The net primary production of the biosphere is consumed largely by microorganisms; whose metabolism creates the trophic base for detrital foodwebs, drives element cycles, and mediates atmospheric composition. Biogeochemical constraints on microbial catabolism, relative to primary production, create reserves of detrital organic carbon in soils and sediments that exceed the carbon content of the ...

In this paper, we present a dynamic diagenetic model of the oxygen consumption pathways and cycling of carbon, nitrogen, manganese, iron, and sulfur in marine sediments. Sixteen dissolved or solid species are included in our model and the vertical transport processes accounted for are molecular diffusion, bioturbation, irrigation, and burial. Adsorption of dissolved species onto solid sediment ...

There has been considerable recent interest in the ecosystem consequences of global and regional shifts in biogeochemical cycling and the loss of species diversity. Since biogeochemical cycling is the result of an interaction of numerous organisms, the link between diversity and biogeochemistry is a natural one. changes in either diversity or biogeochemiical &ling can dramatically influence one...

Recurrent deposition of organic-rich sediment layers (sapropels) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea is caused by complex interactions between climatic and biogeochemical processes. Disentangling these influences is therefore important for Mediterranean palaeo-studies in particular, and for understanding ocean feedback processes in general. Crucially, sapropels are diagnostic of anoxic deep-water ...

An enduring theme in microbial ecology is the interdependence of microbial community members. Interactions between community members include provision of cofactors, establishment of redox gradients, and turnover of key nutrients to drive biogeochemical cycles. Pathways canonically conducted by isolated organisms in laboratory cultures are instead collective products of diverse and interchangeab...

Lakes are important habitats for biogeochemical cycling of carbon. The organization and structure of aquatic communities influences the biogeochemical interactions between lakes and the atmosphere. Understanding how trophic structure regulates ecosystem functions and influences greenhouse gas efflux from lakes is critical to understanding global carbon cycling and climate change. With a whole-l...

Complex variation in terrestrial biogeochemical cycles results from climatic, edaphic, biotic and human processes operating at multiple spatial and temporal scales. This variation cannot easily be resolved at the landscape, regional or global level without an integrated effort involving field research, modeling and remote sensing. To date, the role of remote sensing in terrestrial biogeochemica...

Wetlands provide many ecosystem services, including sediment and carbon retention, nutrient transformation, and water quality improvement. Although all wetlands are biogeochemical hotspots, geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs) receive fewer legal protections compared with other types of wetlands because of their apparent isolation from jurisdictional waters. Here, we consider controls on bio...

Biogeochemical processes are driven jointly by mass flux and metabolism, but biogeochemical contrasts across latitude are more strongly related to metabolism than to mass flux. Metabolism can be expressed in terms of metabolic potential, which is regulated by temperature, irradiance, and chemical feedstocks (nutrients, electron acceptors, organic matter). Metabolic potential of autotrophs in tr...