Gas Emissions From Soils to the Atmosphere

This project will study soil-atmosphere nitrogen gas exchange in northeastern landscapes where agricultural, urban, and forested ecosystems are interconnected by aqueous and gaseous nitrogen transport. We will use principles of ecology and biogeochemistry to understand the flow and fate of nitrogen at scales ranging from individual microbial processes, to whole ecosystems and landscapes, to regions. Ultimately this knowledge should: 1) increase our basic understanding of ecosystem element cycles, 2) help minimize nitrogen losses from managed ecosystems, 3) help us understand how nitrogen losses from managed ecosystems affect and are attenuated by unmanaged ecosystems. Measurements of nitrogenous gas fluxes (N₂O and NH₃) will be complemented by soil atmosphere carbon gas fluxes (CO₂ and CH₄). The research is funded by a grant from the USDA and by Penn State. Matt McCoy, a MS student in Soil Science, is working on this project to link soil microbial community dynamics with gas fluxes in agroecosystems.