1 The biomass of all living organisms consists of around 30 of the 92 naturally occurring elements (Fig. 1a and Supplementary Table S1)1,2. All organisms must obtain chemical forms of these essential elements, termed nutrients, from their external environment. The key role that nutrients play in controlling upper-ocean productivity has long been recognized3–5. Research over recent decades, howe...

The substitution of natural gas by a renewable equivalent is an interesting option to reduce the use of fossil fuels and the accompanying greenhouse gas emissions, as well as from the point of view of security of supply. The renewable alternative for natural gas is the so-called green natural gas, i.e. gaseous energy carriers produced from biomass comprising both biogas and Synthetic Natural Ga...

Fire causes dramatic short-term changes in vegetation and ecosystem function, and may promote rapid vegetation change by creating recruitment opportunities. Climate warming likely will increase the frequency of wildfire in the Arctic, where it is not common now. In 2007, the unusually severe Anaktuvuk River fire burned 1039 km(2) of tundra on Alaska's North Slope. Four years later, we harvested...

Light is the fundamental driver of primary productivity in the marine environment. Reduced light availability has the potential to alter the distribution, community composition, and productivity of key benthic primary producers, potentially reducing habitat and energy provision to coastal food webs. We compared the underwater light environment of macroalgal dominated shallow subtidal rocky reef...

Because of the historical focus limnology on pelagic processes, factors controlling lake periphyton growth and nutrient limitation are understudied compared to phytoplankton. We deployed nutrient-diffusing substrata at 28 sites spanning a wide trophic status gradient in Lakes Superior Michigan assess biomass accrual control response single combined phosphorus (P) nitrogen (N) additions. Periphy...

Experimentally increasing atmospheric CO2 often stimulates plant growth and ecosystem carbon (C) uptake. Biogeochemical theory predicts that these initial responses will immobilize nitrogen (N) in plant biomass and soil organic matter, causing N availability to plants to decline, and reducing the long-term CO2-stimulation of C storage in N limited ecosystems. While many experiments have examine...