Featured publication
Recently, we collaborated with Erin Daly and Guillermo Hernandez-Ramirez from the Sustainable Land Ecosystems group at the University of Alberta, as well as a team of experts from around the globe, to synthesise current knowledge regarding soil organic nitrogen priming of nitrous oxide production.
Priming refers to a change in the mineralisation rate of soil organic matter in response to a certain stimulus. For example, when we add nitrogen to the soil, microbial turnover and mineralisation increases, releasing additional nitrogen from organic matter. Both the added nitrogen and the secondary nitrogen can contribute to nitrous oxide emissions. The nitrous oxide produced from the secondary nitrogen is driven by priming effects. In the paper, we describe the complexity of different mechanisms that lead to priming, and show that priming cannot be explained by a single mechanism or hypothesis. We look forward to future research in this exciting field!
The graphical abstract summarises our knowledge regarding some of the main mechanisms of priming.