M.C. Mack F. S. Chapin III L.M. Christenson J.E. Compton H.D. Crook W.S. Currie C.J. Curtis D.B. Dail C. M. D’Antonio B.A. Emmett H.E. Epstein C.L. Goodale P. Gundersen S.E. Hobbie K. Holland D.U. Hooper B.A. Hungate S. Lamontagne K.J. Nadelhoffer C.W. Osenberg S.S. Perakis P. Schleppi J. Schimel I.K. Schmidt M. Sommerkorn J. Spoelstra A. Tietema W.W. Wessel D.R. Zak P.H. Templer 2012 Effects of anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition and the ability of terrestrial ecosystems to store carbon (C) depend in part on the amount of N retained in the system and its partitioning among plant and soil pools. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies at 48 sites across four continents that used enriched ¹⁵N isotope tracers in order to synthesize information about total ecosystem N retention (i.e., total ecosystem ¹⁵N recovery in plant and soil pools) across natural systems and N partitioning among ecosystem pools. The greatest recoveries of ecosystem ¹⁵N tracer occurred in shrublands (mean, 89.5%) and wetlands (84.8%) followed by forests (74.9%) and grasslands (51.8%). In the short term (<1 week after ¹⁵N tracer application), total ecosystem ¹⁵N recovery was negatively correlated with fine-root and soil ¹⁵N natural abundance, and organic soil C and N concentration but was positively correlated with mean annual temperature and mineral soil C:N. In the longer term (3&ndash;18 months after ¹⁵N tracer application), total ecosystem ¹⁵N retention was negatively correlated with foliar natural-abundance ¹⁵N but was positively correlated with mineral soil C and N concentration and C: N, showing that plant and soil natural-abundance ¹⁵N and soil C:N are good indicators of total ecosystem N retention. Foliar N concentration was not significantly related to ecosystem ¹⁵N tracer recovery, suggesting that plant N status is not a good predictor of total ecosystem N retention. Because the largest ecosystem sinks for ¹⁵N tracer were below ground in forests, shrublands, and grasslands, we conclude that growth enhancement and potential for increased C storage in aboveground biomass from atmospheric N deposition is likely to be modest in these ecosystems. Total ecosystem ¹⁵N recovery decreased with N fertilization, with an apparent threshold fertilization rate of 46 kg N&middot;ha^-1&middot;yr^-1 above which most ecosystems showed net losses of applied ¹⁵N tracer in response to N fertilizer addition. application/pdf 10.1890/11-1146.1 en ESA Sinks for nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems: a meta-analysis of ¹⁵N tracer field studies article