Globanitrates
Suddenly, the Globanitros had a lot of competition and had to adapt away from their vague multi-encompassing habits in the nitrogen cycle. Replacing their ancestor, the Globanitrates have simplified to only performing the second stage of nitrification—oxidizing nitrites into nitrates. Although the ancestral stock was a detritivorous branch of their ancestor, the Globanitrates have similarly also produced variants which are no longer detritivores. All species are capable of photosynthesis.
Globanitrates mainly live just underground where light still penetrates among other microbes which fill out the nitrogen cycle. Some varieties, especially detritivorous branches, are colonial and form small mats. Detritivorous varieties, especially the colonial forms, also participate somewhat in the ammonification stage of the nitrogen cycle as decomposers.