Fertilization (NPK) alter dryland biogeochemical processes

Nutrient augmentation is one major global change disturbance that could have cascading effects on local plant and microbial communities thus altering biogeochemical properties (Peñuelas et al. 2012). While many studies have investigated fertilization effects on community change and ecosystem processes, less work has been done in dryland ecosystems (Schimel 2010), where nutrient availability often comes as pulses correlated with rain events (Collins et al. 2008). We leveraged an ongoing fertilization experiment (NutNet) at the Sevilleta to answer the question: How does fertilization alter dryland biogeochemical processes, and how does this effect change seasonally? To explore this topic, we specifically measure three important soil hydrolase enzymes, N-acetyl- glycosaminidase (NAG), phosphatase (AP), and β- glucosidase (BG), microbial biomass, and soil nitrogen levels at 5 points along a seasonal gradient within the NutNet plots.