Global importance of nitrogen fixation across inland and coastal waters
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Biological nitrogen fixation is a key driver of global primary production and climate. Decades of effort have repeatedly updated nitrogen fixation estimates for terrestrial and open ocean systems, yet other aquatic systems in between have largely been ignored. Here we present an evaluation of nitrogen fixation for inland and coastal waters. We demonstrate that water column and sediment nitrogen fixation is ubiquitous across these diverse aquatic habitats, with rates ranging six orders of magnitude. We conservatively estimate that, despite accounting for less than 10% of the global surface area, inland and coastal aquatic systems fix 40 (30 to 54) teragrams of nitrogen per year, equivalent to 15% of the nitrogen fixed on land and in the open ocean. Inland systems contribute more than half of this biological nitrogen fixation.
Source: Science
Authors: Robinson W. Fulweiler, Shelby Rinehart, Jason Taylor, Michelle C. Kelly, Megan E. Berberich, Nicholas E. Ray, Autumn Oczkowski, Sawyer Balint, Mar Benavides, Matthew J. Church, Brianna Loeks, Silvia Newell, Malin Olofsson, Jimmy Clifford Oppong, Sarah S. Roley, Carmella Vizza, Samuel T. Wilson, Subhadeep Chowdhury, Peter Groffman, J. Thad Scott, Amy M. Marcarelli
Institutions: Boston University, Drexel University, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, National Sedimentation Laboratory, Michigan Technological University, University of Delaware, Environmental Protection Agency, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Toulon, National Oceanography Centre, Aix-Marseille Université, Institut Méditerranéen d’Océanologie, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, University of Montana, University of Minnesota, University of Michigan, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Charles University, Washington State University, Hawaii Pacific University, Newcastle University, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, Brooklyn College, Baylor University
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4411299308