What nitrogen is getting up to in permafrost soils may exert great feedbacks on climate changes, which overturns what researchers have long believed, according to a Sino-German joint study.
Nitrogen is a constituent part of nitrous oxide (N2O) - an often overlooked greenhouse gas, and there is a vast amount of nitrogen stored in permafrost soils.
But little is known about N2O emissions from permafrost soils and until recently, it was assumed that releases had to be fairly minimal due to the cold climate.
Decomposition of organic matter is slow in low temperatures. Exacerbating this, there would have to be high competition amongst organisms for what little nitrogen there was in a form that they can use. So there couldn't be much nitrogen left over to contribute to N2O releases.
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