Biogeochemistry articles within Nature

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Using complementary multiplicity-edited 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, oxidative dearomatization is shown to be a key driver for generating structural diversity during processing of dissolved organic matter and the data also suggest high abundance of OCqC3 units.

    • Siyu Li
    • , Mourad Harir
    •  & Norbert Hertkorn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Datasets from in situ warming experiments across 28 arctic and alpine tundra sites covering  a span of less than 1 year up to 25 years show the importance of local soil conditions and warming-induced changes therein for future climatic impacts on ecosystem respiration.  

    • S. L. Maes
    • , J. Dietrich
    •  & E. Dorrepaal

  • Research Briefing |

    The strength of the biological carbon pump was estimated using direct measurements of nutrients collected over decades. The findings indicate that ocean waters can capture and store larger amounts of carbon dioxide than previously estimated. This might have implications for climate-change models.

  • Article |

    Physical analysis of processes universal to raised peatlands produces an equation that explains their morphology and carbon storage across biomes, from Alaska to New Zealand.

    • Alexander R. Cobb
    • , René Dommain
    •  & Charles F. Harvey

  • Article
    | Open Access

    By using several decades of hydrographic data and an inverse biogeochemical model that implicitly accounts for all known export pathways, a top-down estimate of the strength of the biological carbon pump is calculated.

    • Wei-Lei Wang
    • , Weiwei Fu
    •  & François W. Primeau

  • Book Review |

    An exploration of nature’s toxins reveals complex relationships between humans and the plant chemicals we use as foods, medicines and mind-altering drugs.

    • Emily Monosson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A spatially explicit global estimate reveals that land–water connections are important for regulating methane supply to running waters, and that these connections are vulnerable to both climate change and direct human modifications of the land.

    • Gerard Rocher-Ros
    • , Emily H. Stanley
    •  & Ryan A. Sponseller

  • News & Views |

    A revised conceptual model of the chemical and physical forms of iron in the ocean reconciles the mismatch between observations and simulations of the amount of dissolved iron in seawater — and might aid climate predictions.

    • Brandy M. Toner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Catalysis of simple organic carbon molecules into complex macromolecules by Fe and Mn may play a fundamental role in organic carbon preservation, to a degree that could substantially affect the Earth’s carbon and oxygen cycles.

    • Oliver W. Moore
    • , Lisa Curti
    •  & Caroline L. Peacock

  • Article |

    Analysis of a new dissolved iron, ligand and particulate iron seasonal dataset shows that authigenic iron phases help control ocean dissolved iron distributions and the coupling between dissolved and particulate iron pools.

    • Alessandro Tagliabue
    • , Kristen N. Buck
    •  & Peter Sedwick

  • News & Views |

    The 1963 discovery that even the vast oceans were highly contaminated with lead from car exhausts sparked debate and policy changes that benefited the health of millions — and revolutionized the practices of marine biogeochemistry.

    • Jerome Nriagu

  • Article |

    Analysis of palaeoceanographic proxies sensitive to oxygen-deficient zone extent and intensity show that the eastern tropical Pacific was well oxygenated during the warm Miocene, agreeing with model simulations that suggest that the recent deoxygenation trend may eventually reverse.

    • Anya V. Hess
    • , Alexandra Auderset
    •  & Alfredo Martínez-García

  • Article |

    Reconstruction of oceanic phosphorus concentrations during a large negative carbon-isotope excursion co-occurring with global oceanic oxygenation and evolution of some of Earth’s earliest animals suggests that decoupled phosphorus and ocean anoxia cycles during the Ediacaran may have prolonged the rise of atmospheric oxygen.

    • Matthew S. Dodd
    • , Wei Shi
    •  & Timothy W. Lyons

  • Article
    | Open Access

    We find that justice considerations constrain the integrated Earth system boundaries more than safety considerations for climate and atmospheric aerosol loading, and our assessment provides a foundation for safeguarding the global commons for all people.

    • Johan Rockström
    • , Joyeeta Gupta
    •  & Xin Zhang

  • Article |

    Salinity reconstructions show that Indian Ocean surface salinity increased during glacial periods and that the release of this water via the Agulhas Leakage during deglaciation can trigger abrupt changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.

    • Sophie Nuber
    • , James W. B. Rae
    •  & Stephen Barker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Measurements of the net ecosystem exchanges of CO2, CH4 and soil N2O from Acacia plantation, degraded forest and intact forest enable presentation of the peatland wood plantation rotation greenhouse gas flux balance.

    • Chandra S. Deshmukh
    • , Ari P. Susanto
    •  & Chris D. Evans

  • News & Views |

    An analysis confirms that humid tropical forests recovering from degradation and deforestation absorb substantial amounts of carbon dioxide — but much less than is emitted by the destruction of the original forests.

    • Pieter A. Zuidema
    •  & Catarina C. Jakovac

  • Article |

    Analysis of satellite-based data on recovering degraded and secondary forests in three tropical moist forest regions quantifies the amount of aboveground carbon accumulated, which counterbalanced one quarter of carbon emissions from old-growth forest loss between 1984 and 2018.

    • Viola H. A. Heinrich
    • , Christelle Vancutsem
    •  & Luiz E. O. C. Aragão

  • Article |

    Increasing variability of net biome production over recent decades may be due to climate change and points to destabilization of the carbon–climate system.

    • Marcos Fernández-Martínez
    • , Josep Peñuelas
    •  & Ivan A. Janssens

  • Article |

    Geochemical insights from a dataset of carbonate stable strontium isotopes suggest that porewater production of authigenic carbonates may have been an overlooked carbonate sink for much of Earth’s history.

    • Jiuyuan Wang
    • , Lidya G. Tarhan
    •  & Noah J. Planavsky

  • Article |

    A proposed optimal nitrogen rate strategy together with analysis of an extensive on-farm dataset shows that meeting national rice production targets in 2030 in China is possible while concurrently reducing nationwide nitrogen consumption.

    • Siyuan Cai
    • , Xu Zhao
    •  & Xiaoyuan Yan

  • Review Article |

    A review of current river ecosystem metabolism research quantifies the organic and inorganic carbon flux from land to global rivers and demonstrates that the carbon balance can be influenced by a changing world.

    • Tom J. Battin
    • , Ronny Lauerwald
    •  & Pierre Regnier

  • News & Views |

    An analysis of more than 1,500 field observations has identified a collection of agricultural practices that can improve the use of nitrogen fertilizers — boosting crop yields while reducing environmental pollution.

    • Longlong Xia
    •  & Xiaoyuan Yan

  • Article |

    A ‘bottom-up’ approach for calculating the rate of organic carbon burial in the global ocean shows larger variability than has been previously estimated, suggesting that the organic carbon cycle acted as positive feedback of past global warming.

    • Ziye Li
    • , Yi Ge Zhang
    •  & Benjamin J. W. Mills

  • News & Views |

    Atmospheric methane concentrations rose unexpectedly during the lockdowns of 2020. It now seems that this was due to warm, wet weather in the Northern Hemisphere and, ironically, a slowdown in air-pollutant emissions.

    • George H. Allen

  • Article |

    Using both bottom-up and top-down approaches, the record high increase in the methane growth rate in 2020 is attributed mainly to emissions from wetlands, which have been exacerbated by a warmer and wetter climate, and to the reduced atmospheric methane sink, in response to emissions reduction of air pollutants during COVID-19 lockdowns.

    • Shushi Peng
    • , Xin Lin
    •  & Philippe Ciais

  • Research Briefing |

    The world’s largest tropical peatland complex is in the central Congo Basin. A drying of the climate between 5,000 and 2,000 years ago triggered decomposition of peat in the Congo Basin and emission of carbon into the atmosphere. The tipping point at which drought results in carbon release might accelerate future climate change if regional droughts become more common.

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Between around 5,000 to 2,000 years ago, a drying climate in the vast peatlands of the Congo Basin triggered peat decomposition and carbon release to the atmosphere, implying that this region may be vulnerable to future climate change.

    • Yannick Garcin
    • , Enno Schefuß
    •  & Simon L. Lewis

  • News & Views |

    The acidity of the Arctic Ocean currently peaks in winter. A modelling study suggests that this peak could shift to the summer in the future — this is bad news for ecosystem functions, food webs and Indigenous communities.

    • Victoria Qutuuq Buschman
    •  & Claudine Hauri

  • Article
    | Open Access

    By using foraminifera-bound nitrogen isotopes, it is shown that, during two warm periods of the Cenozoic, oxygen-deficient zones contracted rather than expanded, suggesting that global warming may not necessarily lead to increased oceanic anoxia.

    • Alexandra Auderset
    • , Simone Moretti
    •  & Alfredo Martínez-García

  • News & Views |

    Variations in ocean oxygen levels during Earth’s history have been linked to evolution and mass extinctions. Simulations now suggest that the configuration of the continents has a substantial impact on ocean oxygenation.

    • Katrin J. Meissner
    •  & Andreas Oschlies

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