Global importance of nitrogen fixation across inland and coastal waters
Biological nitrogen fixation is a key driver of global primary production and climate. Decades of effort have repeatedly updated nitrogen fixation estimates for terrestrial and open ocean systems, yet other aquatic systems in between have largely been ignored. Here we present an evaluation of nitrogen fixation for inland and coastal waters. We demonstrate that water column and sediment nitrogen fixation is ubiquitous across these diverse aquatic habitats, with rates ranging six orders of magnitude. We conservatively estimate that, despite accounting for less than 10% of the global surface area, inland and coastal aquatic systems fix 40 (30 to 54) teragrams of nitrogen per year, equivalent to 15% of the nitrogen fixed on land and in the open ocean. Inland systems contribute more than half of this biological nitrogen fixation.
Authors
- Sawyer Balint (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1088-0358)
- Samuel T. Wilson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7289-0909)
- Matthew J. Church (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6166-8579)
- Malin Olofsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4170-9975)
- Silvia E. Newell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0684-3100)
- Michelle C. Kelly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0123-2527)
- Peter M. Groffman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8371-6255)
- Mar Benavides (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9502-108X)
- Nicholas E. Ray (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1959-3120)
- Shelby Rinehart (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9820-1350)
- Autumn Oczkowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2421-0956)
- Megan E. Berberich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5363-892X)
- Jason M. Taylor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9240-2151)
- Subhadeep Chowdhury (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3508-9805)
- Amy Marcarelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4175-9211)
- Henry Oppong Tuffour (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8678-4931)
- Carmella Vizza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9269-0357)
- J. Thad Scott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9487-9698)
- Sarah S. Roley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6733-9338)
- Robinson W. Fulweiler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0871-4246)
- Brianna M. Loeks
Institutions
- Boston University (US)
- Michigan Technological University (US)
- The Graduate Center, CUNY (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Environmental Protection Agency (US)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (US)
- Université de Toulon (FR)
- Hawaii Pacific University (US)
- Baylor University (US)
- National Oceanography Centre (GB)
- Charles University (CZ)
- Aix-Marseille Université (FR)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE)
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (US)
- CUNY Advanced Science Research Center (US)
- National Sedimentation Laboratory (US)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
- University of Montana (US)
- Drexel University (US)
- Washington State University (US)
- Newcastle University (GB)
- University of Delaware (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2025-06-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adt1511
- Citations
- 17
- Primary Topic
- Marine and coastal ecosystems
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 30.49