Abstract
Cyanate can serve as a nitrogen and/or carbon source for different microorganisms and as an energy source for autotrophic ammonia oxidizers. However, the extent of cyanate availability and utilisation in terrestrial ecosystems and its role in biogeochemical cycles is poorly known. Here we analyse cyanate concentrations in soils across a range of soil types, land management practices and climates. Soil cyanate concentrations were three orders of magnitude lower than ammonium or nitrate. We determined cyanate consumption in a grassland and rice paddy soil using stable isotope tracer experiments. We find that cyanate turnover was rapid and dominated by biotic processes. We estimated that in-situ cyanate production rates were similar to those associated with urea fertilizer decomposition, a major source of cyanate in the environment. We provide evidence that cyanate is actively turned over in soils and represents a small but continuous nitrogen/energy source for soil microbes.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|---|
| Artikelnummer | 161 |
| Tidsskrift | Communications Earth and Environment |
| Vol/bind | 2 |
| Udgave nummer | 1 |
| DOI | |
| Status | Udgivet - dec. 2021 |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:We thank Ricardo J. E. Alves for helpful comments on the manuscript. We thank Ludwig Seidl for assistance with HPLC, Yuntao Hu for help with LC-MS, Roland Albert and Margarete Watzka for collecting soil samples at the National Park Seewinkel, Cyrille Thomas from the Centre Français du Riz, France, for providing soil samples, Markus Schmid for help with collecting samples from wastewater treatment plants, and Lisa Noll, Qing Zheng, Shasha Zhang, Yuntao Hu, and Daniel Wasner for collecting soil samples across Europe and providing data on soil pH. We are grateful to the National Park Seewinkel, Austria, and to the wastewater treatment plants in Alland, Bruck an der Leitha, Klosterneuburg and Wolkersdorf, Austria, for permission to collect samples. This study was supported by European Research Council Advanced Grant project NITRICARE (294343) and the Wittgenstein Award of the Austrian Science Fund FWF (Z-383B) to M.W.
Funding Information:
We thank Ricardo J. E. Alves for helpful comments on the manuscript. We thank Ludwig Seidl for assistance with HPLC, Yuntao Hu for help with LC-MS, Roland Albert and Margarete Watzka for collecting soil samples at the National Park Seewinkel, Cyrille Thomas from the Centre Français du Riz, France, for providing soil samples, Markus Schmid for help with collecting samples from wastewater treatment plants, and Lisa Noll, Qing Zheng, Shasha Zhang, Yuntao Hu, and Daniel Wasner for collecting soil samples across Europe and providing data on soil pH. We are grateful to the National Park Seewinkel, Austria, and to the wastewater treatment plants in Alland, Bruck an der Leitha, Klosterneuburg and Wolkersdorf, Austria, for permission to collect samples. This study was supported by European Research Council Advanced Grant project NITRICARE (294343) and the Wittgenstein Award of the Austrian Science Fund FWF (Z-383B) to M.W.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).