Atmospheric Nutrients: Sources and Impact on Terrestrial and Marine Ecosystems

Dear Colleagues,

Massive amounts of tiny aerosol particles of both natural and anthropogenic sources are transported over distances up to thousands of km and deposited on soil, plants, glaciers and into the ocean, carrying macronutrients (such as phosphorous and nitrogen) and trace metals (such as iron) that are essential for marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Global aerosol emissions include mineral-dust particles originating from continental deserts, as well as volcanic ashes and biomass burning aerosols produced from large-scale bushfires, i.e., pyrogenic dust. Atmospheric nutrients may also be supplied by anthropogenic sources, including dust emitted from soils altered by human activity, and aerosol plumes acting as long-range vehicles of nutrients and contaminants.

Atmospheric nutrients are expected to be particularly important for all marine organisms (autotrophs and heterotrophs) living in the high- and low nutrient low chlorophyll (HNLC and LNLC) regions of the ocean, via direct and indirect stimulation of primary production and nitrogen fixation. Atmospheric particles may also act as mineral ballast to increase the sinking velocities of organic-rich material produced in the upper layers of the ocean. On the land side, aerosol particles can travel a long way away from their continental sources, delivering fertilizing nutrients to rainforests growing from heavily nutrient-depleted soils, and contributing to enhance algae growth in melting glacier regions.

All these aerosol-related processes are likely to crucially impact global biogeochemistry, particularly when considering the current future projections of global-warming driven increased ocean stratification and desertification of large continental areas. In this Special Issue, we invite authors to submit manuscripts that will contribute to improve existing understanding of the ecological and biogeochemical impacts of atmospheric nutrients from natural and/or anthropogenic sources on marine and terrestrial ecosystems, both in the past, present and future. Contributions based on in situ observations, proxy reconstructions from, e.g., ice-, and sediment archives, laboratory experiments, satellite remote sensing data and/or numerical modeling approaches are all welcome.

Dr. Catarina Guerreiro
Prof. Dr. Jan-Berend Stuut
Dr. Cécile Guieu
Prof. Dr. Tim Jickells
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• mineral aerosols
• pyrogenic aerosols
• volcanic ashes
• anthropogenic aerosols
• nutrients
• fertilization
• biomass burning
• wet and dry dust deposition
• marine ecosystems
• terrestrial ecosystems
• biogeochemical cycling
• biological carbon pump