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Transformation of the Nitrogen Cycle: Recent Trends, Questions, and Potential Solutions
James N. Galloway,1*Alan R. Townsend,2Jan Willem Erisman,3Mateete Bekunda,4Zucong Cai,5John R. Freney,6Luiz A. Martinelli,7Sybil P. Seitzinger,8Mark A. Sutton9
Humans continue to transform the global nitrogen cycle at arecord pace, reflecting an increased combustion of fossil fuels,growing demand for nitrogen in agriculture and industry, andpervasive inefficiencies in its use. Much anthropogenic nitrogenis lost to air, water, and land to cause a cascade of environmentaland human health problems. Simultaneously, food production insome parts of the world is nitrogen-deficient, highlightinginequities in the distribution of nitrogen-containing fertilizers.Optimizing the need for a key human resource while minimizingits negative consequences requires an integrated interdisciplinaryapproach and the development of strategies to decrease nitrogen-containingwaste.
1 Environmental Sciences Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA. 2 Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Campus Box 450, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. 3 Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, ECN, Post Office Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, Netherlands. 4 Faculty of Agriculture, Makerere University, Post Office Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda. 5 Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China. 6 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, A.C.T., Australia. 7 Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura-Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Centenario, 303, Piracicaba-SP, Brazil. 8 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Cooperative Marine Education and Research Program, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. 9 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh Research Station, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 0QB, UK.
* To whom correspondence should be sent. E-mail: jng{at}virginia.edu
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R. A. Duce, J. LaRoche, K. Altieri, K. R. Arrigo, A. R. Baker, D. G. Capone, S. Cornell, F. Dentener, J. Galloway, R. S. Ganeshram, R. J. Geider, T. Jickells, M. M. Kuypers, R. Langlois, P. S. Liss, S. M. Liu, J. J. Middelburg, C. M. Moore, S. Nickovic, A. Oschlies, T. Pedersen, J. Prospero, R. Schlitzer, S. Seitzinger, L. L. Sorensen, M. Uematsu, O. Ulloa, M. Voss, B. Ward, and L. Zamora (16 May 2008) Science320 (5878), 893.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1150369] |Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »|Supporting Online Material »
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