Novel microbes and unexpected niche differentiation challenge existing estimates of the nitrogen budget

• nitrite-oxidizing bacteria live across the full oxygen spectrum in the ocean

• unexpected diversity of nitrogen-loss microbes 

• unique traits of nitrous oxide (greenhouse gas) consumers and producers in different layers

New process in the nitrogen cycle

Determination of missing key kinetics parameters of biogeochemical processes

Novel modeling frameworks with explicit microbial functional types resolving nitrogen dynamics

General rules behind microbial diversity and coexistence

• Predictable microbial community composition under warming. Facilitation plays a major role in microbial community assembly.

• Effects of carbon and nitrogen sources on microbial diversity

Novel theoretical frameworks and ecosystem models with microbial functional types

• Temporal and spatial dynamics of nutrients maintain microbial diversity

• Microbial interactions explain key nitrogen dynamics