title: Ubiquitous anaerobic ammonium oxidation in inland waters of China: an overlooked nitrous oxide mitigation process.
abstract: Denitrification has long been regarded as the only pathway for terrestrial nitrogen (N) loss to the atmosphere. Here we demonstrate that large-scale anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox), an overlooked N loss process alternative to denitrification which bypasses nitrous oxide (N2O), is ubiquitous in inland waters of China and contributes significantly to N loss. Anammox rates in aquatic systems show different levels (1.0-975.9 μmol N m(-2) h(-1), n = 256) with hotspots occurring at oxic-anoxic interfaces and harboring distinct biogeochemical and biogeographical features. Extrapolation of these results to the China-national level shows that anammox could contribute about 2.0 Tg N yr(-1), which equals averagely 11.4% of the total N loss from China's inland waters. Our results indicate that a significant amount of the nitrogen lost from inland waters bypasses denitrification, which is important for constructing more accurate climate models and may significantly reduce potential N2O emission risk at a large scale.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.|Department of Biogeochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Guibing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Shanyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Leiliu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Siyan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Weidong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Chaoxu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mike S M
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Jetten
authors.affiliation: Ecology and Biodiversity Group, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mariet M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Hefting
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Chengqing
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Jiuhui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qu