Abstract A recent study inferred the substantial contribution of phyllosphere nitrifiers to canopy nitrification in European forests. By re-analyzing the data from European forests, however, we show no clear relationship between phyllosphere nitrifiers abundance and canopy nitrification. A lack of such relationship may be attributed to uncertainties in canopy nitrification and phyllosphere nitrifiers, calling for a need of interdisciplinary collaboration among empirical, theoretical and modeling scientists.
Zhang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.