Ecosystem Nitrogen Biogeochemical Cycling and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Dear Colleagues,

Nitrogen (N) is an essential limiting nutrient regulating primary productivity, ecosystem stability and global biogeochemical balance. Accelerated anthropogenic N input and ongoing climate change have profoundly disrupted natural N cycling processes across terrestrial, aquatic and wetland ecosystems, further exacerbating the emission of climate-relevant greenhouse gases (GHGs), particularly nitrous oxide (N₂O)—a potent long-lived greenhouse gas with strong ozone-depleting potential. Clarifying the intrinsic linkage between ecosystem N transformation pathways and GHG production is critical for mitigating climate warming, reducing reactive nitrogen pollution and promoting ecological sustainable development.

This Special Issue aims to gather cutting-edge original research articles, review papers and short communications addressing core advances in ecosystem nitrogen biogeochemistry and associated GHG emissions. The scope covers in situ field monitoring, laboratory mechanism experiments, microbial molecular regulation, isotope tracing technologies and the numerical modelling of N cycling processes. It also highlights responses of N cycles and GHG fluxes to climate change, human land-use management and exogenous nitrogen deposition across diverse ecosystems.

We hope this collection can elaborate the key driving mechanisms of N-cycle-mediated GHG emissions, fill current research gaps and provide scientific references for optimal ecosystem nitrogen management and climate change mitigation strategies.

Prof. Dr. Jing Zhu
Dr. Xueli Chen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nitrogen is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 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.