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.