Mosses and lichens

Although the temperature in Mohe was below -20 °C in November 2019, mosses and lichens could still be found in the field. Some cyanobacteria associated to them potentially fix atmospheric nitrogen (N₂) and thus increase nitrogen inputs to the soil. To test this, Hongyu Yue collected Sphagnum mosses and two different lichen genera in Mohe and sent them to Beijing so that Elisabeth Ramm could take them to the KIT Campus Alpin in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. There she performed an isotope-based experiment on Biological Nitrogen Fixation that will serve as pre-test for further measurements in the field.