Citation
Human alteration of the global nitrogen cycle: sources and consequences
TL;DR
Nitrogen cycles through multiple distributed pathways
Foundational research on ecosystem nitrogen cycling demonstrating purely distributed function - no central authority coordinates the cycle, yet ecosystem-level regulation emerges from individual organism actions.
Key Findings from Vitousek et al. (1997)
- Nitrogen cycles through multiple distributed pathways
- No central coordination of ecosystem nutrient flows
- Emergent regulation from local organism activities
- System vulnerable to human-caused disruption
- Human activities have approximately doubled the rate of nitrogen input into terrestrial ecosystems
- Industrial nitrogen fixation (Haber-Bosch process) now exceeds natural biological fixation globally
- Excess nitrogen causes eutrophication, biodiversity loss, and greenhouse gas emissions
- Nitrogen cycle disruption has cascading effects across ecosystems
Used in 2 chapters
See how this research informs the book's frameworks:
Foundational research on ecosystem nitrogen cycling demonstrating purely distributed function - ecosystem-level regulation emerges from individual organism actions.
See distributed cycling →Documents how human activities have fundamentally altered the nitrogen cycle, doubling nitrogen entering ecosystems and creating global disruptions.
See industrial cycle disruption →