Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » St. Paul, Minnesota » Soil and Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #412656
Research Project: Developing Aspirational Practices Through Improved Process Understanding to Protect Soil and Air Resources and Increase Agricultural Productivity in the Upper Midwest U.S.

Location: Soil and Water Management Research

Title: Agroecosystems and the reactive nitrogen dilemma: Sources, impacts, and potential solutions

Author
item HSIAO, CHEJEN - University Of Minnesota
item GRIFFIS, TIMOTHY - University Of Minnesota
item YU, ZHONGJIE - University Of Illinois
item Venterea, Rodney - Rod

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2024
Publication Date: 9/14/2024
Citation: Book chapter- Hsiao C, TJ Griffis, Z Yu, RT Venterea. 2024. Agroecosystems and the reactive nitrogen dilemma: Sources, impacts, and potential solutions. Pages 235-262 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323997621000966 In: Treatise on Geochemistry, 3rd Edition. Editors: Ariel Anbar and Dominique Weis. Elsevier Science. ISBN 978-0-323-99763-8

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Nitrogen is a fundamental element for all life. The most abundant form of nitrogen is atmospheric dinitrogen, but its utilization is limited to organisms capable of biological N fixation. Most life forms depend on “reactive nitrogen”, which includes biologically active, chemically reactive, and radiatively active compounds in contrast to unreactive dinitrogen gas. The production of reactive nitrogen continues to grow every year, largely due to the extensive use of industrially produced nitrogen fertilizers and cultivation-induced biological nitrogen fixation which together have resulted in more than a seven-fold increase in the global creation of reactive nitrogen from 1860 to 2020. While these practices have significantly increased crop production, current production systems are low in their efficiency of nitrogen utilization, resulting in 50% or more of the applied fertilizer nitrogen being lost to the environment. These losses have led to a substantial increase in the amount of reactive nitrogen accumulating in managed and natural ecosystems. The growing abundance of reactive nitrogen in the environment is raising ecological and human health concerns due to a wide range of potential impacts, including groundwater pollution, atmospheric aerosols, tropospheric ozone production, soil acidification, eutrophication, greenhouse gas emissions, and stratospheric ozone depletion. This chapter explores the sources, sinks, and transformations of reactive nitrogen in agroecosystems, its interaction with the environment, measurement techniques, and the most recent developments in reactive nitrogen mitigation strategies for sustainable agriculture.