Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for life on the earth. Nitrogen is an abundant element on Earth, making up ~78.1% of the atmosphere. No other element essential for life takes as many forms in the soil as nitrogen, and transformations among these forms are mostly mediated by microbes. Several forms of nitrogen are also pollutants, so soil microbial transformations of nitrogen also affects human and environmental health, sometimes far away from the microbes that originally performed the transformation. Anthropogenic activities have also seriously perturbed the global nitrogen cycle.
Excessive use of nitrogen for crop production has negatively impacted soil biological diversity, climate, and human health. It has also been revealed, however, that nitrogen shortage leads us to fall short of proper food demands by limiting both the quantity and quality of crops. The disturbance of the global nitrogen cycle at a large scale presents substantial challenges and requires immediate implementation of strategies for appropriate nitrogen management. Understanding nitrogen transformations and the soil microbes that perform them, as well as proper management of nitrogen for crops, are thus essential for understanding and managing ecosystem health and productivity.
This Research Topic will focus in particular on nitrogen in the environment, including following points (but not limited to):
· Nitrogen processes and ecology in soil
· Mitigation of nitrogen losses in soil
The following Article Types are welcome for submission: Original Research, Reviews, Methods, Mini-Reviews, and Data Reports.
Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for life on the earth. Nitrogen is an abundant element on Earth, making up ~78.1% of the atmosphere. No other element essential for life takes as many forms in the soil as nitrogen, and transformations among these forms are mostly mediated by microbes. Several forms of nitrogen are also pollutants, so soil microbial transformations of nitrogen also affects human and environmental health, sometimes far away from the microbes that originally performed the transformation. Anthropogenic activities have also seriously perturbed the global nitrogen cycle.
Excessive use of nitrogen for crop production has negatively impacted soil biological diversity, climate, and human health. It has also been revealed, however, that nitrogen shortage leads us to fall short of proper food demands by limiting both the quantity and quality of crops. The disturbance of the global nitrogen cycle at a large scale presents substantial challenges and requires immediate implementation of strategies for appropriate nitrogen management. Understanding nitrogen transformations and the soil microbes that perform them, as well as proper management of nitrogen for crops, are thus essential for understanding and managing ecosystem health and productivity.
This Research Topic will focus in particular on nitrogen in the environment, including following points (but not limited to):
· Nitrogen processes and ecology in soil
· Mitigation of nitrogen losses in soil
The following Article Types are welcome for submission: Original Research, Reviews, Methods, Mini-Reviews, and Data Reports.