Importance of plants as regulator of soil denitrification activity

Denitrification is a key microbial process which removes nitrates from soils, sediment and water bodies to finally form dinitrogen. In terrestrial systems the magnitude and pattern of denitrification might be largely controlled by plants as plants affect nitrogen and carbon availability, pH, O2 availability, soil moisture, gas diffusion etc. in the rhizosphere. So far the effect of plants on rhizosphere denitrification has hardly been studied, suggesting that a major controller of denitrification is not understood. Key question: to what extend do plant species, development age, quality and magnitude of rhizodeposition etc. affect spatial and temporal patterns of soil denitrification?