On the influence of humidity and forest characteristics on the nitrogen cycling seasonality in a tropical montane cloud forest

Abstract

The main objective of this project was to identify the influence of atmospheric and forest variables over N2O emissions from the soil, over nitrates presence and over rain and fog’s oxygen and nitrogen isotopic compositions in the tropical montane cloud forest of Monteverde. Nitrate concentration was found to vary from the different strata, depending on the parcel characteristics. Furthermore, nitrate concentration was found to be higher in the water deposited in leaves than in other water samples. N2O fluxes seem to have an inverse correlation with the atmospheric relative humidity around the parcels. Also, these fluxes are determined by the parcel forestry characteristics. A seasonal signal was observed in the N2O fluxes, however the correlation with precipitation during the sampling period was not significant.