Steven S. Perakis Cory C. Cleveland Duncan Menge Sasha C. Reed Sarah A. Batterman Timothy E. Crews Katherine A Dynarski Maga G. Gei Michael J. Gundale Sarah E. Jovan Sian Kou-Giesbrecht Mark B. Peoples Emilio Rodriguez-Caballero Verity G. Salmon Fiona M. Soper Anika P. Staccone Benton Taylor Bettina Weber Nina Wurzburger Carla R. Reis Ely 2025 <p><span>Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the main natural source of new nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems, supporting terrestrial productivity, carbon uptake, and other Earth system processes. We assembled a comprehensive global dataset of field measurements of BNF in all major N-fixing niches across natural terrestrial biomes derived from the analysis of 376 BNF studies. The dataset comprises 32 variables, including site location, biome type, N-fixing niche, sampling year, quantification method, BNF rate (kg N ha</span>⁻¹<span>&nbsp;y</span>⁻¹<span>), the percentage of nitrogen derived from the atmosphere (%N</span>_dfa<span>), N&nbsp;fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, BNF rate per unit of N&nbsp;fixer abundance, and species identity. Overall, the dataset combines 1,207 BNF rates for trees, shrubs, herbs, soil, leaf litter, woody litter, dead wood, mosses, lichens, and biocrusts, 152 herb %N</span>_dfa<span>&nbsp;values, 1,005 measurements of N&nbsp;fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, and 762 BNF rates per unit of N&nbsp;fixer abundance for a total of 424 species across 66 countries. This dataset facilitates synthesis, meta-analysis, upscaling, and model benchmarking of BNF fluxes at multiple spatial scales.</span></p> application/pdf 10.1038/s41597-025-05131-4 en Nature A global dataset of terrestrial biological nitrogen fixation article