Publications by authors named "Albane Barbero"
Article Synopsis
- Nitrogen is crucial for life but excessive levels can cause serious environmental problems like biodiversity loss and lake acidification.
- Understanding the nitrogen budget is vital for assessing how these issues affect ecosystem services provided by subalpine catchments.
- Research shows that atmospheric nitrogen significantly contributes to nitrate levels in streams, especially during snowmelt, which may overwhelm local ecosystems, potentially leading to worse ecological issues with climate change and rising nitrogen emissions.
Rationale: Triple oxygen and nitrogen isotope ratios in nitrate are powerful tools for assessing atmospheric nitrate formation pathways and their contribution to ecosystems. N O decomposition using microwave-induced plasma (MIP) has been used only for measurements of oxygen isotopes to date, but it is also possible to measure nitrogen isotopes during the same analytical run.
Methods: The main improvements to a previous system are (i) an automated distribution system of nitrate to the bacterial medium, (ii) N O separation by gas chromatography before N O decomposition using the MIP, (iii) use of a corundum tube for microwave discharge, and (iv) development of an automated system for isotopic measurements.