A global dataset of terrestrial biological nitrogen fixation

Carla R. Reis Ely; Steven S. Perakis; Cory C. Cleveland; Duncan N.L. Menge; Sasha C. Reed; Sarah A. Batterman; Timothy E. Crews; Katherine A. Dynarski; Maga Gei; Michael J. Gundale; Sarah E. Jovan; Sian Kou-Giesbrecht; Mark B. Peoples; Emilio Rodríguez-Caballero; Verity G. Salmon; Fiona M. Soper; Anika P. Staccone; Benton N. Taylor; Bettina Weber; Nina Wurzburger

doi:10.1038/s41597-025-05131-4

A global dataset of terrestrial biological nitrogen fixation

Carla R. Reis Ely
, Steven S. Perakis
, Cory C. Cleveland
, Duncan N.L. Menge
, Sasha C. Reed
, Sarah A. Batterman
, Timothy E. Crews
, Katherine A. Dynarski
, Maga Gei
, Michael J. Gundale
, Sarah E. Jovan
, Sian Kou-Giesbrecht
, Mark B. Peoples
, Emilio Rodríguez-Caballero
, Verity G. Salmon
, Fiona M. Soper
, Anika P. Staccone
, Benton N. Taylor
, Bettina Weber
, Nina Wurzburger

Plant-Soil Interactions

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the main natural source of new nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems, supporting terrestrial productivity, carbon uptake, and other Earth system processes. We assembled a comprehensive global dataset of field measurements of BNF in all major N-fixing niches across natural terrestrial biomes derived from the analysis of 376 BNF studies. The dataset comprises 32 variables, including site location, biome type, N-fixing niche, sampling year, quantification method, BNF rate (kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹), the percentage of nitrogen derived from the atmosphere (%N_dfa), N fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, BNF rate per unit of N fixer abundance, and species identity. Overall, the dataset combines 1,207 BNF rates for trees, shrubs, herbs, soil, leaf litter, woody litter, dead wood, mosses, lichens, and biocrusts, 152 herb %N_dfa values, 1,005 measurements of N fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, and 762 BNF rates per unit of N fixer abundance for a total of 424 species across 66 countries. This dataset facilitates synthesis, meta-analysis, upscaling, and model benchmarking of BNF fluxes at multiple spatial scales.

Original language	English
Article number	1362
Journal	Scientific Data
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05131-4
State	Published - Dec 2025

Funding

This paper is a contribution from a working group on biological nitrogen fixation supported by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis (G19AC00036, S.S.P., D.N.L.M., C.C.C., S.C.R.). This research was supported in part by an appointment to the USGS Research Participation Program administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) through an interagency agreement between U.S. Departments of Energy (DOE) and Interior (DOI) under DOE contract number DE-SC0014664. S.A.B. was funded by the Leverhulme Trust and the United Kingdom Natural Environment Research Council (NE/M019497/1, NE/N012542/1). E.R-C was supported by the Ramon y Cajal fellowship (RYC2020-030762-I) and CRUST R-Forze (PID2021-127631NA-I00) project, both funded by FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia e Inovacion, Agencia Estatal de Investigación. We thank E. Drumm, C. Lauria, J. Shostrand, I. van Duuren, M. Blackburn, and K. Copeland for their help with data collection. This manuscript was reviewed by USGS and USDA Forest Service for technical and policy content and approved for publication. We thank Linda Geiser for her comments. The views and conclusions in this article represent the views solely of the authors from ORAU/ORISE and USDA Forest Service but do represent the views of USGS. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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Reis Ely, C. R., Perakis, S. S., Cleveland, C. C., Menge, D. N. L., Reed, S. C., Batterman, S. A., Crews, T. E., Dynarski, K. A., Gei, M., Gundale, M. J., Jovan, S. E., Kou-Giesbrecht, S., Peoples, M. B., Rodríguez-Caballero, E., Salmon, V. G., Soper, F. M., Staccone, A. P., Taylor, B. N., Weber, B., & Wurzburger, N. (2025). A global dataset of terrestrial biological nitrogen fixation. Scientific Data, 12(1), Article 1362. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05131-4

@article{4cc001d862ad4a37921c8512075078b0,

title = "A global dataset of terrestrial biological nitrogen fixation",

abstract = "Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the main natural source of new nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems, supporting terrestrial productivity, carbon uptake, and other Earth system processes. We assembled a comprehensive global dataset of field measurements of BNF in all major N-fixing niches across natural terrestrial biomes derived from the analysis of 376 BNF studies. The dataset comprises 32 variables, including site location, biome type, N-fixing niche, sampling year, quantification method, BNF rate (kg N ha−1 y−1), the percentage of nitrogen derived from the atmosphere (\%Ndfa), N fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, BNF rate per unit of N fixer abundance, and species identity. Overall, the dataset combines 1,207 BNF rates for trees, shrubs, herbs, soil, leaf litter, woody litter, dead wood, mosses, lichens, and biocrusts, 152 herb \%Ndfa values, 1,005 measurements of N fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, and 762 BNF rates per unit of N fixer abundance for a total of 424 species across 66 countries. This dataset facilitates synthesis, meta-analysis, upscaling, and model benchmarking of BNF fluxes at multiple spatial scales.",

author = "\{Reis Ely\}, \{Carla R.\} and Perakis, \{Steven S.\} and Cleveland, \{Cory C.\} and Menge, \{Duncan N.L.\} and Reed, \{Sasha C.\} and Batterman, \{Sarah A.\} and Crews, \{Timothy E.\} and Dynarski, \{Katherine A.\} and Maga Gei and Gundale, \{Michael J.\} and Jovan, \{Sarah E.\} and Sian Kou-Giesbrecht and Peoples, \{Mark B.\} and Emilio Rodr{\'i}guez-Caballero and Salmon, \{Verity G.\} and Soper, \{Fiona M.\} and Staccone, \{Anika P.\} and Taylor, \{Benton N.\} and Bettina Weber and Nina Wurzburger",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Authors. Parts of this work were authored by US Federal Government authors and are not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1038/s41597-025-05131-4",

language = "English",

volume = "12",

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Reis Ely, CR, Perakis, SS, Cleveland, CC, Menge, DNL, Reed, SC, Batterman, SA, Crews, TE, Dynarski, KA, Gei, M, Gundale, MJ, Jovan, SE, Kou-Giesbrecht, S, Peoples, MB, Rodríguez-Caballero, E, Salmon, VG, Soper, FM, Staccone, AP, Taylor, BN, Weber, B & Wurzburger, N 2025, 'A global dataset of terrestrial biological nitrogen fixation', Scientific Data, vol. 12, no. 1, 1362. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05131-4

TY - JOUR

T1 - A global dataset of terrestrial biological nitrogen fixation

AU - Reis Ely, Carla R.

AU - Perakis, Steven S.

AU - Cleveland, Cory C.

AU - Menge, Duncan N.L.

AU - Reed, Sasha C.

AU - Batterman, Sarah A.

AU - Crews, Timothy E.

AU - Dynarski, Katherine A.

AU - Gei, Maga

AU - Gundale, Michael J.

AU - Jovan, Sarah E.

AU - Kou-Giesbrecht, Sian

AU - Peoples, Mark B.

AU - Rodríguez-Caballero, Emilio

AU - Salmon, Verity G.

AU - Soper, Fiona M.

AU - Staccone, Anika P.

AU - Taylor, Benton N.

AU - Weber, Bettina

AU - Wurzburger, Nina

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Authors. Parts of this work were authored by US Federal Government authors and are not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply 2025.

PY - 2025/12

Y1 - 2025/12

N2 - Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the main natural source of new nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems, supporting terrestrial productivity, carbon uptake, and other Earth system processes. We assembled a comprehensive global dataset of field measurements of BNF in all major N-fixing niches across natural terrestrial biomes derived from the analysis of 376 BNF studies. The dataset comprises 32 variables, including site location, biome type, N-fixing niche, sampling year, quantification method, BNF rate (kg N ha−1 y−1), the percentage of nitrogen derived from the atmosphere (%Ndfa), N fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, BNF rate per unit of N fixer abundance, and species identity. Overall, the dataset combines 1,207 BNF rates for trees, shrubs, herbs, soil, leaf litter, woody litter, dead wood, mosses, lichens, and biocrusts, 152 herb %Ndfa values, 1,005 measurements of N fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, and 762 BNF rates per unit of N fixer abundance for a total of 424 species across 66 countries. This dataset facilitates synthesis, meta-analysis, upscaling, and model benchmarking of BNF fluxes at multiple spatial scales.

AB - Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the main natural source of new nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems, supporting terrestrial productivity, carbon uptake, and other Earth system processes. We assembled a comprehensive global dataset of field measurements of BNF in all major N-fixing niches across natural terrestrial biomes derived from the analysis of 376 BNF studies. The dataset comprises 32 variables, including site location, biome type, N-fixing niche, sampling year, quantification method, BNF rate (kg N ha−1 y−1), the percentage of nitrogen derived from the atmosphere (%Ndfa), N fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, BNF rate per unit of N fixer abundance, and species identity. Overall, the dataset combines 1,207 BNF rates for trees, shrubs, herbs, soil, leaf litter, woody litter, dead wood, mosses, lichens, and biocrusts, 152 herb %Ndfa values, 1,005 measurements of N fixer or N-fixing substrate abundance, and 762 BNF rates per unit of N fixer abundance for a total of 424 species across 66 countries. This dataset facilitates synthesis, meta-analysis, upscaling, and model benchmarking of BNF fluxes at multiple spatial scales.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105012638030

U2 - 10.1038/s41597-025-05131-4

DO - 10.1038/s41597-025-05131-4

M3 - Article

C2 - 40764484

AN - SCOPUS:105012638030

SN - 2052-4463

VL - 12

JO - Scientific Data

JF - Scientific Data

IS - 1

M1 - 1362

ER -

A global dataset of terrestrial biological nitrogen fixation

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