Nitrogen availability and changes in precipitation alter microbially-mediated N emissions from a Pinyon Juniper dryland

Climate change is altering precipitation regimes that control nitrogen (N) cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. In ecosystems exposed to frequent drought, N can accumulate in soils as they dry, stimulating the emission of both nitric oxide (NO; an air pollutant at high concentrations) and nitrous oxide (N2O; a strong greenhouse gas) when dry soils wet up. Because changes in both N availability and soil moisture can alter the capacity of nitrifiers (i.e., ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA)) to process N and emit N gases, predicting whether shifts in precipitation may alter N emissions requires understanding how both AOA and AOB may respond. Thus, we ask: how does altering summer and winter precipitation affect nitrifier-derived N trace gas emissions in a dryland ecosystem? To answer this question, we manipulated summer and winter precipitation and monitored AOA- and AOB-derived N trace gas emissions, AOA and AOB biomass, and soil N concentrations. We found that altering sum..., Please see the detailed methods in the manuscript., , # Data from: Nitrogen availability and changes in precipitation alter microbially-mediated N emissions from a Pinyon Juniper dryland

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mpg4f4r72](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mpg4f4r72)

This dataset includes the data presented in the manuscript \"Nitrogen availability and changes in precipitation alter microbially-mediated N emissions from a Pinyon Juniper dryland\". Briefly, we collected soils from a Pinyon-Juniper dryland ecosystem in southern California after we manipulated the summer and winter precipitation. In the lab, we treated the soils with nitrification inhibitors to compare the relative contribution of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) versus ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) to N gas emissions. We measured the NO and N2O emissions from nitrification and denitrifcation. We also measured soil moisture and inorganic N pools to assess the net rates of nitrification and mineralization. All soils were wet up to 100% water holding capacity and allowed to...