed by Europe then North
had increased, fertilizer use and NOx emissions had
increased more rapidly and two-thirds of reactive N inputs
were denitrified or stored in soils and biota, while one-
third was exported, the largest export being in riverine flux
to coastal oceans, followed by export in food and feeds, and
atmospheric advection to the oceans. The consumption of
meat protein is a major driver behind N use in agriculture
in North America. Without changes in diet or agricultural
practices, fertilizer use will increase over the next 30 years,
and fluxes to coastal oceans may increase by another 30%.
Similar trends are mirrored in the European N budget
(Table 3). By 1990, N inputs are approximately

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