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<oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
  <dc:contributor>A.R. Townsend</dc:contributor>
  <dc:contributor>C.C. Cleveland</dc:contributor>
  <dc:contributor>D.R. Nemergut</dc:contributor>
  <dc:creator>Sasha C. Reed</dc:creator>
  <dc:date>2010</dc:date>
  <dc:description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;The role of biodiversity&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;in&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;ecosystem function receives substantial attention, yet despite the diversity and functional relevance of microorganisms, relationships between&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;microbial&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;community&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;structure and ecosystem processes remain largely unknown. We used&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;tropical&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;rain&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;forest&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;fertilization plots to directly compare the relative abundance, composition and diversity of free-living&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;nitrogen&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;(N)-fixer communities to&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;in&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;situ leaf litter N&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;fixation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;rates. N&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;fixation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;rates varied greatly within the landscape, and 'hotspots' of high N&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;fixation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;activity were observed&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;in&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;both control and phosphorus (P)-fertilized plots. Compared with zones of average activity, the N&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;fixation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;'hotspots'&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;in&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;unfertilized plots were characterized by marked differences&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;in&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;N-fixer&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;community&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;composition and had substantially higher overall diversity. P additions increased the efficiency of N-fixer communities, resulting&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;in&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;elevated rates of&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;fixation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;per nifH gene. Furthermore, P fertilization increased N&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;fixation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;rates and N-fixer abundance, eliminated a highly novel group of N-fixers, and increased N-fixer diversity. Yet the relationships between diversity and function were not simple, and coupling rate measurements to indicators of&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;community&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;structure revealed a biological dynamism not apparent from process measurements alone. Taken together, these data suggest that the rain&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;forest&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;litter layer maintains high N&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;fixation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;rates and unique N-fixing organisms and that, as observed&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;in&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;plant&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;community&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;ecology, structural&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;shifts&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;in&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;N-fixing communities may partially explain significant differences&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;in&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;system-scale N&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ScopusTermHighlight"&gt;fixation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;rates.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</dc:description>
  <dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
  <dc:identifier>10.1007/s00442-010-1649-6</dc:identifier>
  <dc:language>en</dc:language>
  <dc:publisher>U.S. Geological Survey </dc:publisher>
  <dc:title>Microbial community shifts influence patterns in tropical forest nitrogen fixation</dc:title>
  <dc:type>article</dc:type>
</oai_dc:dc>