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This is an interesting article that in some ways doesn't apply to gardening, but in other ways very much applies to us that love the plant world.
We thought we understood the nitrogen cycle and that it all came from the atmosphere, despite there always being a Mysterious Gap noted by scientists, in that there was always more N2 in soils and plants than could be accounted for by atmospheric nitrogen alone.
This changes many things in various disciplines of science, but only time will show these changes. For now we can just say it's just another Paradigm Shift. But isn't that the history of Science.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180405140946.htm
Just a Little Excerpt:
Rewriting Textbooks
"These results are going to require rewriting the textbooks," said Kendra McLauchlan, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Environmental Biology, which co-funded the research. "While there were hints that plants could use rock-derived nitrogen, this discovery shatters the paradigm that the ultimate source of available nitrogen is the atmosphere. Nitrogen is both the most important limiting nutrient on Earth and a dangerous pollutant, so it is important to understand the natural controls on its supply and demand. Humanity currently depends on atmospheric nitrogen to produce enough fertilizer to maintain world food supply. A discovery of this magnitude will open up a new era of research on this essential nutrient."
We thought we understood the nitrogen cycle and that it all came from the atmosphere, despite there always being a Mysterious Gap noted by scientists, in that there was always more N2 in soils and plants than could be accounted for by atmospheric nitrogen alone.
This changes many things in various disciplines of science, but only time will show these changes. For now we can just say it's just another Paradigm Shift. But isn't that the history of Science.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180405140946.htm
Just a Little Excerpt:
Rewriting Textbooks
"These results are going to require rewriting the textbooks," said Kendra McLauchlan, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Environmental Biology, which co-funded the research. "While there were hints that plants could use rock-derived nitrogen, this discovery shatters the paradigm that the ultimate source of available nitrogen is the atmosphere. Nitrogen is both the most important limiting nutrient on Earth and a dangerous pollutant, so it is important to understand the natural controls on its supply and demand. Humanity currently depends on atmospheric nitrogen to produce enough fertilizer to maintain world food supply. A discovery of this magnitude will open up a new era of research on this essential nutrient."
