Sample records for n2o emissions soil

  1. Soil invertebrate fauna affect N2 O emissions from soil.

    PubMed

    Kuiper, Imke; de Deyn, Gerlinde B; Thakur, Madhav P; van Groenigen, Jan Willem

    2013-09-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2 O) emissions from soils contribute significantly to global warming. Mitigation of N2 O emissions is severely hampered by a lack of understanding of its main controls. Fluxes can only partly be predicted from soil abiotic factors and microbial analyses - a possible role for soil fauna has until now largely been overlooked. We studied the effect of six groups of soil invertebrate fauna and tested the hypothesis that all of them increase N2 O emissions, although to different extents. We conducted three microcosm experiments with sandy soil and hay residue. Faunal groups included in our experiments were as follows: fungal-feeding nematodes, mites, springtails, potworms, earthworms and isopods. In experiment I, involving all six faunal groups, N2 O emissions declined with earthworms and potworms from 78.4 (control) to 37.0 (earthworms) or 53.5 (potworms) mg N2 O-N m(-2) . In experiment II, with a higher soil-to-hay ratio and mites, springtails and potworms as faunal treatments, N2 O emissions increased with potworms from 51.9 (control) to 123.5 mg N2 O-N m(-2) . Experiment III studied the effect of potworm density; we found that higher densities of potworms accelerated the peak of the N2 O emissions by 5 days (P < 0.001), but the cumulative N2 O emissions remained unaffected. We propose that increased soil aeration by the soil fauna reduced N2 O emissions in experiment I, whereas in experiment II N2 O emissions were driven by increased nitrogen and carbon availability. In experiment III, higher densities of potworms accelerated nitrogen and carbon availability and N2 O emissions, but did not increase them. Overall, our data show that soil fauna can suppress, increase, delay or accelerate N2 O emissions from soil and should therefore be an integral part of future N2 O studies. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. Decreased N2O reduction by low soil pH causes high N2O emissions in a riparian ecosystem.

    PubMed

    Van den Heuvel, R N; Bakker, S E; Jetten, M S M; Hefting, M M

    2011-05-01

    Quantification of harmful nitrous oxide (N(2)O) emissions from soils is essential for mitigation measures. An important N(2)O producing and reducing process in soils is denitrification, which shows deceased rates at low pH. No clear relationship between N(2)O emissions and soil pH has yet been established because also the relative contribution of N(2)O as the denitrification end product decreases with pH. Our aim was to show the net effect of soil pH on N(2)O production and emission. Therefore, experiments were designed to investigate the effects of pH on NO(3)(-) reduction, N(2)O production and reduction and N(2) production in incubations with pH values set between 4 and 7. Furthermore, field measurements of soil pH and N(2)O emissions were carried out. In incubations, NO(3)(-) reduction and N(2) production rates increased with pH and net N(2)O production rate was highest at pH 5. N(2)O reduction to N(2) was halted until NO(3)(-) was depleted at low pH values, resulting in a built up of N(2)O. As a consequence, N(2)O:N(2) production ratio decreased exponentially with pH. N(2)O reduction appeared therefore more important than N(2)O production in explaining net N(2)O production rates. In the field, a negative exponential relationship for soil pH against N(2)O emissions was observed. Soil pH could therefore be used as a predictive tool for average N(2)O emissions in the studied ecosystem. The occurrence of low pH spots may explain N(2)O emission hotspot occurrence. Future studies should focus on the mechanism behind small scale soil pH variability and the effect of manipulating the pH of soils. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  3. [Effects of diurnal warming on soil N2O emission in soybean field].

    PubMed

    Hu, Zheng-Hua; Zhou, Ying-Ping; Cui, Hai-Ling; Chen, Shu-Tao; Xiao, Qi-Tao; Liu, Yan

    2013-08-01

    To investigate the impact of experimental warming on N2O emission from soil of soybean field, outdoor experiments with simulating diurnal warming were conducted, and static dark chamber-gas chromatograph method was used to measure N2O emission fluxes. Results indicated that: the diurnal warming did not change the seasonal pattern of N2O emissions from soil. In the whole growing season, comparing to the control treatment (CK), the warming treatment (T) significantly enhanced the N2O flux and the cumulative amount of N2O by 17.31% (P = 0.019), and 20.27% (P = 0.005), respectively. The significant correlations were found between soil N2O emission and soil temperature, moisture. The temperature sensitivity values of soil N2O emission under CK and T treatments were 3.75 and 4.10, respectively. In whole growing stage, T treatment significantly increased the crop aboveground and total biomass, the nitrate reductase activity, and total nitrogen in leaves, while significantly decreased NO3(-) -N content in leaves. T treatment significantly increased soil NO3(-) -N content, but had no significant effect on soil organic carbon and total nitrogen contents. The results of this study suggested that diurnal warming enhanced N2O emission from soil in soybean field.

  4. N2O and N2 emissions from contrasting soil environments - interactive effects of soil nitrogen, hydrology and microbial communities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Christiansen, Jesper; Elberling, Bo; Ribbons, Relena; Hedo, Javier; José Fernández Alonso, Maria; Krych, Lukasz; Sandris Nielsen, Dennis; Kitzler, Barbara

    2016-04-01

    Reactive nitrogen (N) in the environment has doubled relative to the natural global N cycle with consequences for biogeochemical cycling of soil N. Also, climate change is expected to alter precipitation patterns and increase soil temperatures which in Arctic environments may accelerate permafrost thawing. The combination of changes in the soil N cycle and hydrological regimes may alter microbial transformations of soil N with unknown impacts on N2O and N2 emissions from temperate and Arctic soils. We present the first results of soil N2O and N2 emissions, chemistry and microbial communities over soil hydrological gradients (upslope, intermediate and wet) across a global N deposition gradient. The global gradient covered an N-limited high Arctic tundra (Zackenberg-ZA), a pacific temperate rain forest (Vancouver Island-VI) and an N saturated forest in Austria (Klausenleopoldsdorf-KL). The N2O and N2 emissions were measured from intact cores at field moisture in a He-atmosphere system. Extractable NH4+ and NO3-, organic and microbial C and N and potential enzyme-activities were determined on soil samples. Soil genomic DNA was subjected to MiSeq-based tag-encoded 16S rRNA and ITS gene amplicon sequencing for the bacterial and fungal community structure. Similar soil moisture levels were observed for the upslope, intermediate and wet locations at ZA, VI and KL, respectively. Extractable NO3- was highest at the N rich KL and lowest at ZA and showed no trend with soil moisture similar to NH4+. At ZA and VI soil NH4+ was higher than NO3- indicating a tighter N cycling. N2O emissions increased with soil moisture at all sites. The N2O emissions for the wet locations ranked similarly to NO3- with the largest response to soil moisture at KL. N2 emissions were remarkably similar across the sites and increased with soil wetness. Microbial C and N also increased with soil moisture and were overall lowest at the N rich KL site. The potential activity of protease enzyme was site

  5. Effects of soil moisture and temperature on NO, NO2, and N2O emissions from European forest soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schindlbacher, Andreas; Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Sophie; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus

    2004-09-01

    Emissions of NO, NO2, and N2O to the atmosphere were measured with a fully automated laboratory system from undisturbed soil columns obtained from five different temperate and one boreal forest sites. The soils were chosen to cover a transect through Europe, sandy and loamy textures, and different atmospheric nitrogen deposition rates. In a two-factorial experimental design, soil cores were kept under varying conditions with respect to temperature (range 5-20°C) and soil moisture (range 0-300 kPa). The combination of soil temperature and soil moisture could explain a better part of variations in NO (up to 74%) and N2O (up to 86%) emissions for individual soils, but average emissions differed significantly between various forest soils. Generally, NO and N2O were emitted from all soils except from the boreal pine forest soil, where NO was consumed. NO emissions from the German spruce forest receiving highest yearly nitrogen inputs of >35 kg ha-1 yr-1 ranged from 1.3 to 608.9 μg NO-N m-2 h-1 and largely exceeded emissions from other soils. Average N2O emissions from this soil tended also to be highest (171.7 ± 42.2 μg N2O-N m-2 h-1), but did not differ significantly from other soils. NO2 deposition occurred in all soils and strongly correlated to NO emissions. NO and N2O emissions showed a positive exponential relationship to soil temperature. With activation energies between 57 and 133 kJ mol-1, N2O emissions from the various soils responded more uniformely to temperature than NO emissions with 41 and 199 kJ mol-1. The two Austrian beech forest soils showed exceptionally high activation energies for NO emissions, which might be attributed to chemodenitrification. N2O emissions increased with increasing water filled pore space (WFPS) or decreasing water tension, respectively. Maximal N2O emissions were measured between 80 and 95% WFPS or 0 kPa water tension. Optimal moisture for NO emission differed significantly between the soils, and ranged between 15% WFPS in

  6. Gas entrapment and microbial N2O reduction reduce N2O emissions from a biochar-amended sandy clay loam soil

    PubMed Central

    Harter, Johannes; Guzman-Bustamante, Ivan; Kuehfuss, Stefanie; Ruser, Reiner; Well, Reinhard; Spott, Oliver; Kappler, Andreas; Behrens, Sebastian

    2016-01-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas that is produced during microbial nitrogen transformation processes such as nitrification and denitrification. Soils represent the largest sources of N2O emissions with nitrogen fertilizer application being the main driver of rising atmospheric N2O concentrations. Soil biochar amendment has been proposed as a promising tool to mitigate N2O emissions from soils. However, the underlying processes that cause N2O emission suppression in biochar-amended soils are still poorly understood. We set up microcosm experiments with fertilized, wet soil in which we used 15N tracing techniques and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to investigate the impact of biochar on mineral and gaseous nitrogen dynamics and denitrification-specific functional marker gene abundance and expression. In accordance with previous studies our results showed that biochar addition can lead to a significant decrease in N2O emissions. Furthermore, we determined significantly higher quantities of soil-entrapped N2O and N2 in biochar microcosms and a biochar-induced increase in typical and atypical nosZ transcript copy numbers. Our findings suggest that biochar-induced N2O emission mitigation is based on the entrapment of N2O in water-saturated pores of the soil matrix and concurrent stimulation of microbial N2O reduction resulting in an overall decrease of the N2O/(N2O + N2) ratio. PMID:28008997

  7. The impact of nitrification inhibitor DMPP on N2O, NO and N2 emissions at different soil moisture conditions in grassland soil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, D.; Cardenas, L. M.; Sanz, S. C.; Brueggemann, N.; Loick, N.; Liu, S.; Bol, R.

    2016-12-01

    Emissions of gaseous forms of nitrogen from soil, such as nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO), have shown great impact on global warming and atmospheric chemistry. Although in soil both nitrification and denitrification could cause N2O and NO emissions, most recent studies demonstrated that denitrification is the dominant process responsible for the increase of atmospheric N2O, while nitrification produces most of NO. The use of nitrification inhibitors (NI) has repeatedly been shown to lower both N2O and NO emissions from agricultural soils; nevertheless, the efficiency of the mitigation effect varies greatly. It is generally assumed that nitrification inhibitors have no direct effect on denitrification. However, the indirect impact, due to the reduced substrate delivery (NO3-) to microsites where denitrification occurs, may have significant effects on denitrification product stoichiometry that may significantly lower soil born N2O emissions. In the present study, soil incubation experiments were carried out in a fully automated continuous-flow incubation system under a He/O2 atmosphere. Ammonium sulfate was applied with and without NI (DMPP) to a UK grassland soil under three different soil moisture conditions (50% WFPS, 65% WFPS, 80% WFPS). With every treatment glucose was applied to supply enough carbon for denitrification. We examined the effect of DMPP on NO, N2O and N2 emissions at different soil moisture conditions which favor nitrification, a mixture of both nitrification and denitrification, or denitrification, respectively. Generally cumulative NO emissions were about 17% of cumulative N2O emissions, while N2 emissions were only detected at high soil moisture condition (80% WFPS). Higher soil moisture increased both N2O and NO emissions. DMPP application increased N2 emissions at soil moisture condition favoring denitrification. Although the application of DMPP significantly mitigated both N2O and NO emissions in all DMPP treatments, the efficiency

  8. Microhabitat Effects on N2O Emissions from Floodplain Soils under Controlled Conditions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ley, Martin; Lehmann, Moritz F.; Niklaus, Pascal A.; Kuhn, Thomas; Luster, Jörg

    2016-04-01

    Semi-terrestrial soils such as floodplain soils are considered to be potential hotspots of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The quantitative assessment of N2O release from these hotspots under field conditions, and of the microbial pathways that underlie net N2O production (ammonium oxidation, nitrifier-denitrification, and denitrification) is challenging because of their high spatial and temporal variability. The production and consumption of N2O appears to be linked to the presence or absence of micro-niches, providing specific conditions that may be favorable to either of the relevant microbial pathways. Flood events have been shown to trigger moments of enhanced N2O emission through a close coupling of niches with high and low oxygen availabilities. This coupling might be modulated by microhabitat effects related to soil aggregate formation, root soil interactions and the degradation of organic matter accumulations. In order to assess how these factors can modulate N2O production and consumption under simulated flooding/drying conditions, we have set up a mesocosm experiment with N-rich floodplain soils comprising different combinations of soil aggregate size classes and inert matrix material. These model soils were either planted with basket willow (Salix viminalis L.), mixed with leaf litter, or left untreated. Throughout a simulated flood event, we repeatedly measured the net N2O production rate. In addition, soil water content, redox potential, as well as C and N substrate availability were monitored. In order to gain insight into the sources of, and biogeochemical controls on N2O production, we also measured the bulk δ15N signature of the produced N2O, as well as its intramolecular 15N site preference (SP). In this presentation we focus on a period of enhanced N2O emission during the drying phase after 48 hrs of flooding. We will discuss the observed emission patterns in the context of possible treatment effects. Soils with large aggregates showed a

  9. A toy model for estimating N2O emissions from natural soils

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fung, Inez

    1992-01-01

    A model of N2O emissions from natural soils, whose ultimate objective is to evaluate what contribution natural ecosystems make to the global N2O budget and how the contribution would change with global change, is presented. Topics covered include carbon and nitrogen available in the soil, delivery of nitrifiable N, soil water and oxygen status, soil water budget model, effects of drainage, nitrification and denitrification potentials, soil fertility, N2O production, and a model evaluation. A major implication of the toy model is that the tropics account for more than 80 percent of global emission.

  10. Functional diversity of soil invertebrates: a potential tool to explain N2O emission?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lubbers, Ingrid; De Deyn, Gerlinde; Drake, Harold; Hunger, Sindy; Oppermann, Timo; van Groenigen, Jan Willem

    2017-04-01

    Soil biota play a crucial role in the mineralization of nutrients from organic material. However, they can thereby increase emissions of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). Our current lack of understanding of the factors controlling N2O production and emission is impeding the development of effective mitigation strategies. It is the challenge to control N2O emissions from production systems without reducing crop yield, and diversity of soil fauna may play a key role. A high functional diversity of soil invertebrates is known to stimulate nitrogen mineralization and thereby plant growth, however, it is unknown whether a high functional diversity of soil invertebrates can concurrently diminish N2O emissions. We hypothesized that increased functional diversity of soil invertebrates reduces faunal-induced N2O emissions by facilitating more complete denitrification through (i) stimulating the activity of denitrifying microbes, and (ii) affecting the distribution of micro and macro pores, creating more anaerobic reaction sites. Using state-of-the-art X-ray tomography and next-generation sequencing, we studied effects of functional diversity on soil structural properties and the diversity of the microbial community (16S rRNA genes and 16S rRNA), and linked these to soil N2O emissions. In a 120-day study we found that the functional composition of the soil invertebrate community determined N2O emissions: earthworm activity was key to faunal-induced N2O emissions (a 32-fold increase after 120 days, P<0.001). No proof was found to explain faunal-induced N2O emissions through differences in stimulated microbial activity. On the other hand, soil structural properties (mean pore size, pore size distribution) were found to be radically altered by earthworm activity. We conclude that the presence of a few functional groups (ecosystem engineers) is more important than overall increased functional diversity in explaining faunal-affected N2O emissions.

  11. Effects of crop management, soil type, and climate on N2O emissions from Austrian Soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Sophie; Sigmund, Elisabeth; Kasper, Martina; Kitzler, Barbara; Haas, Edwin; Wandl, Michael; Strauss, Peter; Poetzelsberger, Elisabeth; Dersch, Georg; Winiwarter, Wilfried; Amon, Barbara

    2015-04-01

    Within the project FarmClim ("Farming for a better climate") we assessed recent N2O emissions from two selected regions in Austria. Our aim was to deepen the understanding of Austrian N2O fluxes regarding region specific properties. Currently, N2O emissions are estimated with the IPCC default emission factor which only considers the amount of N-input as an influencing factor for N2O emissions. We evaluated the IPCC default emission factor for its validity under spatially distinct environmental conditions. For this two regions for modeling with LandscapeDNDC have been identified in this project. The benefit of using LandscapeDNDC is the detailed illustration of microbial processes in the soil. Required input data to run the model included daily climate data, vegetation properties, soil characteristics and land management. The analysis of present agricultural practices was basis for assessing the hot spots and hot moments of nitrogen emissions on a regional scale. During our work with LandscapeDNDC we were able to adapt specific model algorithms to Austrian agricultural conditions. The model revealed a strong dependency of N2O emissions on soil type. We could estimate how strongly soil texture affects N2O emissions. Based on detailed soil maps with high spatial resolution we calculated region specific contribution to N2O emissions. Accordingly we differentiated regions with deviating gas fluxes compared to the predictions by the IPCC inventory methodology. Taking region specific management practices into account (tillage, irrigation, residuals) calculation of crop rotation (fallow, catch crop, winter wheat, barley, winter barley, sugar beet, corn, potato, onion and rapeseed) resulted in N2O emissions differing by a factor of 30 depending on preceding crop and climate. A maximum of 2% of N fertilizer input was emitted as N2O. Residual N in the soil was a major factor stimulating N2O emissions. Interannual variability was affected by varying N-deposition even in case

  12. Multivariate regulation of soil CO2 and N2 O pulse emissions from agricultural soils.

    PubMed

    Liang, Liyin L; Grantz, David A; Jenerette, G Darrel

    2016-03-01

    Climate and land-use models project increasing occurrence of high temperature and water deficit in both agricultural production systems and terrestrial ecosystems. Episodic soil wetting and subsequent drying may increase the occurrence and magnitude of pulsed biogeochemical activity, affecting carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles and influencing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this study, we provide the first data to explore the responses of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and nitrous oxide (N2 O) fluxes to (i) temperature, (ii) soil water content as percent water holding capacity (%WHC), (iii) substrate availability throughout, and (iv) multiple soil drying and rewetting (DW) events. Each of these factors and their interactions exerted effects on GHG emissions over a range of four (CO2 ) and six (N2 O) orders of magnitude. Maximal CO2 and N2 O fluxes were observed in environments combining intermediate %WHC, elevated temperature, and sufficient substrate availability. Amendments of C and N and their interactions significantly affected CO2 and N2 O fluxes and altered their temperature sensitivities (Q10 ) over successive DW cycles. C amendments significantly enhanced CO2 flux, reduced N2 O flux, and decreased the Q10 of both. N amendments had no effect on CO2 flux and increased N2 O flux, while significantly depressing the Q10 for CO2 , and having no effect on the Q10 for N2 O. The dynamics across DW cycles could be attributed to changes in soil microbial communities as the different responses to wetting events in specific group of microorganisms, to the altered substrate availabilities, or to both. The complex interactions among parameters influencing trace gas fluxes should be incorporated into next generation earth system models to improve estimation of GHG emissions. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Hotspots of soil N 2O emission enhanced through water absorption by plant residue

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kravchenko, A. N.; Toosi, E. R.; Guber, A. K.

    N 2O is a highly potent greenhouse gas and arable soils represent its major anthropogenic source. Field-scale assessments and predictions of soil N 2O emission remain uncertain and imprecise due to the episodic and microscale nature of microbial N 2O production, most of which occurs within very small discrete soil volumes. Such hotspots of N 2O production are often associated with decomposing plant residue. Here we quantify physical and hydrological soil characteristics that lead to strikingly accelerated N 2O emissions in plant residue-induced hotspots. Results reveal a mechanism for microscale N 2O emissions: water absorption by plant residue that createsmore » unique micro-environmental conditions, markedly different from those of the bulk soil. Moisture levels within plant residue exceeded those of bulk soil by 4–10-fold and led to accelerated N 2O production via microbial denitrification. The presence of large (Ø >35 μm) pores was a prerequisite for maximized hotspot N 2O production and for subsequent diffusion to the atmosphere. Understanding and modelling hotspot microscale physical and hydrologic characteristics is a promising route to predict N 2O emissions and thus to develop effective mitigation strategies and estimate global fluxes in a changing environment.« less

  14. Hotspots of soil N2O emission enhanced through water absorption by plant residue

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kravchenko, A. N.; Toosi, E. R.; Guber, A. K.

    N2O is a highly potent greenhouse gas and arable soils represent its major anthropogenic source. Field-scale assessments and predictions of soil N2O emission remain uncertain and imprecise due to the episodic and microscale nature of microbial N2O production, most of which occurs within very small discrete soil volumes. Such hotspots of N2O production are often associated with decomposing plant residue. Here we quantify physical and hydrological soil characteristics that lead to strikingly accelerated N2O emissions in plant residue-induced hotspots. Results reveal a mechanism for microscale N2O emissions: water absorption by plant residue that creates unique micro-environmental conditions, markedly different frommore » those of the bulk soil. Moisture levels within plant residue exceeded those of bulk soil by 4–10-fold and led to accelerated N2O production via microbial denitrification. The presence of large (Ø >35 μm) pores was a prerequisite for maximized hotspot N2O production and for subsequent diffusion to the atmosphere. Understanding and modelling hotspot microscale physical and hydrologic characteristics is a promising route to predict N2O emissions and thus to develop effective mitigation strategies and estimate global fluxes in a changing environment.« less

  15. Hotspots of soil N 2O emission enhanced through water absorption by plant residue

    DOE PAGES

    Kravchenko, A. N.; Toosi, E. R.; Guber, A. K.; ...

    2017-06-05

    N 2O is a highly potent greenhouse gas and arable soils represent its major anthropogenic source. Field-scale assessments and predictions of soil N 2O emission remain uncertain and imprecise due to the episodic and microscale nature of microbial N 2O production, most of which occurs within very small discrete soil volumes. Such hotspots of N 2O production are often associated with decomposing plant residue. Here we quantify physical and hydrological soil characteristics that lead to strikingly accelerated N 2O emissions in plant residue-induced hotspots. Results reveal a mechanism for microscale N 2O emissions: water absorption by plant residue that createsmore » unique micro-environmental conditions, markedly different from those of the bulk soil. Moisture levels within plant residue exceeded those of bulk soil by 4–10-fold and led to accelerated N 2O production via microbial denitrification. The presence of large (Ø >35 μm) pores was a prerequisite for maximized hotspot N 2O production and for subsequent diffusion to the atmosphere. Understanding and modelling hotspot microscale physical and hydrologic characteristics is a promising route to predict N 2O emissions and thus to develop effective mitigation strategies and estimate global fluxes in a changing environment.« less

  16. Abiotic controls on N2O emissions from soils and wetlands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Horwath, W. R.

    2016-12-01

    The increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) is a critical climate change issue contributing to global warming. Most studies on N2O production attribute microbial processes and their associated enzymatic reactions to be the main driver affecting emissions. The role of redox capable iron, manganese and organic compounds that can react with intermediates in the nitrogen cycle has also been shown to produce N2O abiotically. The importance of the abiotic pathways, however, is highly debated. The abiotic production of N2O is related to biophysiochemical controls and unique isotopic signatures of nitrogen cycle intermediates (hydroxylamine, nitric oxide, and nitrite), redox-active metals (iron and manganese) and organic matter (humic and fulvic acids). In a range of soils, we find that the iron directly associated with organic compounds is the strongest variable relating to N2O emissions. In addition to these factors, management is also assumed to affect abiotic N2O production through its impact on nitrogen cycle intermediates, but the environmental and physiochemical conditions that are changed by management are rarely considered in the abiotic production of N2O. We find that the amount and quality of organic compounds in soils directly determines the fate of soil N2O production (i.e. be emitted or consumed). Water depth in rice paddies and wetlands also plays a significant role in partitioning production and consumption of N2O. What is evident from studies on N2O emission is that abiotic reactions are coupled to biotic processes and they cannot be easily separated. The biotic/abiotic interactions have important ecological outcomes that influence abiotic production mechanisms and should be recognized as important controllers of N2O production and consumption processes in soils and sediments.

  17. Managed grassland alters soil N dynamics and N2O emissions in temperate steppe.

    PubMed

    Xu, Lijun; Xu, Xingliang; Tang, Xuejuan; Xin, Xiaoping; Ye, Liming; Yang, Guixia; Tang, Huajun; Lv, Shijie; Xu, Dawei; Zhang, Zhao

    2018-04-01

    Reclamation of degraded grasslands as managed grasslands has been increasingly accelerated in recent years in China. Land use change affects soil nitrogen (N) dynamics and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions. However, it remains unclear how large-scale grassland reclamation will impact the grassland ecosystem as a whole. Here, we investigated the effects of the conversion from native to managed grasslands on soil N dynamics and N2O emissions by field experiments in Hulunber in northern China. Soil (0-10cm), nitrate (NO 3 - ), ammonium (NH 4 + ), and microbial N were measured in plots in a temperate steppe (Leymus chinensis grassland) and two managed grasslands (Medicago sativa and Bromus inermis grasslands) in 2011 and 2012. The results showed conversion of L. chinensis grassland to M. sativa or B. inermis grasslands decreased concentrations of NO 3 - -N, but did not change NH 4 + -N. Soil microbial N was slightly decreased by the conversion of L. chinensis grassland to M. sativa, but increased by the conversion to B. inermis. The conversion of L. chinensis grassland to M. sativa (i.e., a legume grass) increased N 2 O emissions by 26.2%, while the conversion to the B. inermis (i.e., a non-legume grass) reduced N 2 O emissions by 33.1%. The conversion from native to managed grasslands caused large created variations in soil NO 3 - -N and NH 4 + -N concentrations. Net N mineralization rates did not change significantly in growing season or vegetation type, but to net nitrification rate. These results provide evidence on how reclamation may impact the grassland ecosystem in terms of N dynamics and N 2 O emissions. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  18. Effects of dicyandiamide and dolomite application on N2O emission from an acidic soil.

    PubMed

    Shaaban, Muhammad; Wu, Yupeng; Peng, Qi-an; Lin, Shan; Mo, Yongliang; Wu, Lei; Hu, Ronggui; Zhou, Wei

    2016-04-01

    Soil acidification is a major problem for sustainable agriculture since it limits productivity of several crops. Liming is usually adopted to ameliorate soil acidity that can trigger soil processes such as nitrification, denitrification, and loss of nitrogen (N) as nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The loss of N following liming of acidic soils can be controlled by nitrification inhibitors (such as dicyandiamide). However, effects of nitrification inhibitors following liming of acidic soils are not well understood so far. Here, we conducted a laboratory study using an acidic soil to examine the effects of dolomite and dicyandiamide (DCD) application on N2O emissions. Three levels of DCD (0, 10, and 20 mg kg(-1); DCD0, DCD10, and DCD20, respectively) were applied to the acidic soil under two levels of dolomite (0 and 1 g kg(-1)) which were further treated with two levels of N fertilizer (0 and 200 mg N kg(-1)). Results showed that N2O emissions were highest at low soil pH levels in fertilizer-treated soil without application of DCD and dolomite. Application of DCD and dolomite significantly (P ≤ 0.001) reduced N2O emissions through decreasing rates of NH4 (+)-N oxidation and increasing soil pH, respectively. Total N2O emissions were reduced by 44 and 13% in DCD20 and dolomite alone treatments, respectively, while DCD20 + dolomite reduced N2O emissions by 54% when compared with DCD0 treatment. The present study suggests that application of DCD and dolomite to acidic soils can mitigate N2O emissions.

  19. Measuring and modeling of soil N2O emissions - How well are we doing?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Butterbach-Bahl, K.; Ralf, K.; Werner, C.; Wolf, B.

    2017-12-01

    Microbial processes in soils are the primarily source of atmospheric N2O. Fertilizer use to boost food and feed production of agricultural systems as well as nitrogen deposition to natural and semi-natural ecosystems due to emissions of NOx and NH3 from agriculture and energy production and re-deposition to terrestrial ecosystems has likely nearly doubled the pre-industrial source strength of soils for atmospheric N2O. Quantifying soil emissions and identifying mitigation options is becoming a major focus in the climate debate as N2O emissions from agricultural soils are a major contributor to the greenhouse gas footprint of agricultural systems, with agriculture incl. land use change contributing up to 30% to total anthropogenic GHG emissions. The increasing number of annual datasets show that soil emissions a) are largely depended on soil N availability and thus e.g. fertilizer application, b) vary with management (e.g. timing of fertilization, residue management, tillage), c) depend on soil properties such as organic matter content and pH, e) are affected by plant N uptake, and e) are controlled by environmental factors such as moisture and temperature regimes. It is remarkable that the magnitude of annual emissions is largely controlled by short-term N2O pulses occurring due to fertilization, wetting and drying or freezing and thawing of soils. All of this contributes to a notorious variability of soil N2O emissions in space and time. Overcoming this variability for quantification of source strengths and identifying tangible mitigation options requires targeted measuring approaches as well as the translation of our knowledge on mechanisms underlying emissions into process oriented models, which finally might be used for upscaling and scenario studies. This paper aims at reviewing current knowledge on measurements, modelling and upscaling of soil N2O emissions, thereby identifying short comes and uncertainties of the various approaches and fields for future

  20. Phylogenetic and functional potential links pH and N2O emissions in pasture soils.

    PubMed

    Samad, Md Sainur; Biswas, Ambarish; Bakken, Lars R; Clough, Timothy J; de Klein, Cecile A M; Richards, Karl G; Lanigan, Gary J; Morales, Sergio E

    2016-10-26

    Denitrification is mediated by microbial, and physicochemical, processes leading to nitrogen loss via N 2 O and N 2 emissions. Soil pH regulates the reduction of N 2 O to N 2 , however, it can also affect microbial community composition and functional potential. Here we simultaneously test the link between pH, community composition, and the N 2 O emission ratio (N 2 O/(NO + N 2 O + N 2 )) in 13 temperate pasture soils. Physicochemical analysis, gas kinetics, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, metagenomic and quantitative PCR (of denitrifier genes: nirS, nirK, nosZI and nosZII) analysis were carried out to characterize each soil. We found strong evidence linking pH to both N 2 O emission ratio and community changes. Soil pH was negatively associated with N 2 O emission ratio, while being positively associated with both community diversity and total denitrification gene (nir &nos) abundance. Abundance of nosZII was positively linked to pH, and negatively linked to N 2 O emissions. Our results confirm that pH imposes a general selective pressure on the entire community and that this results in changes in emission potential. Our data also support the general model that with increased microbial diversity efficiency increases, demonstrated in this study with lowered N 2 O emission ratio through more efficient conversion of N 2 O to N 2 .

  1. Phylogenetic and functional potential links pH and N2O emissions in pasture soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Samad, M. D. Sainur; Biswas, Ambarish; Bakken, Lars R.; Clough, Timothy J.; de Klein, Cecile A. M.; Richards, Karl G.; Lanigan, Gary J.; Morales, Sergio E.

    2016-10-01

    Denitrification is mediated by microbial, and physicochemical, processes leading to nitrogen loss via N2O and N2 emissions. Soil pH regulates the reduction of N2O to N2, however, it can also affect microbial community composition and functional potential. Here we simultaneously test the link between pH, community composition, and the N2O emission ratio (N2O/(NO + N2O + N2)) in 13 temperate pasture soils. Physicochemical analysis, gas kinetics, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, metagenomic and quantitative PCR (of denitrifier genes: nirS, nirK, nosZI and nosZII) analysis were carried out to characterize each soil. We found strong evidence linking pH to both N2O emission ratio and community changes. Soil pH was negatively associated with N2O emission ratio, while being positively associated with both community diversity and total denitrification gene (nir & nos) abundance. Abundance of nosZII was positively linked to pH, and negatively linked to N2O emissions. Our results confirm that pH imposes a general selective pressure on the entire community and that this results in changes in emission potential. Our data also support the general model that with increased microbial diversity efficiency increases, demonstrated in this study with lowered N2O emission ratio through more efficient conversion of N2O to N2.

  2. Phylogenetic and functional potential links pH and N2O emissions in pasture soils

    PubMed Central

    Samad, M. d. Sainur; Biswas, Ambarish; Bakken, Lars R.; Clough, Timothy J.; de Klein, Cecile A. M.; Richards, Karl G.; Lanigan, Gary J.; Morales, Sergio E.

    2016-01-01

    Denitrification is mediated by microbial, and physicochemical, processes leading to nitrogen loss via N2O and N2 emissions. Soil pH regulates the reduction of N2O to N2, however, it can also affect microbial community composition and functional potential. Here we simultaneously test the link between pH, community composition, and the N2O emission ratio (N2O/(NO + N2O + N2)) in 13 temperate pasture soils. Physicochemical analysis, gas kinetics, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, metagenomic and quantitative PCR (of denitrifier genes: nirS, nirK, nosZI and nosZII) analysis were carried out to characterize each soil. We found strong evidence linking pH to both N2O emission ratio and community changes. Soil pH was negatively associated with N2O emission ratio, while being positively associated with both community diversity and total denitrification gene (nir & nos) abundance. Abundance of nosZII was positively linked to pH, and negatively linked to N2O emissions. Our results confirm that pH imposes a general selective pressure on the entire community and that this results in changes in emission potential. Our data also support the general model that with increased microbial diversity efficiency increases, demonstrated in this study with lowered N2O emission ratio through more efficient conversion of N2O to N2. PMID:27782174

  3. Soil water content drives spatiotemporal patterns of CO2 and N2O emissions from a Mediterranean riparian forest soil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Poblador, Sílvia; Lupon, Anna; Sabaté, Santiago; Sabater, Francesc

    2017-09-01

    Riparian zones play a fundamental role in regulating the amount of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) that is exported from catchments. However, C and N removal via soil gaseous pathways can influence local budgets of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contribute to climate change. Over a year, we quantified soil effluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from a Mediterranean riparian forest in order to understand the role of these ecosystems on catchment GHG emissions. In addition, we evaluated the main soil microbial processes that produce GHG (mineralization, nitrification, and denitrification) and how changes in soil properties can modify the GHG production over time and space. Riparian soils emitted larger amounts of CO2 (1.2-10 g C m-2 d-1) than N2O (0.001-0.2 mg N m-2 d-1) to the atmosphere attributed to high respiration and low denitrification rates. Both CO2 and N2O emissions showed a marked (but antagonistic) spatial gradient as a result of variations in soil water content across the riparian zone. Deep groundwater tables fueled large soil CO2 effluxes near the hillslope, while N2O emissions were higher in the wet zones adjacent to the stream channel. However, both CO2 and N2O emissions peaked after spring rewetting events, when optimal conditions of soil water content, temperature, and N availability favor microbial respiration, nitrification, and denitrification. Overall, our results highlight the role of water availability on riparian soil biogeochemistry and GHG emissions and suggest that climate change alterations in hydrologic regimes can affect the microbial processes that produce GHG as well as the contribution of these systems to regional and global biogeochemical cycles.

  4. CO2 and N2O emissions from Lou soils of greenhouse tomato fields under aerated irrigation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hou, Huijing; Chen, Hui; Cai, Huanjie; Yang, Fan; Li, Dan; Wang, Fangtong

    2016-05-01

    The change of O2 content in soil caused by aerated irrigation (AI) must inevitably affect the production and emissions of CO2 and N2O from soils. This paper described in-situ observation of CO2 and N2O emissions from AI soils with static chamber-GC technique, in order to reveal the effects of AI on CO2 and N2O emissions from soils of greenhouse tomato fields in autumn-winter season. CO2 and N2O emissions from AI soils mainly concentrated in the blooming and fruit setting period compared to other periods. AI increased cumulative emissions of CO2 and N2O by 11.8% (p = 0.394) and 10.0% (p = 0.480), respectively, compared to the control. The integrative global warming potential of CO2 and N2O on a 100-year horizon for the AI treatment was 6430.60 kg ha-1, increased by 11.7% compared with that for the control (p = 0.356). Both the emissions of CO2 and N2O from AI soils had the exponential positive correlation with soil water-filled pore space (WFPS). The highest peak of CO2 and N2O fluxes from AI soils was observed at 46.7% and 47.5% WFPS, with WFPS ranging from 43.3% to 51.5% and from 45.6% to 52.3% during the whole growth stage, respectively. In addition, the average yield for the AI treatment (34.52 t ha-1) was significantly greater (17.4%) compared with that of the control (p = 0.018). These results suggest that AI do not significantly increase the integrative greenhouse effect caused by CO2 and N2O from soils of greenhouse tomato fields, but significantly increase the tomato yield. The research results provide certain theoretical foundation and scientific basis for accurately evaluating the farmland ecological effect of AI technique.

  5. Effects of Biochar Addition on CO2 and N2O Emissions following Fertilizer Application to a Cultivated Grassland Soil

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Jingjing; Kim, Hyunjin; Yoo, Gayoung

    2015-01-01

    Carbon (C) sequestration potential of biochar should be considered together with emission of greenhouse gases when applied to soils. In this study, we investigated CO2 and N2O emissions following the application of rice husk biochars to cultivated grassland soils and related gas emissions tos oil C and nitrogen (N) dynamics. Treatments included biochar addition (CHAR, NO CHAR) and amendment (COMPOST, UREA, NO FERT). The biochar application rate was 0.3% by weight. The temporal pattern of CO2 emissions differed according to biochar addition and amendments. CO2 emissions from the COMPOST soils were significantly higher than those from the UREA and NO FERT soils and less CO2 emission was observed when biochar and compost were applied together during the summer. Overall N2O emission was significantly influenced by the interaction between biochar and amendments. In UREA soil, biochar addition increased N2O emission by 49% compared to the control, while in the COMPOST and NO FERT soils, biochar did not have an effect on N2O emission. Two possible mechanisms were proposed to explain the higher N2O emissions upon biochar addition to UREA soil than other soils. Labile C in the biochar may have stimulated microbial N mineralization in the C-limited soil used in our study, resulting in an increase in N2O emission. Biochar may also have provided the soil with the ability to retain mineral N, leading to increased N2O emission. The overall results imply that biochar addition can increase C sequestration when applied together with compost, and might stimulate N2O emission when applied to soil amended with urea. PMID:26020941

  6. Frozen Cropland Soil in Northeast China as Source of N2O and CO2 Emissions

    PubMed Central

    Qiao, Yunfa; Han, Xiaozeng; Brancher Franco, Roberta

    2014-01-01

    Agricultural soils are important sources of atmospheric N2O and CO2. However, in boreal agro-ecosystems the contribution of the winter season to annual emissions of these gases has rarely been determined. In this study, soil N2O and CO2 fluxes were measured for 6 years in a corn-soybean-wheat rotation in northeast China to quantify the contribution of wintertime N2O and CO2 fluxes to annual emissions. The treatments were chemical fertilizer (NPK), chemical fertilizer plus composted pig manure (NPKOM), and control (Cont.). Mean soil N2O fluxes among all three treatments in the winter (November–March), when soil temperatures are below −7°C for extended periods, were 0.89–3.01 µg N m−2 h−1, and in between the growing season and winter (October and April), when freeze-thaw events occur, 1.73–5.48 µg N m−2 h−1. The cumulative N2O emissions were on average 0.27–1.39, 0.03–0.08 and 0.03–0.11 kg N2O–N ha−1 during the growing season, October and April, and winter, respectively. The average contributions of winter N2O efflux to annual emissions were 6.3–12.1%. In all three seasons, the highest N2O emissions occurred in NPKOM, while NPK and Cont. emissions were similar. Cumulative CO2 emissions were 2.73–4.94, 0.13–0.20 and 0.07–0.11 Mg CO2-C ha−1 during growing season, October and April, and winter, respectively. The contribution of winter CO2 to total annual emissions was 2.0–2.4%. Our results indicate that in boreal agricultural systems in northeast China, CO2 and N2O emissions continue throughout the winter. PMID:25536036

  7. Effects of soil temperature, flooding, and organic matter addition on N2O emissions from a soil of Hongze Lake wetland, China.

    PubMed

    Lu, Yan; Xu, Hongwen

    2014-01-01

    The objectives of this study were to test the effects of soil temperature, flooding, and raw organic matter input on N2O emissions in a soil sampled at Hongze Lake wetland, Jiangsu Province, China. The treatments studied were-peat soil (I), peat soil under flooding (II), peat soil plus raw organic matter (III), and peat soil under flooding plus organic matter. These four treatments were incubated at 20°C and 35°C. The result showed that temperature increase could enhance N2O emissions rate and cumulative emissions significantly; moreover, the flooded soil with external organic matter inputs showed the lowest cumulative rise in N2O emissions due to temperature increment. Flooding might inhibit soil N2O emissions, and the inhibition was more pronounced after organic matter addition to the original soil. Conversely, organic matter input explained lower cumulative N2O emissions under flooding. Our results suggest that complex interactions between flooding and other environmental factors might appear in soil N2O emissions. Further studies are needed to understand potential synergies or antagonisms between environmental factors that control N2O emissions in wetland soils.

  8. Mitigation potential of soil carbon management overestimated by neglecting N2O emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lugato, Emanuele; Leip, Adrian; Jones, Arwyn

    2018-03-01

    International initiatives such as the `4 per 1000' are promoting enhanced carbon (C) sequestration in agricultural soils as a way to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions1. However, changes in soil organic C turnover feed back into the nitrogen (N) cycle2, meaning that variation in soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions may offset or enhance C sequestration actions3. Here we use a biogeochemistry model on approximately 8,000 soil sampling locations in the European Union4 to quantify the net CO2 equivalent (CO2e) fluxes associated with representative C-mitigating agricultural practices. Practices based on integrated crop residue retention and lower soil disturbance are found to not increase N2O emissions as long as C accumulation continues (until around 2040), thereafter leading to a moderate C sequestration offset mostly below 47% by 2100. The introduction of N-fixing cover crops allowed higher C accumulation over the initial 20 years, but this gain was progressively offset by higher N2O emissions over time. By 2060, around half of the sites became a net source of greenhouse gases. We conclude that significant CO2 mitigation can be achieved in the initial 20-30 years of any C management scheme, but after that N inputs should be controlled through appropriate management.

  9. Linking N2O emissions from biochar-amended soil to the structure and function of the N-cycling microbial community

    PubMed Central

    Harter, Johannes; Krause, Hans-Martin; Schuettler, Stefanie; Ruser, Reiner; Fromme, Markus; Scholten, Thomas; Kappler, Andreas; Behrens, Sebastian

    2014-01-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) contributes 8% to global greenhouse gas emissions. Agricultural sources represent about 60% of anthropogenic N2O emissions. Most agricultural N2O emissions are due to increased fertilizer application. A considerable fraction of nitrogen fertilizers are converted to N2O by microbiological processes (that is, nitrification and denitrification). Soil amended with biochar (charcoal created by pyrolysis of biomass) has been demonstrated to increase crop yield, improve soil quality and affect greenhouse gas emissions, for example, reduce N2O emissions. Despite several studies on variations in the general microbial community structure due to soil biochar amendment, hitherto the specific role of the nitrogen cycling microbial community in mitigating soil N2O emissions has not been subject of systematic investigation. We performed a microcosm study with a water-saturated soil amended with different amounts (0%, 2% and 10% (w/w)) of high-temperature biochar. By quantifying the abundance and activity of functional marker genes of microbial nitrogen fixation (nifH), nitrification (amoA) and denitrification (nirK, nirS and nosZ) using quantitative PCR we found that biochar addition enhanced microbial nitrous oxide reduction and increased the abundance of microorganisms capable of N2-fixation. Soil biochar amendment increased the relative gene and transcript copy numbers of the nosZ-encoded bacterial N2O reductase, suggesting a mechanistic link to the observed reduction in N2O emissions. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the impact of biochar on the nitrogen cycling microbial community and the consequences of soil biochar amendment for microbial nitrogen transformation processes and N2O emissions from soil. PMID:24067258

  10. Subsurface watering resulted in reduced soil N2O and CO2 emissions and their global warming potentials than surface watering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wei, Qi; Xu, Junzeng; Yang, Shihong; Liao, Linxian; Jin, Guangqiu; Li, Yawei; Hameed, Fazli

    2018-01-01

    Water management is an important practice with significant effect on greenhouse gases (GHG) emission from soils. Nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their global warming potentials (GWPs) from subsurface watering soil (SUW) were investigated, with surface watering (SW) as a control. Results indicated that the N2O and CO2 emissions from SUW soils were somewhat different to those from SW soil, with the peak N2O and CO2 fluxes from SUW soil reduced by 28.9% and 19.4%, and appeared 72 h and 168 h later compared with SW. The fluxes of N2O and CO2 from SUW soils were lower than those from SW soil in both pulse and post-pulse periods, and the reduction was significantly (p<0.05) in pulse period. Compare to SW, the cumulative N2O and CO2 emissions and its integrative GWPs from SUW soil decreased by 21.0% (p<0.05), 15.9% and 18.0%, respectively. The contributions of N2O to GWPs were lower than those of CO2 during most of time, except in pulse emission periods, and the proportion of N2O from SUW soil was 1.4% (p>0.1) lower that from SW soil. Moreover, N2O and CO2 fluxes from both watering treatments increased exponentially with increase of soil water-filled pore space (WFPS) and temperature. Our results suggest that watering soil from subsurface could significantly reduce the integrative greenhouse effect caused by N2O and CO2 and is a promising strategy for soil greenhouse gases (GHGs) mitigation. And the pulse period, contributed most to the reduction in emissions of N2O and CO2 from soils between SW and SUW, should be a key period for mitigating GHGs emissions. Response of N2O and CO2 emissions to soil WFPS and temperature illustrated that moisture was the dominant parameters that triggering GHG pulse emissions (especially for N2O), and temperature had a greater effect on the soil microorganism activity than moisture in drier soil. Avoiding moisture and temperature are appropriate for GHG emission at the same time is essential for GHGs mitigation

  11. Microhabitat Effects on N2O Emissions from Floodplain Soils under Controlled Conditions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ley, Martin; Lehmann, Moritz; Niklaus, Pascal; Frey, Beat; Kuhn, Thomas; Luster, Jörg

    2015-04-01

    Semi-terrestrial soils such as floodplain soils are considered to be potential hotspots of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The quantitative assessment of N2O release from these hot spots under field conditions, and of the microbial pathways that underlie net N2O production (ammonium oxidation, nitrifier-denitrification, and denitrification) is challenging in the environment because of the high spatial and temporal variability. The production and consumption of N2O appears to be linked to the presence or absence of micro-niches, providing specific conditions that may be favorable to either of the microbial pathways that produce or consume N2O. The availability of oxygen, reactive organic carbon, and dissolved nitrogen substrates likely play key roles with regards to the net production of N2O. Previous field studies demonstrated, for example, that flooding can trigger "hot moments" of enhanced N2O emission through a close coupling of niches with high and low oxygen availabilities. Such microhabitat effects likely depend on soil aggregate formation, plant soil interactions in the rhizosphere and the degradation of organic matter accumulations. In order to assess how these factors can modulate N2O production and consumption under simulated flooding/drying conditions, we have set up a mesocosm experiment with model soils comprising various mixtures of N-rich floodplain soil aggregates (4000 - 250 µm representing large aggregates, or <250 µm representing small aggregates) and inert matrix material (glass beads of 150 - 250 µm size, or quartz sand of 2000 - 3200 µm size, respectively). Soils containing the different aggregate size groups were either planted with willow (Salix viminalis L.), mixed with leaf litter or left untreated. At several time points before, during and after a simulated flood event, we measure the net efflux rate of N2O. In addition, soil water content, redox potential as well as carbon and nitrogen substrate availability are monitored. In order to

  12. Nitrogen and phosphorus addition impact soil N2O emission in a secondary tropical forest of South China

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Faming; Li, Jian; Wang, Xiaoli; Zhang, Wei; Zou, Bi; Neher, Deborah A.; Li, Zhian

    2014-01-01

    Nutrient availability greatly regulates ecosystem processes and functions of tropical forests. However, few studies have explored impacts of N addition (aN), P addition (aP) and N×P interaction on tropical forests N2O fluxes. We established an N and P addition experiment in a tropical forest to test whether: (1) N addition would increase N2O emission and nitrification, and (2) P addition would increase N2O emission and N transformations. Nitrogen and P addition had no effect on N mineralization and nitrification. Soil microbial biomass was increased following P addition in wet seasons. aN increased 39% N2O emission as compared to control (43.3 μgN2O-N m−2h−1). aP did not increase N2O emission. Overall, N2O emission was 60% greater for aNP relative to the control, but significant difference was observed only in wet seasons, when N2O emission was 78% greater for aNP relative to the control. Our results suggested that increasing N deposition will enhance soil N2O emission, and there would be N×P interaction on N2O emission in wet seasons. Given elevated N deposition in future, P addition in this tropical soil will stimulate soil microbial activities in wet seasons, which will further enhance soil N2O emission. PMID:25001013

  13. N2O, NO, N2 and CO2 emissions from tropical savanna and grassland of northern Australia: an incubation experiment with intact soil cores

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Werner, C.; Reiser, K.; Dannenmann, M.; Hutley, L. B.; Jacobeit, J.; Butterbach-Bahl, K.

    2014-11-01

    Strong seasonal variability of hygric and thermal soil conditions are a defining environmental feature in northern Australia. However, how such changes affect the soil-atmosphere exchange of nitrous oxide (N2O), nitric oxide (NO) and dinitrogen (N2) is still not well explored. By incubating intact soil cores from four sites (three savanna, one pasture) under controlled soil temperatures (ST) and soil moisture (SM) we investigated the release of the trace gas fluxes of N2O, NO and carbon dioxide (CO2). Furthermore, the release of N2 due to denitrification was measured using the helium gas flow soil core technique. Under dry pre-incubation conditions NO and N2O emissions were very low (<7.0 ± 5.0 μg NO-N m-2 h-1; <0.0 ± 1.4 μg N2O-N m-2 h-1) or in the case of N2O, even a net soil uptake was observed. Substantial NO (max: 306.5 μg N m-2 h-1) and relatively small N2O pulse emissions (max: 5.8 ± 5.0 μg N m-2 h-1) were recorded following soil wetting, but these pulses were short lived, lasting only up to 3 days. The total atmospheric loss of nitrogen was generally dominated by N2 emissions (82.4-99.3% of total N lost), although NO emissions contributed almost 43.2% to the total atmospheric nitrogen loss at 50% SM and 30 °C ST incubation settings (the contribution of N2 at these soil conditions was only 53.2%). N2O emissions were systematically higher for 3 of 12 sample locations, which indicates substantial spatial variability at site level, but on average soils acted as weak N2O sources or even sinks. By using a conservative upscale approach we estimate total annual emissions from savanna soils to average 0.12 kg N ha-1 yr-1 (N2O), 0.68 kg N ha-1 yr-1 (NO) and 6.65 kg N ha-1 yr-1 (N2). The analysis of long-term SM and ST records makes it clear that extreme soil saturation that can lead to high N2O and N2 emissions only occurs a few days per year and thus has little impact on the annual total. The potential contribution of nitrogen released due to pulse events

  14. Microcosm N2O emissions wth calibration

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The dataset consists of measurements of soil nitrous oxide emissions from soils under three different amendments: glucose, cellulose, and manure. Data includes the four isotopomers of nitrous oxide (14N15N16O, 15N14N16O, 14N14N18O, 14N14N16O), and the site preference.This dataset is associated with the following publication:Chen , H., D. Williams , P. Deshmukh , F. Birgand, B. Maxwell, and J. Walker. Probing the Biological Sources of Soil N2O Emissions by Quantum Cascade Laser-Based 15N Isotopocule Analysis. SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA JOURNAL. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, USA, 100(0): 175-181, (2016).

  15. Response of N2O emissions to biochar amendment in a cultivated sandy loam soil during freeze-thaw cycles

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Xiang; Wang, Quan; Qi, Zhiming; Han, Jiangang; Li, Lanhai

    2016-01-01

    In the last decade, an increasing number of studies have reported that soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions can be reduced by adding biochar. However, the effect of biochar amendment on soil N2O emissions during freeze-thaw cycle (FTC) is still unknown. In this laboratory study, biochar (0%, 2% and 4%, w/w) was added into a cultivated sandy loam soil and then treated with 15 times of FTC (each FTC consisted of freeze at −5/−10 °C for 24 h and thaw at 5/10 °C for 24 h), to test whether biochar can mitigate soil N2O emissions during FTC, and estimate the relationships between N2O emissions and soil inorganic nitrogen contents/microbial biomass content/enzyme activities. The results showed that biochar amendment suppressed soil N2O emissions by 19.9–69.9% as compared to soils without biochar amendment during FTC. However, N2O emissions were only significantly correlated to soil nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N) contents, which decreased after biochar amendment, indicating that the decreased soil nitrification by adding biochar played an important role in mitigating N2O emissions during FTC. Further studies are needed to estimate the effectiveness of biochar amendment on reducing freeze-thaw induced N2O emissions from different soils under field conditions. PMID:27748462

  16. Source portioning of N_{2}O emissions after long term elevation of soil temperature in a permanent grassland soil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jansen-Willems, Anne; Lanigan, Gary; Clough, Timothy; Andresen, Louise; Müller, Christoph

    2016-04-01

    Several methods, such as source portioning, have been used to quantify the contributions of individual N pools to N2O emissions. These methods however, assume the absence of hybrid reactions such as co-denitrification, which were previously identified as important. A straight forward method portioning N2O fluxes into four different production processes, including a hybrid reaction, was therefore developed. This method portioned the N2O fluxes in nitrification, denitrification, oxidation of organic matter and co-denitrification, using data on 45R and 46R of the N2O flux and the 15N content of the NO3- and NH4+ in the soil. This newly developed method was used to analyse the N2O emissions from incubated soil, which was previously subjected to 6 years of elevated soil temperature of +0, +1, +2 or +3 ° C. N2O emissions were measured and analysed at four time points in the six days following, NO315NH4 Gly or 15NO3NH4 Gly, label addition. The oxidation of organic N was found to be the main source of N2O fluxes at all sampling dates, comprising between 63 and 85% of the total N2O flux. The percentage contribution made by organic N to N2O fluxes increased over the sampling period, rising from a minimum of 40% in the control treatment, to virtually 100% across all treatments by Day 6. Compared to the control treatment, denitrification contributed less to N2O from soil subjected to +2 and +3 ° C warming (p <0.0001 and p=0.002, respectively). Co-denitrification only contributed to the N2O flux during the first day after substrate addition. The highest amount of N2O produced via co-denitrification was found under the control treatment. From soil subjected to +2 and +3 ° C treatments, the contribution of co-denitrification was minor. However, these differences in co-denitrification were not significant. This research showed the importance of the oxidation of organic N in N2O emissions. It should therefore not be omitted as a potential source in source portioning. Emissions

  17. Post-harvest N2O emissions were not affected by various types of oilseed straw incorporated into soil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Köbke, Sarah; Senbayram, Mehmet; Hegewald, Hannes; Christen, Olaf; Dittert, Klaus

    2015-04-01

    Oilseed rape post-harvest N2O emissions are seen highly critical as so far they are considered as one of the most crucial drawbacks in climate-saving bioenergy production systems. N2O emissions may substantially counterbalance the intended savings in CO2 emissions. Carbon-rich crop residues in conjunction with residual soil nitrate are seen as a key driver since they may serve as energy source for denitrification and, they may alter soil-borne N2O emissions. As oilseed rape straw is known to have high N/C ratio compared to other crop residues, its soil incorporation may specifically trigger post-harvest N2O emissions. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine post-harvest N2O emissions in soils amended with various types of oilseed rape straw (with different N/C ratio) and barley straw in field and incubation experiments. In the incubation experiment, oilseed rape or 15N labelled barley straw were mixed with soil at a rate of 1.3 t DM ha-1 and studied for 43 days. Treatments consisted of non-treated control soil (CK), 15N labelled barley straw (BST), oilseed rape straw (RST), 15N labelled barley straw + N (BST+N), or oilseed rape straw + N (RST+N). N fertilizer was applied to the soil surface as ammonium-nitrate at a rate of 100 kg N ha-1 and soil moisture was adjusted to 80% water-holding capacity. In the field experiment, during the vegetation period 15N labelled fertilizer (15NH415NO3) was used to generate 15N labelled oilseed rape straw (up to 5 at%). Here, the three fertilizer treatments consisted of 5 kg N ha-1 (RST-5), 150 kg N ha-1 (RST-150) and 180 kg N ha-1 (RST-180). Post-harvest N2O emissions were determined during the period of August 2013 to February 2014 by using static flux chambers. In the incubation trial, cumulative N2O emissions were 5, 29, 40 g N2O-N ha-1 148 days-1 in non-fertilized control, BST and RST treatments, respectively. Here, emissions were slightly higher in RST than BST (p

  18. Short-term drought response of N 2O and CO 2 emissions from mesic agricultural soils in the US Midwest

    DOE PAGES

    Gelfand, Ilya; Cui, Mengdi; Tang, Jianwu; ...

    2015-07-17

    Climate change is causing the intensification of both rainfall and droughts in temperate climatic zones, which will affect soil drying and rewetting cycles and associated processes such as soil greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes. Here, we investigated the effect of soil rewetting following a prolonged natural drought on soil emissions of nitrous oxide (N 2O) and carbon dioxide (CO 2) in an agricultural field recently converted from 22 years in the USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). We compared responses to those in a similarly managed field with no CRP history and to a CRP reference field. We additionally compared soil GHGmore » emissions measured by static flux chambers with off-site laboratory analysis versus in situ analysis using a portable quantum cascade laser and infrared gas analyzer. Under growing season drought conditions, average soil N 2O fluxes ranged between 0.2 and 0.8 μg N m -2 min -1 and were higher in former CRP soils and unaffected by nitrogen (N) fertilization. After 18 days of drought, a 50 mm rewetting event increased N 2O fluxes by 34 and 24 fold respectively in the former CRP and non-CRP soils. Average soil CO 2 emissions during drought ranged from 1.1 to 3.1 mg C m -2 min -1 for the three systems. CO 2 emissions increased ~2 fold after the rewetting and were higher from soils with higher C contents. Observations are consistent with the hypothesis that during drought soil N 2O emissions are controlled by available C and following rewetting additionally influenced by N availability, whereas soil CO 2 emissions are independent of short-term N availability. Finally, soil GHG emissions estimated by off-site and in situ methods were statistically identical.« less

  19. A meta-analysis of fertilizer-induced soil NO and combined NO+N2 O emissions.

    PubMed

    Liu, Shuwei; Lin, Feng; Wu, Shuang; Ji, Cheng; Sun, Yi; Jin, Yaguo; Li, Shuqing; Li, Zhaofu; Zou, Jianwen

    2017-06-01

    Soils are among the important sources of atmospheric nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O), acting as a critical role in atmospheric chemistry. Updated data derived from 114 peer-reviewed publications with 520 field measurements were synthesized using meta-analysis procedure to examine the N fertilizer-induced soil NO and the combined NO+N 2 O emissions across global soils. Besides factors identified in earlier reviews, additional factors responsible for NO fluxes were fertilizer type, soil C/N ratio, crop residue incorporation, tillage, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, drought and biomass burning. When averaged across all measurements, soil NO-N fluxes were estimated to be 4.06 kg ha -1  yr -1 , with the greatest (9.75 kg ha -1  yr -1 ) in vegetable croplands and the lowest (0.11 kg ha -1  yr -1 ) in rice paddies. Soil NO emissions were more enhanced by synthetic N fertilizer (+38%), relative to organic (+20%) or mixed N (+18%) sources. Compared with synthetic N fertilizer alone, synthetic N fertilizer combined with nitrification inhibitors substantially reduced soil NO emissions by 81%. The global mean direct emission factors of N fertilizer for NO (EF NO ) and combined NO+N 2 O (EF c ) were estimated to be 1.16% and 2.58%, with 95% confidence intervals of 0.71-1.61% and 1.81-3.35%, respectively. Forests had the greatest EF NO (2.39%). Within the croplands, the EF NO (1.71%) and EF c (4.13%) were the greatest in vegetable cropping fields. Among different chemical N fertilizer varieties, ammonium nitrate had the greatest EF NO (2.93%) and EF c (5.97%). Some options such as organic instead of synthetic N fertilizer, decreasing N fertilizer input rate, nitrification inhibitor and low irrigation frequency could be adopted to mitigate soil NO emissions. More field measurements over multiyears are highly needed to minimize the estimate uncertainties and mitigate soil NO emissions, particularly in forests and vegetable croplands. © 2016 John Wiley

  20. Conversion from rice to vegetable production increases N2O emission via increased soil organic matter mineralization.

    PubMed

    Wu, Lei; Tang, Shuirong; He, Dongdong; Wu, Xian; Shaaban, Muhammad; Wang, Milan; Zhao, Jingsong; Khan, Imran; Zheng, Xunhua; Hu, Ronggui; Horwath, William R

    2017-04-01

    The conversion from rice to vegetable production widely occurs in China. However, the effects of this conversion on N 2 O emission and the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. In the present study, 12 rice paddies (R) were selected and half of them converted to vegetable fields (V) with the following treatments: rice paddies without N-fertilizer (R-CK), rice paddies with conventional N-fertilizer (R-CN), converted vegetable fields without N-fertilizer (V-CK), and converted vegetable fields with conventional N-fertilizer (V-CN) in a randomized block design with 3 replicates. N 2 O emissions were measured with static chambers from December 2012 to December 2015. Within each V-CN plot, a root exclusion subplot was established to measure soil heterotrophic respiration (CO 2 effluxes), a proxy for soil organic matter mineralization. Conversion of rice paddies to vegetable production dramatically increased N 2 O emissions. The three-year cumulative N 2 O emissions were 0.59, 1.90, 55.50 and 160.14kg N ha -1 for R-CK, R-CN, V-CK and V-CN, respectively. The annual N 2 O emissions from vegetable fields ranged between 5.99 and 113.45kg N ha -1 yr -1 , with substantially higher emissions in the first year. N 2 O fluxes from V-CN were significantly and positively related to CO 2 fluxes and inorganic N concentrations. The linear relationship between natural logarithms of N 2 O and CO 2 fluxes was stronger and the regression coefficient higher in the first year, showing the dependence of N 2 O on soil organic matter mineralization. These results suggest that soil organic matter and N mineralization contributes significantly to N 2 O emission following conversion of rice paddies to vegetable production. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Effect of dolomite and biochar addition on N2O and CO2 emissions from acidic tea field soil

    PubMed Central

    Win, Khin Thuzar; Shibata, Akira; Yamamoto, Akinori; Sano, Tomohito; Hirono, Yuhei

    2018-01-01

    A laboratory study was conducted to study the effects of liming and different biochar amendments on N2O and CO2 emissions from acidic tea field soil. The first experiment was done with three different rates of N treatment; N 300 (300 kg N ha-1), N 600 (600 kg N ha-1) and N 900 (900 kg N ha-1) and four different rates of bamboo biochar amendment; 0%, 0.5%, 1% and 2% biochar. The second experiment was done with three different biochars at a rate of 2% (rice husk, sawdust, and bamboo) and a control and lime treatment (dolomite) and control at two moisture levels (50% and 90% water filled pore space (WFPS)). The results showed that dolomite and biochar amendment significantly increased soil pH. However, only biochar amendment showed a significant increase in total carbon (C), C/N (the ratio of total carbon and total nitrogen), and C/IN ratio (the ratio of total carbon and inorganic nitrogen) at the end of incubation. Reduction in soil NO3--N concentration was observed under different biochar amendments. Bamboo biochar with the rates of 0.5, 1 and 2% reduced cumulative N2O emission by 38%, 48% and 61%, respectively, compare to the control soil in experiment 1. Dolomite and biochar, either alone or combined significantly reduced cumulative N2O emission by 4.6% to 32.7% in experiment 2. Reduction in N2O production under biochar amendment was due to increases in soil pH and decreases in the magnitude of mineral-N in soil. Although, both dolomite and biochar increased cumulative CO2 emission, only biochar amendment had a significant effect. The present study suggests that application of dolomite and biochar to acidic tea field soil can mitigate N2O emissions. PMID:29394272

  2. Effect of dolomite and biochar addition on N2O and CO2 emissions from acidic tea field soil.

    PubMed

    Oo, Aung Zaw; Sudo, Shigeto; Akiyama, Hiroko; Win, Khin Thuzar; Shibata, Akira; Yamamoto, Akinori; Sano, Tomohito; Hirono, Yuhei

    2018-01-01

    A laboratory study was conducted to study the effects of liming and different biochar amendments on N2O and CO2 emissions from acidic tea field soil. The first experiment was done with three different rates of N treatment; N 300 (300 kg N ha-1), N 600 (600 kg N ha-1) and N 900 (900 kg N ha-1) and four different rates of bamboo biochar amendment; 0%, 0.5%, 1% and 2% biochar. The second experiment was done with three different biochars at a rate of 2% (rice husk, sawdust, and bamboo) and a control and lime treatment (dolomite) and control at two moisture levels (50% and 90% water filled pore space (WFPS)). The results showed that dolomite and biochar amendment significantly increased soil pH. However, only biochar amendment showed a significant increase in total carbon (C), C/N (the ratio of total carbon and total nitrogen), and C/IN ratio (the ratio of total carbon and inorganic nitrogen) at the end of incubation. Reduction in soil NO3--N concentration was observed under different biochar amendments. Bamboo biochar with the rates of 0.5, 1 and 2% reduced cumulative N2O emission by 38%, 48% and 61%, respectively, compare to the control soil in experiment 1. Dolomite and biochar, either alone or combined significantly reduced cumulative N2O emission by 4.6% to 32.7% in experiment 2. Reduction in N2O production under biochar amendment was due to increases in soil pH and decreases in the magnitude of mineral-N in soil. Although, both dolomite and biochar increased cumulative CO2 emission, only biochar amendment had a significant effect. The present study suggests that application of dolomite and biochar to acidic tea field soil can mitigate N2O emissions.

  3. Biochar and denitrification in soils: when, how much and why does biochar reduce N2O emissions?

    PubMed Central

    Cayuela, Maria Luz; Sánchez-Monedero, Miguel Angel; Roig, Asunción; Hanley, Kelly; Enders, Akio; Lehmann, Johannes

    2013-01-01

    Agricultural soils represent the main source of anthropogenic N2O emissions. Recently, interactions of black carbon with the nitrogen cycle have been recognized and the use of biochar is being investigated as a means to reduce N2O emissions. However, the mechanisms of reduction remain unclear. Here we demonstrate the significant impact of biochar on denitrification, with a consistent decrease in N2O emissions by 10–90% in 14 different agricultural soils. Using the 15N gas-flux method we observed a consistent reduction of the N2O/(N2 + N2O) ratio, which demonstrates that biochar facilitates the last step of denitrification. Biochar acid buffer capacity was identified as an important aspect for mitigation that was not primarily caused by a pH shift in soil. We propose the function of biochar as an “electron shuttle” that facilitates the transfer of electrons to soil denitrifying microorganisms, which together with its liming effect would promote the reduction of N2O to N2. PMID:23615819

  4. Reduction in soil N2O emissions by pH manipulation and enhanced nosZ gene transcription under different water regimes.

    PubMed

    Shaaban, Muhammad; Wu, Yupeng; Khalid, Muhammad Salman; Peng, Qi-An; Xu, Xiangyu; Wu, Lei; Younas, Aneela; Bashir, Saqib; Mo, Yongliang; Lin, Shan; Zafar-Ul-Hye, Muhammad; Abid, Muhammad; Hu, Ronggui

    2018-04-01

    Several studies have been carried out to examine nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions from agricultural soils in the past. However, the emissions of N 2 O particularly during amelioration of acidic soils have been rarely studied. We carried out the present study using a rice-rapeseed rotation soil (pH 5.44) that was amended with dolomite (0, 1 and 2 g kg -1 soil) under 60% water filled pore space (WFPS) and flooding. N 2 O emissions and several soil properties (pH, NH 4 + N, NO 3 - -N, and nosZ gene transcripts) were measured throughout the study. The increase in soil pH with dolomite application triggered soil N transformation and transcripts of nosZ gene controlling N 2 O emissions under both water regimes (60% WFPS and flooding). The 60% WFPS produced higher soil N 2 O emissions than that of flooding, and dolomite largely reduced N 2 O emissions at higher pH under both water regimes through enhanced transcription of nosZ gene. The results suggest that ameliorating soil acidity with dolomite can substantially mitigate N 2 O emissions through promoting nosZ gene transcription. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. [Effects of organic and inorganic fertilizers on emission and sources of N2O in vegetable soils.

    PubMed

    Lin, Wei; Ding, Jun Jun; Li, Yu Zhong; Xu, Chun Ying; Li, Qiao Zhen; Zheng, Qian; Zhuang, Shan

    2018-05-01

    To clarify the microbial pathway of the N 2 O production and consumption under different fertilizers and provide theoretical basis for the reduction of N 2 O emission and rational management of fertilization in vegetable soils, we examined dynamics of N 2 O flux and isotope signatures under different fertilizer treatments in the vegetable soils of Beijing, by setting up four treatments (organic-acetylene, organic-nonacetylene, inorganic-acetylene, inorganic-nonacetylene) and using the stable isotope technique of natural N 2 O abundance. The results showed that the cumulative N 2 O emission from organic-acetylene group, organic-nonacetylene group, inorganic-acetylene group and inorganic-nonacetylene group was (374±37), (283±34), (458±36), (355±41) g·m -2 in cabbage growing season, respectively. N 2 O fluxes were significantly lower in treatments with organic fertilizer than those with inorganic fertilizer and significantly higher in acetylene group than nonacetylene group. The degree of N 2 O reduction were similar in both fertilizer treatments, and higher nitrification was found in inorganic fertilizer than organic fertilizer treatments. Acetylene only inhibited partial nitrification and partial N 2 O reduction at the peak of N 2 O emission. When the emission was reduced, N 2 O reduction could be completely suppressed. Therefore, the inorganic fertilizer might trigger nitrification and promote higher N 2 O emission. The high concentration of N 2 O could withstand that acetylene to inhibite N 2 O reduction. Hence, using organic fertilizers instead of some inorganic ones could effectively reduce N 2 O emission in vegetable soils of Beijing. The N 2 O concentration threshold should be considered when we identify N 2 O source by acetylene inhibition method.

  6. Influence of Lumbricus terrestris and Folsomia candida on N2 O formation pathways in two different soils - with particular focus on N2 emissions.

    PubMed

    Schorpp, Quentin; Riggers, Catharina; Lewicka-Szczebak, Dominika; Giesemann, Anette; Well, Reinhard; Schrader, Stefan

    2016-11-15

    The gaseous N losses mediated by soil denitrifiers are generally inferred by measuring N 2 O fluxes, but should include associated N 2 emissions, which may be affected by abiotic soil characteristics and biotic interactions. Soil fauna, particularly anecic earthworms and euedaphic collembola, alter the activity of denitrifiers, creating hotspots for denitrification. These soil fauna are abundant in perennial agroecosystems intended to contribute to more sustainable production of bioenergy. Two microcosm experiments were designed to evaluate gaseous N emissions from a silty loam and a sandy soil, both provided with litter from the bioenergy crop Silphium perfoliatum (cup-plant) and inoculated with an anecic earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris), which was added alone or together with an euedaphic collembola (Folsomia candida). In experiment 1, litter-derived N flux was determined by adding 15 N-labelled litter, followed by mass spectrometric analysis of N 2 and N 2 O isotopologues. In experiment 2, the δ 18 O values and 15 N site preference of N 2 O were determined by isotope ratio mass spectrometry to reveal underlying N 2 O formation pathways. Lumbricus terrestris significantly increased litter-derived N 2 emissions in the loamy soil, from 174.5 to 1019.3 μg N 2 -N kg -1 soil, but not in the sandy soil (non-significant change from 944.7 to 1054.7 μg N 2 -N kg -1 soil). Earthworm feeding on plant litter resulted in elevated N 2 O emissions in both soils, derived mainly from turnover of the soil mineral N pool during denitrification. Folsomia candida did not affect N losses but showed a tendency to redirect N 2 O formation pathways from fungal to bacterial denitrification. The N 2 O/(N 2  + N 2 O) product ratio was predominantly affected by abiotic soil characteristics (loamy soil: 0.14, sandy soil: 0.26). When feeding on S. perfoliatum litter, the anecic L. terrestris, but not the euedaphic F. candida, has the potential to cause substantial N losses. Biotic

  7. Gaseous Nitrogen Losses from Tropical Savanna Soils of Northern Australia: Dynamics, Controls and Magnitude of N2O, NO, and N2 emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Werner, C.; Hickler, T.; Hutley, L. B.; Butterbach-Bahl, K.

    2014-12-01

    Tropical savanna covers a large fraction of the global land area and thus may have a substantial effect on the global soil-atmosphere exchange of nitrogen. The pronounced seasonality of hygric conditions in this ecosystem affects strongly microbial process rates in the soil. As these microbial processes control the uptake, production, and release of nitrogen compounds, it is thought that this seasonality finally leads to strong temporal dynamics and varying magnitudes of gaseous losses to the atmosphere. However, given their areal extent and in contrast to other ecosystems, still few in-situ or laboratory studies exist that assess the soil-atmosphere exchange of nitrogen. We present laboratory incubation results from intact soil cores obtained from a natural savanna site in Northern Australia, where N2O, NO, and N2 emissions under controlled environmental conditions were investigated. Furthermore, in-situ measurements of high temporal resolution at this site recorded with automated static and dynamic chamber systems are discussed (N2O, NO). This data is then used to assess the performance of a process-based biogeochemical model (LandscapeDNDC), and the potential magnitude and dynamics of components of the site-scale nitrogen cycle where no measurements exist (biological nitrogen fixation and nitrate leaching). Our incubation results show that severe nutrient limitation of the soil only allows for very low N2O emissions (0.12 kg N ha-1 yr-1) and even a periodic N2O uptake. Annual NO emissions were estimated at 0.68 kg N ha-1 yr-1, while the release of inert nitrogen (N2) was estimated at 6.75 kg N ha-1 yr-1 (data excl. contribution by pulse emissions). We observed only minor N2O pulse emissions after watering the soil cores and initial rain events of the dry to wet season transition in-situ, but short-lived NO pulse emissions were substantial. Interestingly, some cores exhibited a very different N2O emission potential, indicating a substantial spatial variability of

  8. Crafting biochars to reduce N2O and CO2 emissions while also improving soil quality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Novak, Jeff; Ippolito, Jim; Spokas, Kurt; Sigua, Gilbert; Kammann, Claudia; Wrage-Monnig, Nicole; Borchard, Nils; Schirrmann, Michael; Estavillo, Jose Maria; Fuertes-Mendizabal, Teresa; Menendez, Sergio; Cayuela, Maria Luz

    2017-04-01

    Biochar used as an amendment has been linked to nitrous oxide (N2O) emission reductions, a decrease in nitrogen (N) leaching, and soil quality improvements (e.g., soil carbon sequestration, pH, etc.). While numerous articles will support these three facts, conversely, there are reports of no to marginal influences. One reason for the mixed biochar performance could be related to applying biochar with incorrect chemical and physical characteristics. As a means to increase biochar efficiency, we introduced the concept of crafting biochars with properties attuned to specific soil deficiencies. Implementing this concept requires a literature review to identify salient biochar characteristics that reduces N2O emissions, impacts N availability, while also improving soil quality. Thus, scientists from the USDA-ARS and through a coalition of European scientists under the FACCE-JPI umbrella have conceived the DesignChar4food (d4f) project. In this project, scientists are working collaboratively to further this concept to match the appropriate biochar for selective soil quality improvement, retain N for crops, and promote greenhouse gas reductions. This presentation will highlight results from the d4f team compromising a meta-analysis of articles on biochar:N2O dynamics, N availability, and how designer biochars can target specific soil quality improvements.

  9. Modeling global annual N2O and NO emissions from fertilized fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bouwman, A. F.; Boumans, L. J. M.; Batjes, N. H.

    2002-12-01

    Information from 846 N2O emission measurements in agricultural fields and 99 measurements for NO emissions was used to describe the influence of various factors regulating emissions from mineral soils in models for calculating global N2O and NO emissions. Only those factors having a significant influence on N2O and NO emissions were included in the models. For N2O these were (1) environmental factors (climate, soil organic C content, soil texture, drainage and soil pH); (2) management-related factors (N application rate per fertilizer type, type of crop, with major differences between grass, legumes and other annual crops); and (3) factors related to the measurements (length of measurement period and frequency of measurements). The most important controls on NO emission include the N application rate per fertilizer type, soil organic-C content and soil drainage. Calculated global annual N2O-N and NO-N emissions from fertilized agricultural fields amount to 2.8 and 1.6 Mtonne, respectively. The global mean fertilizer-induced emissions for N2O and NO amount to 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively, of the N applied. These overall results account for the spatial variability of the main N2O and NO emission controls on the landscape scale.

  10. Stimulation of N2 O emission by manure application to agricultural soils may largely offset carbon benefits: a global meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Minghua; Zhu, Bo; Wang, Shijie; Zhu, Xinyu; Vereecken, Harry; Brüggemann, Nicolas

    2017-10-01

    Animal manure application as organic fertilizer does not only sustain agricultural productivity and increase soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, but also affects soil nitrogen cycling and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions. However, given that the sign and magnitude of manure effects on soil N 2 O emissions is uncertain, the net climatic impact of manure application in arable land is unknown. Here, we performed a global meta-analysis using field experimental data published in peer-reviewed journals prior to December 2015. In this meta-analysis, we quantified the responses of N 2 O emissions to manure application relative to synthetic N fertilizer application from individual studies and analyzed manure characteristics, experimental duration, climate, and soil properties as explanatory factors. Manure application significantly increased N 2 O emissions by an average 32.7% (95% confidence interval: 5.1-58.2%) compared to application of synthetic N fertilizer alone. The significant stimulation of N 2 O emissions occurred following cattle and poultry manure applications, subsurface manure application, and raw manure application. Furthermore, the significant stimulatory effects on N 2 O emissions were also observed for warm temperate climate, acid soils (pH < 6.5), and soil texture classes of sandy loam and clay loam. Average direct N 2 O emission factors (EFs) of 1.87% and 0.24% were estimated for upland soils and rice paddy soils receiving manure application, respectively. Although manure application increased SOC stocks, our study suggested that the benefit of increasing SOC stocks as GHG sinks could be largely offset by stimulation of soil N 2 O emissions and aggravated by CH 4 emissions if, particularly for rice paddy soils, the stimulation of CH 4 emissions by manure application was taken into account. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Straw enhanced CO2 and CH4 but decreased N2O emissions from flooded paddy soils: Changes in microbial community compositions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Ning; Yu, Jian-Guang; Zhao, Ya-Hui; Chang, Zhi-Zhou; Shi, Xiao-Xia; Ma, Lena Q.; Li, Hong-Bo

    2018-02-01

    To explore microbial mechanisms of straw-induced changes in CO2, CH4, and N2O emissions from paddy field, wheat straw was amended to two paddy soils from Taizhou (TZ) and Yixing (YX), China for 60 d under flooded condition. Illumia sequencing was used to characterize shift in bacterial community compositions. Compared to control, 1-5% straw amendment significantly elevated CO2 and CH4 emissions with higher increase at higher application rates, mainly due to increased soil DOC concentrations. In contrast, straw amendment decreased N2O emission. Considering CO2, CH4, and N2O emissions as a whole, an overall increase in global warming potential was observed with straw amendment. Total CO2 and CH4 emissions from straw-amended soils were significantly higher for YX than TZ soil, suggesting that straw-induced greenhouse gas emissions depended on soil characteristics. The abundance of C-turnover bacteria Firmicutes increased from 28-41% to 54-77% with straw amendment, thereby increasing CO2 and CH4 emissions. However, straw amendment reduced the abundance of denitrifying bacteria Proteobacteria from 18% to 7.2-13% or increased the abundance of N2O reducing bacteria Clostridium from 7.6-11% to 13-30%, thereby decreasing N2O emission. The results suggested straw amendment strongly influenced greenhouse gas emissions via alerting soil properties and bacterial community compositions. Future field application is needed to ascertain the effects of straw return on greenhouse gas emissions.

  12. Effect of fertilization on N2O emissions from a marginal soil used for perennial grass bioenergy production

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stoof, Cathelijne; Karim, Imtiaz; Mason, Cedric; Tadipatri, Dhanya; Cary, Ian; Crawford, Ryan; Hansen, Julie; Crawford, Jamie; Mayton, Hilary; Steenhuis, Tammo; Richards, Brian

    2014-05-01

    Marginal lands constitute the primary land base available for development of bioenergy feedstocks in New York and the northeastern USA. Many of these soils are marginal because seasonal wetness prevents profitable row crop cultivation, but they are potentially suitable for perennial bioenergy feedstocks like switchgrass. Using these frequently wet soils for bioenergy production has multiple environmental and socio-economic benefits, yet little is known about how sustainable this practice is regarding greenhouse gas emissions - particularly in relation to the application of fertilizers. In a 2.2-ha field study near Ithaca, NY, USA, we are therefore monitoring greenhouse gas production from marginal silty clay loam soils cultivated with switchgrass. Here, we present results of our 2013 monitoring campaign, in which we assessed the effect of surface-applied granular ammonium sulfate-fertilizer (0, 56 and 112 kg N/ha) on N2O emissions along a natural catena from organic matter-rich wet lowland soil to drier midslope and upslope soils with higher rock fragment content. Sampling was done at 1 /2-week intervals around fertilization in June extending to 3-week intervals around harvest in September, giving a total of 15 sampling events. Emissions were sampled in a factorial design using four replicate static chambers per plot, and soil moisture, soil temperature and perched water table depth was assessed likewise. As expected, N2O emissions increased with N-fertilizer application. This effect of fertilization was much stronger than the effect of soil type or slope position. The greatest N2O fluxes were observed a few days after fertilization; we will explore and present the effects of rainfall, air temperature, soil moisture and soil temperature as potential drivers of smaller peaks occurring post-fertilization. Since the non-fertilized plots had negligible N2O emissions while still producing switchgrass at 6 Mg/ha, unfertilized switchgrass production is naturally most

  13. CO(2) and N(2)O emissions in a soil chronosequence at a glacier retreat zone in Maritime Antarctica.

    PubMed

    Thomazini, A; Mendonça, E S; Teixeira, D B; Almeida, I C C; La Scala, N; Canellas, L P; Spokas, K A; Milori, D M B P; Turbay, C V G; Fernandes, R B A; Schaefer, C E G R

    2015-07-15

    Studies of C cycle alterations are extremely important to identify changes due to climate change, especially in the polar ecosystem. The objectives of this study were to (i) examine patterns of soil CO2-C and N2O-N emissions, and (ii) evaluate the quantity and quality of soil organic matter across a glacier retreat chronosequence in the Maritime Antarctica. Field measurements were carried out during January and February 2010 (summer season) along a retreating zone of the White Eagle Glacier, at King George Island, Maritime Antarctica. Soil samples (0-10cm) were collected along a 500-m transect at regular intervals to determine changes in soil organic matter. Field CO2-C emission measurements and soil temperature were carried out at regular intervals. In addition, greenhouse gas production potentials were assessed through 100days laboratory incubations. Soils exposed for a longer time tended to have greater concentrations of soluble salts and possess sandier textures. Total organic C (3.59gkg(-1)), total N (2.31gkg(-1)) and labile C (1.83gkg(-1)) tended to be lower near the glacier front compared with sites away from it, which is correlated with decreasing degree of humification of the soil organic matter with exposure time. Soil CO2-C emissions tended to increase with distance from the glacier front. On average, the presence of vegetation increased CO2-C emissions by 440%, or the equivalent of 0.633g of CO2-C m(-2)h(-1). Results suggest that newly exposed landsurfaces undergo soil formation with increasing labile C input from vegetation, accompanied by increasing soil CO2-C emissions. Despite the importance of exposure time on CO2-C production and emissions, there was no similar trend in soil N2O-N production potentials as a function of glacial retreat. For N2O, instead, the maximum production occurred in sites with the first stages of vegetation growth. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Emissions of nitrous acid (HONO), nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from boreal agricultural soil - Effect of N fertilization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bhattarai, Hem Raj; Virkajärvi, Perttu; -Yli Pirilä, Pasi; Maljanen, Marja

    2017-04-01

    There is no doubt that nitrogen (N) fertilization has crucial role in increasing food production. However, in parallel it can cause severe impact in environment such as eutrophication, surface/groundwater pollution via nitrate (NO3-) leaching and emissions of N trace gases. Fertilization increases the emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) which is 260 stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (CO2). It also enhances the emissions of nitric oxide (NO); an oxidized and very reactive form of nitrogen which can fluctuate the ozone (O3) concentration in atmosphere and cause acidification. The effects of N- fertilization on the emission of N2O and NO from agricultural soil are well known. However, the effects of N fertilization on nitrous acid (HONO) emissions are unknown. Few studies have shown that HONO is emitted from soil but they lack to interlink fertilization and HONO emission. HONO accounts for 17-34 % of hydroxyl (OH-) radical production? in the atmosphere, OH- radicals have vital role in atmospheric chemistry; they can cause photochemical smog, form O3, oxidize volatile organic compounds and also atmospheric methane (CH4). We formulated hypothesis that N fertilization will increase the HONO emissions as it does for N2O and NO. To study this, we took soil samples from agricultural soil receiving different amount of N-fertilizer (0, 250 and 450 kg ha-1) in eastern Finland. HONO emissions were measured by dynamic chamber technique connected with LOPAP (Quma Elektronik & Analytik GmbH), NO by NOx analyzer (Thermo scientific) and static chamber technique and gas chromatograph was used for N2O gas sampling and analysis. Several soil parameters were also measured to establish the relationship between the soil properties, fertilization rate and HONO emission. This study is important because eventually it will open up more questions regarding the forms of N loss from soils and impact of fertilization on atmospheric chemistry.

  15. Ecological controls on N2O emission in surface litter and near-surface soil of a managed grassland: modelling and measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grant, Robert F.; Neftel, Albrecht; Calanca, Pierluigi

    2016-06-01

    Large variability in N2O emissions from managed grasslands may occur because most emissions originate in surface litter or near-surface soil where variability in soil water content (θ) and temperature (Ts) is greatest. To determine whether temporal variability in θ and Ts of surface litter and near-surface soil could explain this in N2O emissions, a simulation experiment was conducted with ecosys, a comprehensive mathematical model of terrestrial ecosystems in which processes governing N2O emissions were represented at high temporal and spatial resolution. Model performance was verified by comparing N2O emissions, CO2 and energy exchange, and θ and Ts modelled by ecosys with those measured by automated chambers, eddy covariance (EC) and soil sensors on an hourly timescale during several emission events from 2004 to 2009 in an intensively managed pasture at Oensingen, Switzerland. Both modelled and measured events were induced by precipitation following harvesting and subsequent fertilizing or manuring. These events were brief (2-5 days) with maximum N2O effluxes that varied from < 1 mgNm-2h-1 in early spring and autumn to > 3 mgNm-2h-1 in summer. Only very small emissions were modelled or measured outside these events. In the model, emissions were generated almost entirely in surface litter or near-surface (0-2 cm) soil, at rates driven by N availability with fertilization vs. N uptake with grassland regrowth and by O2 supply controlled by litter and soil wetting relative to O2 demand from microbial respiration. In the model, NOx availability relative to O2 limitation governed both the reduction of more oxidized electron acceptors to N2O and the reduction of N2O to N2, so that the magnitude of N2O

  16. A novel 15N tracer approach for the quantification of N2 and N2O emissions from soil incubations in a completely automated laboratory set up

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Scheer, Clemens; Dannenmann, Michael; Meier, Rudolf

    2015-04-01

    The microbial mediated production of nitrous oxide (N2O) and its reduction to dinitrogen (N2) via denitrification represents a loss of nitrogen (N) from fertilised agro-ecosystems to the atmosphere. Although denitrification has received great interest by biogeochemists in the last decades, the magnitude of N2lossesand related N2:N2O ratios from soils still are largely unknown due to methodical constraints. We present a novel 15N tracer approach, based on a previous developed tracer method to study denitrification in pure bacterial cultures which was modified for the use on soil incubations in a completely automated laboratory set up. The method uses a background air in the incubation vessels that is replaced with a helium-oxygen gas mixture with a 50-fold reduced N2 background (2 % v/v). This method allows for a direct and sensitive quantification of the N2 and N2O emissions from the soil with isotope-ratio mass spectrometry after 15N labelling of denitrification N substrates and minimises the sensitivity to the intrusion of atmospheric N2 at the same time. The incubation set up was used to determine the influence of different soil moisture levels on N2 and N2O emissions from a sub-tropical pasture soil in Queensland/Australia. The soil was labelled with an equivalent of 50 μg-N per gram dry soil by broadcast application of KNO3solution (4 at.% 15N) and incubated for 3 days at 80% and 100% water filled pore space (WFPS), respectively. The headspace of the incubation vessel was sampled automatically over 12hrs each day and 3 samples (0, 6, and 12 hrs after incubation start) of headspace gas analysed for N2 and N2O with an isotope-ratio mass spectrometer (DELTA V Plus, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bremen, Germany(. In addition, the soil was analysed for 15N NO3- and NH4+ using the 15N diffusion method, which enabled us to obtain a complete N balance. The method proved to be highly sensitive for N2 and N2O emissions detecting N2O emissions ranging from 20 to 627 μN kg

  17. Simulated nitrogen deposition reduces CH4 uptake and increases N2O emission from a subtropical plantation forest soil in southern China.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yongsheng; Cheng, Shulan; Fang, Huajun; Yu, Guirui; Xu, Minjie; Dang, Xusheng; Li, Linsen; Wang, Lei

    2014-01-01

    To date, few studies are conducted to quantify the effects of reduced ammonium (NH4+) and oxidized nitrate (NO3-) on soil CH4 uptake and N2O emission in the subtropical forests. In this study, NH4Cl and NaNO3 fertilizers were applied at three rates: 0, 40 and 120 kg N ha(-1) yr(-1). Soil CH4 and N2O fluxes were determined twice a week using the static chamber technique and gas chromatography. Soil temperature and moisture were simultaneously measured. Soil dissolved N concentration in 0-20 cm depth was measured weekly to examine the regulation to soil CH4 and N2O fluxes. Our results showed that one year of N addition did not affect soil temperature, soil moisture, soil total dissolved N (TDN) and NH4+-N concentrations, but high levels of applied NH4Cl and NaNO3 fertilizers significantly increased soil NO3(-)-N concentration by 124% and 157%, respectively. Nitrogen addition tended to inhibit soil CH4 uptake, but significantly promoted soil N2O emission by 403% to 762%. Furthermore, NH4+-N fertilizer application had a stronger inhibition to soil CH4 uptake and a stronger promotion to soil N2O emission than NO3(-)-N application. Also, both soil CH4 and N2O fluxes were driven by soil temperature and moisture, but soil inorganic N availability was a key integrator of soil CH4 uptake and N2O emission. These results suggest that the subtropical plantation soil sensitively responses to atmospheric N deposition, and inorganic N rather than organic N is the regulator to soil CH4 uptake and N2O emission.

  18. Estimating Uncertainty in N2O Emissions from US Cropland Soils

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    A Monte Carlo analysis was combined with an empirically-based approach to quantify uncertainties in soil N2O emissions from US croplands estimated with the DAYCENT simulation model. Only a subset of croplands was simulated in the Monte Carlo analysis which was used to infer uncertainties across the ...

  19. Bioenergy residues applied as soil amendments: N2O emissions and C sequestration potential

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cayuela, M.; Kuikman, P.; Oenema, O.; Bakker, R.; van Groenigen, J.

    2009-12-01

    most stable residues with the lowest CO2 loss between 0.5 and 5.8 % of total added C. Regarding N2O emissions, first generation biofuel residues led to the highest total N2O emissions (between 2.5 - 6.0% of added N). Second generation biofuel residues emitted between 1.0-2.0% of added N, whereas anaerobic digestates led to emissions lower than 1% of added N. The two biochars used in this study led to negative N2O emissions, i.e. lower than the blank soil. We conclude that, at least in the short term, the effects of biofuel residues on the combined greenhouse gas balance of the soil ranges from beneficial (biochar) via mixed (digestates, second generation biofuels) to manifestly detrimental (first generation biofuels). These effects should be taken into account in life cycle analyses of biofuel production.

  20. DMPP-added nitrogen fertilizer affects soil N2O emission and microbial activity in Southern Italy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vitale, Luca; De Marco, Anna; Maglione, Giuseppe; Polimeno, Franca; Di Tommasi, Paul; Magliulo, Vincenzo

    2014-05-01

    Arable sites contributes to global N2O emission due to massive utilization of nitrogen fertilizers. N2O derives from the biological processes such as nitrification and denitrification influenced by soil nitrogen availability. The use of nitrogen fertilizers added with nitrification inhibitors represents one among the proposed strategy to reduce soil N2O emission form arable sites. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of 3,4-dimethylphyrazole phosphate (DMPP), a nitrification inhibitor, on N2O emission and microbial activity of a soil cropped to potato in Southern Italy. The experiment was a randomized block design with two treatments applied and three replicates: control (C) and DMPP (Entec®, K+S Nitrogen) plots, both supplied with the same amount of ammonium nitrate. The nitrogen fertilizer was supplied in three events: at 0 Day After Sowing (DAS; 100 kg N ha-1), at 57 DAS (30 kg N ha-1), and at 71 DAS (30 kg N ha-1). Soil N2O emission was monitored by both dynamic and static chambers. Static chambers were located both on hills and furrows whereas dynamic chambers were located on furrows. Air samples were collected from chambers at different times and analysed by a gas chromatograph (SRI 8610C, Gas Chromatograph). Fluxes were estimated as a linear interpolation of N2O changes over a 30 min time. Microbial biomass and basal respiration were determined as CO2 evolution, analysed by means of an IRGA (Li6200, Licor), on 2 g of fresh soil over a 4h incubation time. Microbial biomass was determined by Substrate Induced Respiration method. Data show no statistical differences in N2O fluxes measured with either dynamic chambers between C and DMPP plots in studied period. However, after the first fertilization event, when the fertilizer was applied as 100 kg N ha-1, the average N2O fluxes measured with static chambers were higher in DMPP plots compared to C plots. In the same period, the microbial biomass significantly decreased in DMPP plots as compared to C

  1. N(2)O emissions and source processes in snow-covered soils in the Swiss Alps.

    PubMed

    Mohn, Joachim; Steinlin, Christine; Merbold, Lutz; Emmenegger, Lukas; Hagedorn, Frank

    2013-01-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from snow-covered soils represent a significant fraction of the annual flux from alpine, subalpine or cold-temperate regions. In winter 2010-2011, we investigated the temporal variability of N2O emissions and source processes from a subalpine valley in the Swiss Alps. The study included regular measurements of N2O snow profiles at a fixed location and an intensive sampling campaign along a transversal cut through the valley with grassland at the bottom and coniferous forest at the slopes. During the intensive campaign, recently developed laser spectroscopy was employed for high-precision N2O isotopomer analysis. Maximum N2O fluxes (0.77±0.64 nmol m(-2) h(-1)) were found for periods with elevated air temperature and, in contrast to our expectations, were higher from forest than from grassland in mid-February. At maximum snow height (63 cm) the main N2O source processes were heterotrophic denitrification and nitrifier denitrification. The reduction of N2O by heterotrophic denitrifiers was much more pronounced for the grassland compared with the forest soil, as indicated by the (15)N site preferences of 16.4±11.5 ‰ (grassland) and-1.6±2.1 ‰ (forest). This illustrates the potential of laser spectroscopic N2O isotopomer analysis for the identification of source processes even at low emission rates in nutrient poor ecosystems.

  2. Mitigation of soil N2O emission by inoculation with a mixed culture of indigenous Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Akiyama, Hiroko; Hoshino, Yuko Takada; Itakura, Manabu; Shimomura, Yumi; Wang, Yong; Yamamoto, Akinori; Tago, Kanako; Nakajima, Yasuhiro; Minamisawa, Kiwamu; Hayatsu, Masahito

    2016-09-01

    Agricultural soil is the largest source of nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas. Soybean is an important leguminous crop worldwide. Soybean hosts symbiotic nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria (rhizobia) in root nodules. In soybean ecosystems, N2O emissions often increase during decomposition of the root nodules. Our previous study showed that N2O reductase can be used to mitigate N2O emission from soybean fields during nodule decomposition by inoculation with nosZ++ strains [mutants with increased N2O reductase (N2OR) activity] of Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens. Here, we show that N2O emission can be reduced at the field scale by inoculation with a mixed culture of indigenous nosZ+ strains of B. diazoefficiens USDA110 group isolated from Japanese agricultural fields. Our results also suggested that nodule nitrogen is the main source of N2O production during nodule decomposition. Isolating nosZ+ strains from local soybean fields would be more applicable and feasible for many soybean-producing countries than generating mutants.

  3. Mitigation of soil N2O emission by inoculation with a mixed culture of indigenous Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens

    PubMed Central

    Akiyama, Hiroko; Hoshino, Yuko Takada; Itakura, Manabu; Shimomura, Yumi; Wang, Yong; Yamamoto, Akinori; Tago, Kanako; Nakajima, Yasuhiro; Minamisawa, Kiwamu; Hayatsu, Masahito

    2016-01-01

    Agricultural soil is the largest source of nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas. Soybean is an important leguminous crop worldwide. Soybean hosts symbiotic nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria (rhizobia) in root nodules. In soybean ecosystems, N2O emissions often increase during decomposition of the root nodules. Our previous study showed that N2O reductase can be used to mitigate N2O emission from soybean fields during nodule decomposition by inoculation with nosZ++ strains [mutants with increased N2O reductase (N2OR) activity] of Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens. Here, we show that N2O emission can be reduced at the field scale by inoculation with a mixed culture of indigenous nosZ+ strains of B. diazoefficiens USDA110 group isolated from Japanese agricultural fields. Our results also suggested that nodule nitrogen is the main source of N2O production during nodule decomposition. Isolating nosZ+ strains from local soybean fields would be more applicable and feasible for many soybean-producing countries than generating mutants. PMID:27633524

  4. Lowering N2O emissions from soils using eucalypt biochar: the importance of redox reactions

    PubMed Central

    Quin, P; Joseph, S; Husson, O; Donne, S; Mitchell, D; Munroe, P; Phelan, D; Cowie, A; Van Zwieten, L

    2015-01-01

    Agricultural soils are the primary anthropogenic source of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O), contributing to global warming and depletion of stratospheric ozone. Biochar addition has shown potential to lower soil N2O emission, with the mechanisms remaining unclear. We incubated eucalypt biochar (550 °C) – 0, 1 and 5% (w/w) in Ferralsol at 3 water regimes (12, 39 and 54% WFPS) – in a soil column, following gamma irradiation. After N2O was injected at the base of the soil column, in the 0% biochar control 100% of expected injected N2O was released into headspace, declining to 67% in the 5% amendment. In a 100% biochar column at 6% WFPS, only 16% of the expected N2O was observed. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy identified changes in surface functional groups suggesting interactions between N2O and the biochar surfaces. We have shown increases in -O-C = N /pyridine pyrrole/NH3, suggesting reactions between N2O and the carbon (C) matrix upon exposure to N2O. With increasing rates of biochar application, higher pH adjusted redox potentials were observed at the lower water contents. Evidence suggests that biochar has taken part in redox reactions reducing N2O to dinitrogen (N2), in addition to adsorption of N2O. PMID:26615820

  5. Ecological Controls on N2O Emission in Surface Litter and Near-surface Soil of a Managed Grassland: Modelling and Measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grant, Robert; Neftel, Albrecht; Calanca, Pierluigi

    2016-04-01

    Large variability in N2O emissions from managed grasslands may occur because most emissions originate in surface litter or near-surface soil where variability in soil water content (q) and temperature (Ts) is greatest. To determine whether temporal variability in q and Ts of surface litter and near-surface soil could explain that in N2O emissions, a simulation experiment was conducted with ecosys, a comprehensive mathematical model of terrestrial ecosystems in which processes governing N2O emissions were represented at high temporal and spatial resolution. Model performance was verified by comparing N2O emissions, CO2 and energy exchange, and q and Ts modelled by ecosys with those measured by automated chambers, eddy covariance (EC) and soil sensors at an hourly time-scale during several emission events from 2004 to 2009 in an intensively managed pasture at Oensingen, Switzerland. Both modelled and measured events were induced by precipitation following harvesting and subsequent fertilizing or manuring. These events were brief (2 - 5 days) with maximum N2O effluxes that varied from < 1 mg N m-2 h-1 in early spring and autumn to > 3 mg N m-2 h-1 in summer. Only very small emissions were modelled or measured outside these events. In the model, emissions were generated almost entirely in surface litter or near-surface (0 - 2 cm) soil, at rates driven by N availability with fertilization vs. N uptake with grassland regrowth, and by O2 limitation from wetting relative to O2 demand from respiration. In the model, NOx availability relative to O2 limitation governed both the reduction of more oxidized electron acceptors to N2O and the reduction of N2O to N2, so that the magnitude of N2O emissions was not simply related to surface and near-surface q and Ts. Modelled N2O emissions were found to be sensitive to defoliation intensity and timing (relative to that of fertilization) which controlled plant N uptake and soil q and Ts prior to and during emission events. In a model

  6. Effects of Carbon and Cover Crop Residues on N2O and N2 Emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Burger, M.; Cooperman, Y.; Horwath, W. R.

    2016-12-01

    In Mediterranean climate, nitrous oxide emissions occurring with the first rainfall after the dry summer season can contribute up to 50% of agricultural systems' total annual emissions, but the drivers of these emissions have not been clearly identified, and there are only few measurements of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) production (denitrification) during these events. In lab incubations, we investigated N2O and N2 production, gross ammonification and nitrification, and microbial N immobilization with wet-up in soil from a vineyard that was previously fallow or where cover crop residue had been incorporated the previous spring. Before the first rainfall, we measured 120 mg dissolved organic carbon (DOC-C) kg-1 soil in the 0-5 cm layer of this vineyard, and after the rain 10 mg DOC-C kg-1, while nitrate levels before the rain were <5 mg N kg-1 in fallow and <10 mg N kg-1 in previously cover cropped soil. The N2O/N2 production was 2, 7, 9, and 86% in fallow, legume-grass mixture, rye, and legume cover cropped soil. The N2O/N2 ratio tended to increase with lower DOC (post-rain) levels in the soil. The results suggest that accumulated carbon in dry surface soil is the main driving factor of N2O and N2 emissions through denitrification with the first rainfall after prolonged dry periods.

  7. Emissions of N2O, CH4 and CO2 from tropical forest soils

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Keller, Michael; Kaplan, Warren A.; Wofsy, Steven C.

    1986-01-01

    Emissions of nitrous oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide were measured at diverse locations in tropical forests of Brazil, Ecuador, and Puerto Rico using a static open chamber technique. Mean fluxes to the atmosphere were 1.7 x 10 to the 10th, -0.7 x 10 to the 10th, and 1.5 x 10 to the 14th molecules/sq cm per s for N2O, CH4, and CO2, respectively. The data indicate that tropical forests contribute a significant fraction of the global source for atmospheric N2O, about 40 percent of the current source, and possibly 75 percent of the preindustrial source. Methane is consumed by soils on average, but the sink is an insignificant part (less than 5 percent) of the atmospheric cycle for the gas. Emissions of CO2 from forest soils are higher at equatorial sites than at middle or high latitudes, as expected from ecological considerations. Soils emit CO2 at rates more than twice as large as the rate of carbon infall in litter; hence much of the emitted CO2 must arise from root metabolism.

  8. Pig slurry acidification and separation techniques affect soil N and C turnover and N2O emissions from solid, liquid and biochar fractions.

    PubMed

    Gómez-Muñoz, B; Case, S D C; Jensen, L S

    2016-03-01

    The combined effects of pig slurry acidification, subsequent separation techniques and biochar production from the solid fraction on N mineralisation and N2O and CO2 emissions in soil were investigated in an incubation experiment. Acidification of pig slurry increased N availability from the separated solid fractions in soil, but did not affect N2O and CO2 emissions. However acidification reduced soil N and C turnover from the liquid fraction. The use of more advanced separation techniques (flocculation and drainage > decanting centrifuge > screw press) increased N mineralisation from acidified solid fractions, but also increased N2O and CO2 emissions in soil amended with the liquid fraction. Finally, the biochar production from the solid fraction of pig slurry resulted in a very recalcitrant material, which reduced N and C mineralisation in soil compared to the raw solid fractions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Effects of soil water content and grass recycling on N2O emission in an urban lawn under laboratory incubation study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nataningtyas, Dilin Rahayu; Morita, Shunsuke; Hatano, Ryusuke

    2017-12-01

    In the context of global warming, the increase of N2O gas production from the agricultural area has gained enhancing concern due to N2O is a potent greenhouse gas and an ozone depleted substance. While adding clipping grass has been accepted to replace N-fertilizer input in urban law management its effect on soil gas emission still questionable. A laboratory incubation study had been conducted to evaluate the effect of soil water content and grass recycling on greenhouse gas emission from an urban lawn. The soil samples were taken from Yurigahara Park, Sapporo, Hokkaido Japan. The 17 days at 25°C incubation study was started after adjusting soil water content to 35% and 50% with and without adding the clipping grass on soil surfaces. Greenhouse gas emissions were higher with the addition of grass, however, for NO and N2O considerably higher in 35% than 50% water content. The denitrification process was responsible for the N2O increase in this action. Soil chemical and microbial properties, pH, WEOC, NO3--N, NH4+-N and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) as well as N-grass content were also measured to know their correlation with N2O emission. The fine-scale heterogeneity occurred in the soil has impact on the variability of soil chemical properties that influenced the N2O emission. In the other hand, the effect of grass recycling appeared to increased soil N-inorganic contents and stimulated the N-gaseous concentration.

  10. Optimizing biochars to mitigate N2O emissions in Mediterranean areas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cayuela, Maria Luz; Sanchez-Garcia, Maria; Roig, Asuncion; Sanchez-Monedero, Miguel Angel

    2017-04-01

    Some of the most productive agricultural soils stand in Mediterranean-type climate areas of the world (e.g. California's Central Valley, Andalucia region in South Spain, and Lombardy region in Italy). Many of these soils are under intensive agricultural production, bearing the addition of substantial amounts of N fertilizers, which are known to promote soil N2O emissions. Laboratory studies have shown the potential of biochar to decrease N2O emissions in soils from Mediterranean areas. These soils generally have alkaline pH and low concentrations of organic C and several laboratory experiments found that applying biochar at a rate of 2% in weight could decrease N2O emissions up to 90%. However, field studies carried out in areas of California, Italy and Spain (all under Mediterranean climate) showed none or very limited N2O mitigation with biochar. We postulate that this discrepancy may be because biochar-soil combinations were not optimal in field studies and that developing biochars adjusted to specific soil properties is crucial for their successful application to mitigate N2O emissions. Thus, in this study we aimed at (i) collecting and characterizing a variety of the most representative Mediterranean agricultural residues (olive tree, almond and orange tree pruning, olive mill waste, rice straw, horticultural residues, etc.), (ii) exploring their suitability as feedstocks for biochar production and (iii) analyzing their impact on N2O emissions in a Mediterranean agricultural soil. Biochars were produced by slow pyrolysis with a heating rate of 5˚C min-1 at two pyrolysis temperatures (400 and 600˚C) and a retention time of two hours. Soil incubations were set up simulating conditions of highly intensive crop production (high N fertilization, high moisture) to test how the biochars produced from different feedstocks and under two pyrolysis temperatures influence N2O emissions. Our starting hypothesis was that it is possible to optimize biochar characteristics

  11. [Effect of short-time drought process on denitrifying bacteria abundance and N2O emission in paddy soil].

    PubMed

    Lu, Jing; Liu, Jin-Bo; Sheng, Rong; Liu, Yi; Chen, An-Lei; Wei, Wen-Xue

    2014-10-01

    In order to investigate the impact of drying process on greenhouse gas emissions and denitrifying microorganisms in paddy soil, wetting-drying process was simulated in laboratory conditions. N2O flux, redox potential (Eh) were monitored and narG- and nosZ-containing denitrifiers abundances were determined by real-time PCR. N2O emission was significantly increased only 4 h after drying process began, and it was more than 6 times of continuous flooding (CF) at 24 h. In addition, narG and nosZ gene abundances were increased rapidly with the drying process, and N2O emission flux was significantly correlated with narG gene abundance (P < 0.01). Our results indicated that the narG-containing deniteifiers were the main driving microorganisms which caused the N2O emission in the short-time drought process in paddy soil.

  12. Investigating the microbial community responsible for unusually high soil N2O and NOx emissions in the Colorado Desert

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eberwein, J. R.; Carey, C.; Aronson, E. L.; Jenerette, D.

    2016-12-01

    Although the importance of soil nitrogenous emissions are well accepted in terms of local and global ecological relevance, there remain considerable knowledge gaps concerning the mechanisms regulating production, particularly in arid systems. This study aimed to connect desert soil trace gas emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) with compositional changes in the microbial community. We quantified real-time soil trace gas emissions at two sites in the Colorado Desert experiencing contrasting anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition loads (<5 and 15 kg N ha-1 y-1). Measurements were made through 48 hours following water (to simulate a 2 cm rain event) and N additions (at 30 kg NH4NO3 ha-1). In conjunction with flux measurements, soil samples were collected for 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize the soil microbial community. N2O fluxes reached as high as 1200 ng N2O-N m-2 s-1, well above most published emissions, but returned to pre-wetting conditions within 12 hours. NOx emissions reached as high as 350 ng NOx-N m-2 s-1 and remained elevated past 24 hours post-wetting. Results from the 16S analysis indicate distinct differences in the microbial community composition between the high and low N deposition sites, with less than 50% of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in common between sites. N addition had a significant effect on the soil microbial community at the low deposition site, but not at the high deposition site. Furthermore, significant shifts in the bacterial community occurred after wetting, with only one third of the community remaining constant between time points. These results suggest that gaseous N export, particularly N2O emission, is a greater form of nitrogen loss in this system than is currently assumed. Experimental N additions and anthropogenic N deposition show potential for shifting soil microbial community composition, with implications for soil N emissions. Furthermore, shifts in the microbial community can occur as

  13. Emissions of N2O from organic soils managed by agriculture in North Western Denmark (Possible production and reduction spots)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Taghizadeh-Toosi, Arezoo; Elsgaard, Lars; Ernstsen, Vibeke; Clough, Tim J.; Petersen, Søren O.

    2017-04-01

    In North Western Denmark, organic soils are extensively under agricultural management for cereal and high-value cash crop production or as grazing land. The area (overlying raised seabed) has been classified as potentially acid sulfate soil. Drainage and tillage of organic soil is known to promote emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), but a previous monitoring program found annual N2O emissions from adjacent fields with rotational grass and potato that were, respectively, 3 and 5 times higher than default values proposed by The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2014). In order to study underlying mechanisms, the same two sites and two new reference sites along an East-West transect were investigated during 2015. The four sites (i.e. two with rotational grass and two sites with a potato crop) were equipped for weekly monitoring of soil surface N2O emissions and sub-soil N2O concentrations to 1 m depth during spring and autumn 2015. Also, various environmental variables (precipitation, air and soil temperature, soil moisture, groundwater level, and soil mineral N) were monitored. In April and August 2015, intact cores to 1 m depth were collected at the paired grassland and potato sites and analysed for pH, EC, nitrite, reactive Fe, acid volatile S (AVS) and chromium-reducible S (CRS). Nitrous oxide concentrations in the soil profile showed strong temporal dynamics reflecting water table changes, as well as precipitation and in some cases fertilization. At the paired site concentrations in the potato field (reaching 2000 μL N2O L-1) were much higher than in the adjacent grassland (up to 20 μL N2O L-1). Soil pH averaged 4.9 at the two paired sites. The difference was confirmed at reference sites. Accumulated emissions of N2O during monitoring periods (in total 151-174 d) corresponded to 18 and 48 kg N ha-1 at potato sites, but only 3 and 4 kg N ha-1 at the grassland sites. Nitrous oxide accumulated at depth in the soil during phases of declining water

  14. Evidence for involvement of gut-associated denitrifying bacteria in emission of nitrous oxide (N(2)O) by earthworms obtained from garden and forest soils.

    PubMed

    Matthies, C; Griesshammer, A; Schmittroth, M; Drake, H L

    1999-08-01

    Earthworms (Aporrectodea caliginosa, Lumbricus rubellus, and Octolasion lacteum) obtained from nitrous oxide (N(2)O)-emitting garden soils emitted 0.14 to 0.87 nmol of N(2)O h(-1) g (fresh weight)(-1) under in vivo conditions. L. rubellus obtained from N(2)O-emitting forest soil also emitted N(2)O, which confirmed previous observations (G. R. Karsten and H. L. Drake, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63:1878-1882, 1997). In contrast, commercially obtained Lumbricus terrestris did not emit N(2)O; however, such worms emitted N(2)O when they were fed (i.e., preincubated in) garden soils. A. caliginosa, L. rubellus, and O. lacteum substantially increased the rates of N(2)O emission of garden soil columns and microcosms. Extrapolation of the data to in situ conditions indicated that N(2)O emission by earthworms accounted for approximately 33% of the N(2)O emitted by garden soils. In vivo emission of N(2)O by earthworms obtained from both garden and forest soils was greatly stimulated when worms were moistened with sterile solutions of nitrate or nitrite; in contrast, ammonium did not stimulate in vivo emission of N(2)O. In the presence of nitrate, acetylene increased the N(2)O emission rates of earthworms; in contrast, in the presence of nitrite, acetylene had little or no effect on emission of N(2)O. In vivo emission of N(2)O decreased by 80% when earthworms were preincubated in soil supplemented with streptomycin and tetracycline. On a fresh weight basis, the rates of N(2)O emission of dissected earthworm gut sections were substantially higher than the rates of N(2)O emission of dissected worms lacking gut sections, indicating that N(2)O production occurred in the gut rather than on the worm surface. In contrast to living earthworms and gut sections that produced N(2)O under oxic conditions (i.e., in the presence of air), fresh casts (feces) from N(2)O-emitting earthworms produced N(2)O only under anoxic conditions. Collectively, these results indicate that gut

  15. Effect of biochar addition on short-term N2O and CO2 emissions during repeated drying and wetting of an anthropogenic alluvial soil.

    PubMed

    Yang, Fang; Lee, Xinqing; Theng, Benny K G; Wang, Bing; Cheng, Jianzhong; Wang, Qian

    2017-06-01

    Agricultural soils are an important source of greenhouse gases (GHG). Biochar application to such soils has the potential of mitigating global anthropogenic GHG emissions. Under irrigation, the topsoils in arid regions experience repeated drying and wetting during the crop growing season. Biochar incorporation into these soils would change the soil microbial environment and hence affect GHG emissions. Little information, however, is available regarding the effect of biochar addition on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions from agricultural soils undergoing repeated drying and wetting. Here, we report the results of a 49-day aerobic incubation experiment, incorporating biochar into an anthropogenic alluvial soil in an arid region of Xinjiang Province, China, and measuring CO 2 and N 2 O emissions. Under both drying-wetting and constantly moist conditions, biochar amendment significantly increased cumulative CO 2 emission. At the same time, there was a significant reduction (up to ~20 %) in cumulative N 2 O emission, indicating that the addition of biochar to irrigated agricultural soils may effectively slow down global warming in arid regions of China.

  16. Modelling site-specific N2O emission factors from Austrian agricultural soils for targeted mitigation measures (NitroAustria)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Amon, Barbara; Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Sophie; Kasper, Martina; Foldal, Cecilie; Schiefer, Jasmin; Kitzler, Barbara; Schwarzl, Bettina; Zethner, Gerhard; Anderl, Michael; Sedy, Katrin; Gaugitsch, Helmut; Dersch, Georg; Baumgarten, Andreas; Haas, Edwin; Kiese, Ralf

    2016-04-01

    Results from a previous project "FarmClim" highlight that the IPCC default emission factor is not able to reflect region specific N2O emissions from Austrian arable soils. The methodology is limited in identifying hot spots and hot moments of N2O emissions. When estimations are based on default emission factors no recommendations can be given on optimisation measures that would lead to a reduction of soil N2O emissions. The better the knowledge is about Nitrogen and Carbon budgets in Austrian agricultural managed soils the better the situation can be reflected in the Austrian GHG emission inventory calculations. Therefore national and regionally modelled emission factors should improve the evidence for national deviation from the IPCC default emission factors and reduce the uncertainties. The overall aim of NitroAustria is to identify the drivers for N2O emissions on a regional basis taking different soil types, climate, and agricultural management into account. We use the LandscapeDNDC model to update the N2O emission factors for N fertilizer and animal manure applied to soils. Key regions in Austria were selected and region specific N2O emissions calculated. The model runs at sub-daily time steps and uses data such as maximum and minimum air temperature, precipitation, radiation, and wind speed as meteorological drivers. Further input data are used to reflect agricultural management practices, e.g., planting/harvesting, tillage, fertilizer application, irrigation and information on soil and vegetation properties for site characterization and model initialization. While at site scale, arable management data (crop cultivation, rotations, timings etc.) is obtained by experimental data from field trials or observations, at regional scale such data need to be generated using region specific proxy data such as land use and management statistics, crop cultivations and yields, crop rotations, fertilizer sales, manure resulting from livestock units etc. The farming

  17. Partitioning Residue-derived and Residue-induced Emissions of N2O Using 15N-labelled Crop Residues

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Farrell, R. E.; Carverhill, J.; Lemke, R.; Knight, J. D.

    2014-12-01

    Estimates of N2O emissions in Canada indicate that 17% of all agriculture-based emissions are associated with the decomposition of crop residues. However, research specific to the western Canadian prairies (including Saskatchewan) has shown that the N2O emission factor for N sources in this region typically ranges between 0.2 and 0.6%, which is well below the current IPCC default emission factor of 1.0%. Thus, it stands to reason that emissions from crop residues should also be lower than those calculated using the current IPCC emission factor. Current data indicates that residue decomposition, N mineralization and N2O production are affected by a number of factors such as C:N ratio and chemical composition of the residue, soil type, and soil water content; thus, a bench-scale incubation study was conducted to examine the effects of soil type and water content on N2O emissions associated with the decomposition of different crop residues. The study was carried out using soils from the Black, Dark Brown, Brown, and Gray soil zones and was conducted at both 50% and 70% water-filled pore space (WFPS); the soils were amended with 15N-labeled residues of wheat, pea, canola, and flax, or with an equivalent amount of 15N-labeled urea; 15N2O production was monitored using a Picarro G5101-i isotopic N2O analyzer. Crop residue additions to the soils resulted in both direct and indirect emissions of N2O, with residue derived emissions (RDE; measured as 15N2O) generally exceeding residue-induced emissions (RIE) at 50% WFPS—with RDEs ranging from 42% to 88% (mean = 58%) of the total N2O. Conversely, at 70% WFPS, RDEs were generally lower than RIEs—ranging from 21% to 83% (mean = 48%). Whereas both water content and soil type had an impact on N2O production, there was a clear and consistent trend in the emission factors for the residues; i.e., emissions were always greatest for the canola residue and lowest for the wheat residue and urea fertilizer; and intermediate for pea

  18. Soil Nitrification and N2O Production: the connection with N concentration and Soil Water Content

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu-Barker, X.; Horwath, W. R.

    2016-12-01

    The development of mitigation strategies to reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emission from soils is dependent on explicating the biophysical factors affecting different N2O production pathways. Ammonia oxidation and heterotrophic denitrification are the main pathways of N2O production, depending on soil conditions such as soil moisture content, oxygen (O2) content and N substrate. Many researchers have reported that N2O production increased as substrate concentration and soil moisture content increased. However, less understood is how N fertilizer concentration and moisture content interact to affect N2O production pathways. To investigate interaction and its effect on O2 consumption, we incubated three agricultural soils (clay, sandy loam, and peat) with different concentrations of (NH4)2SO4 (0-1000 µg N g-1) under 50 %, 75%, and 100% of water holding capacity. All treatments received 15N -KNO3 to bring the concentrations of NO3-_N in soils to 50 mg kg-1 soil and the NO3- pool to an enrichment of 10 atom% 15N. In all soils, the total amount of O2 consumption and N2O production increased as soil ammonical N concentration increased. The increased soil moisture significantly promoted N2O production in sandy loam and clay loam soils, compared to the peat soil. These results indicate that N2O production increased as substrate concentration increased likely due to the onset of O2 limitation caused by ammonia oxidation.

  19. Inhibition effect of zinc in wastewater on the N2O emission from coastal loam soils.

    PubMed

    Huang, Yan; Ou, Danyun; Chen, Shunyang; Chen, Bin; Liu, Wenhua; Bai, Renao; Chen, Guangcheng

    2017-03-15

    The effects of zinc (Zn) on nitrous oxide (N 2 O) fluxes from coastal loam soil and the abundances of soil nitrifier and denitrifier were studied in a tidal microcosm receiving livestock wastewater with different Zn levels. Soil N 2 O emission significantly increased due to discharge of wastewater rich in ammonia (NH 4 + -N) while the continuous measurements of gas flux showed a durative reduction in N 2 O flux by high Zn input (40mgL -1 ) during the low tide period. Soil inorganic nitrogen concentrations increased at the end of the experiment and even more soil NH 4 + -N was measured in the high-Zn-level treatment, indicating an inhibition of ammonia oxidation by Zn input. Quantitative PCR of soil amoA, narG and nirK genes encoding ammonia monooxygenase, nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase, respectively, showed that the microbial abundances involved in these metabolisms were neither affected by wastewater discharge nor Zn contamination. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Urbanisation-related land use change from forest and pasture into turf grass modifies soil nitrogen cycling and increases N2O emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Delden, Lona; Rowlings, David W.; Scheer, Clemens; Grace, Peter R.

    2016-11-01

    Urbanisation is becoming increasingly important in terms of climate change and ecosystem functionality worldwide. We are only beginning to understand how the processes of urbanisation influence ecosystem dynamics, making peri-urban environments more vulnerable to nutrient losses. Brisbane in South East Queensland has the most extensive urban sprawl of all Australian cities. This research estimated the environmental impact of land use change associated with urbanisation by examining soil nitrogen (N) turnover and subsequent nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions using a fully automated system that measured emissions on a sub-daily basis. There was no significant difference in soil N2O emissions between the native dry sclerophyll eucalypt forest and an extensively grazed pasture, wherefrom only low annual emissions were observed amounting to 0.1 and 0.2 kg N2O ha-1 yr-1, respectively. The establishment of a fertilised turf grass lawn increased soil N2O emissions 18-fold (1.8 kg N2O ha-1 yr-1), with highest emissions occurring in the first 2 months after establishment. Once established, the turf grass lawn presented relatively low N2O emissions for the rest of the year, even after fertilisation and rain events. Soil moisture was significantly higher, and mineralised N accumulated in the fallow plots, resulting in the highest N2O emissions (2.8 kg N2O ha-1 yr-1) and significant nitrate (NO3-) losses, with up to 63 kg N ha-1 lost from a single rain event due to reduced plant cover removal. The study concludes that urbanisation processes creating peri-urban ecosystems can greatly modify N cycling and increase the potential for losses in the form of N2O and NO3-.

  1. Emissions of N2O and NO from fertilized fields: Summary of available measurement data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bouwman, A. F.; Boumans, L. J. M.; Batjes, N. H.

    2002-12-01

    Information from 846 N2O emission measurements in agricultural fields and 99 measurements for NO emissions was summarized to assess the influence of various factors regulating emissions from mineral soils. The data indicate that there is a strong increase of both N2O and NO emissions accompanying N application rates, and soils with high organic-C content show higher emissions than less fertile soils. A fine soil texture, restricted drainage, and neutral to slightly acidic conditions favor N2O emission, while (though not significant) a good soil drainage, coarse texture, and neutral soil reaction favor NO emission. Fertilizer type and crop type are important factors for N2O but not for NO, while the fertilizer application mode has a significant influence on NO only. Regarding the measurements, longer measurement periods yield more of the fertilization effect on N2O and NO emissions, and intensive measurements (≥1 per day) yield lower emissions than less intensive measurements (2-3 per week). The available data can be used to develop simple models based on the major regulating factors which describe the spatial variability of emissions of N2O and NO with less uncertainty than emission factor approaches based on country N inputs, as currently used in national emission inventories.

  2. Contrasting denitrifier communities relate to contrasting N2O emission patterns from acidic peat soils in arctic tundra

    PubMed Central

    Palmer, Katharina; Biasi, Christina; Horn, Marcus A

    2012-01-01

    Cryoturbated peat circles (that is, bare surface soil mixed by frost action; pH 3–4) in the Russian discontinuous permafrost tundra are nitrate-rich ‘hotspots' of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in arctic ecosystems, whereas adjacent unturbated peat areas are not. N2O was produced and subsequently consumed at pH 4 in unsupplemented anoxic microcosms with cryoturbated but not in those with unturbated peat soil. Nitrate, nitrite and acetylene stimulated net N2O production of both soils in anoxic microcosms, indicating denitrification as the source of N2O. Up to 500 and 10 μ nitrate stimulated denitrification in cryoturbated and unturbated peat soils, respectively. Apparent maximal reaction velocities of nitrite-dependent denitrification were 28 and 18 nmol N2O gDW−1 h−1, for cryoturbated and unturbated peat soils, respectively. Barcoded amplicon pyrosequencing of narG, nirK/nirS and nosZ (encoding nitrate, nitrite and N2O reductases, respectively) yielded ≈49 000 quality-filtered sequences with an average sequence length of 444 bp. Up to 19 species-level operational taxonomic units were detected per soil and gene, many of which were distantly related to cultured denitrifiers or environmental sequences. Denitrification-associated gene diversity in cryoturbated and in unturbated peat soils differed. Quantitative PCR (inhibition-corrected per DNA extract) revealed higher copy numbers of narG in cryoturbated than in unturbated peat soil. Copy numbers of nirS were up to 1000 × higher than those of nirK in both soils, and nirS nirK−1 copy number ratios in cryoturbated and unturbated peat soils differed. The collective data indicate that the contrasting N2O emission patterns of cryoturbated and unturbated peat soils are associated with contrasting denitrifier communities. PMID:22134649

  3. Nitrogen availability and soil N2O emissions following conversion of forests to coffee in southern Sumatra

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Verchot, Louis V.; Hutabarat, Lusida; Hairiah, Kurniatun; van Noordwijk, Meine

    2006-12-01

    Changes in land use impact on the N cycle with both local and global consequences. We examined how conversion of forest to agriculture in one catchment in southern Sumatra altered N availability and soil N2O emission. Measurements were made along a chronosequence of forest land converted to coffee gardens. A number of different management practices were also examined. Inorganic N stocks and N cycling rates were highest in the forest and lower in the coffee gardens. The forest and young conversion sites appeared to be N limited, whereas the older agricultural sites and the more intensively managed sites were not as strongly N limited. N2O emissions were low in the forest (<2 kgN ha-1yr-1) and increased sharply following deforestation. Emissions on recently cleared land were 4.6 kgN ha-1yr-1 and 8.4 kgN ha-1yr-1 in a 1-year-old coffee garden. Emissions in the older coffee gardens were lower with the lowest flux observed in a 10 year old site (1.8 kgN ha-1yr-1). We explored the effects of different types of management approaches that farmers are using in this landscape. Emissions in an 18-year-old multistrata coffee garden with a significant overstory of N fixing trees were 5 times greater (15.5 kg ha-1yr-1) than emissions from forests. We also found that intensive organic matter management produced high emissions. To understand the spatial and temporal variability of the N2O emissions we used the hole-in-the-pipe conceptual model. N2O fluxes were lowest on N limited sites. Soil water content also played an important role and emissions were highest when water filled pore space (WFPS) was between 85 and 95%. A number of formulations of this model have been applied in different ways over the years to explain spatial and temporal variation in the soil N-oxide flux, and in this study we found the mechanistic explanation useful. Our study suggests that land use change and intensification of agriculture in N limited highland landscapes may significantly increase the

  4. Effects of dicyandiamide and acetylene on N2O emissions and ammonia oxidizers in a fluvo-aquic soil applied with urea.

    PubMed

    Wang, Qing; Zhang, Li-Mei; Shen, Ju-Pei; Du, Shuai; Han, Li-Li; He, Ji-Zheng

    2016-11-01

    Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are crucial for N 2 O emission as they carry out the key step of nitrification. Dicyandiamide (DCD) and acetylene (C 2 H 2 ) are typical nitrification inhibitors (NIs), while the comparative effects of these NIs on N 2 O production and ammonia oxidizers' (AOB and AOA) growth are unclear. Four treatments including a control, urea, urea + DCD, and urea + C 2 H 2 were set up to investigate their effect of inhibiting soil nitrification, nitrification-related N 2 O emission as well as the growth of ammonia oxidizers with a fluvo-aquic soil using microcosms for 28 days. N 2 O emission and net nitrification rate increased after the application of urea, but were significantly restrained in urea + NI treatments, while C 2 H 2 was more effective in reducing N 2 O emission and nitrification rate than DCD. The abundance of AOB, which was significantly correlated with N 2 O emission and net nitrification rate, was more inhibited by C 2 H 2 than DCD. Furthermore, the application of urea in all the soils had little impact on the AOA community, while obvious shifts of AOB community structure were found compared with the control. All AOB sequences fell within Nitrosospira cluster 3, and the AOA community was clustered to group 1.1b. Collectively, it indicated that application of urea combined with NIs (DCD or C 2 H 2 ) could potentially alter N 2 O emission, mainly through regulating the growth of AOB but not AOA in this fluvo-aquic soil.

  5. N2O and CH4 emissions from N-fertilized rice paddy soil can be mitigated by wood vinegar application at an appropriate rate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sun, Haijun; Feng, Yanfang; Ji, Yang; Shi, Weiming; Yang, Linzhang; Xing, Baoshan

    2018-07-01

    To understand the impacts of wood vinegar (WV), a by-product of biochar production, on N2O and CH4 emissions and their total global warming potential (GWPt) from N-fertilized rice paddy soil, a soil column experiment was conducted using three treatments: 240 kg urea-N ha-1 accompanied with 0, 5, and 10 t WV ha-1, respectively. Results showed that N2O and CH4 emission flux patterns were dominated by water regime of rice growth cycle, which was independent with WV application. The total N2O, CH4 emission loads and GWPt over rice season of three N received treatments were 6.41-8.85 kg ha-1, 127.7-405.0 kg ha-1, and 5.24-12.03 t CO2-e ha-1, respectively. Rice seasonal N2O and CH4 emissions were synchronously mitigated by 22.4% and 36.4%, respectively, when WV was applied at 5 t ha-1. Consequently, 5 t ha-1 WV treatment reduced 31.5% of GWPt compared with the urea treatment. In addition, 10 t ha-1 WV treatment exerted a more positive effect on suppressing N2O with 27.6% reduction. However, it increased GWPt by 57.2% because its CH4 emission load was increased by 101.8%. In conclusion, WV amendment applied at an appropriate rate (5 t ha-1) or combination with other CH4 control technologies were suggested to reduce both N2O and CH4 emissions and thereby the GWPt in N-fertilized rice paddy soil.

  6. Two years monitoring of soil N_{2}O emissions on durum wheat in a Mediterranean area: the effect of tillage intensity and N-fertilizer rate.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Volpi, Iride; Bosco, Simona; Triana, Federico; Di Nasso, Nicoletta Nassi o.; Laville, Patricia; Virgili, Giorgio; Bonari, Enrico

    2016-04-01

    Evaluating the magnitude and the key factors affecting N2O emissions from agriculture has a scientific and practical relevance, in fact emissions from agricultural and natural soils account for 56-70% of all global N2O sources (Syakila and Kroeze, 2011). Moreover, the necessity to increase the food production rate minimizing greenhouse gas emissions require a deeper understanding of the effect of the agricultural practices on direct soil emissions. Therefore, the aim of this work is to assess the effect of tillage intensity and nitrogen rate on soil N2O emissions on durum wheat. A two years monitoring campaign was carried out using a high-sensibility transportable instrument developed within the LIFE+ "Improved flux Prototypes for N2O emission from Agriculture" IPNOA project (Bosco et al., 2015; Laville et al., 2015). The project aims at improving the measurement technique of N2O flux directly in field using the flow-through non-steady state chamber technique. The monitoring campaign on durum wheat lasted for two growing seasons and two fallow periods (2013-14 and 2014-15). Treatment on the main plot was tillage intensity with two levels, ploughing and minimum tillage, and three different nitrogen rates were distributed to the subplots (N0: 0 kg ha-1, N1: 110 kg ha-1, N2: 170 kg ha-1). Ancillary measurements concerned meteorological data, soil temperature and moisture, NO3-, NH4+ soil concentration. Main results of the two years highlighted N rate as the main driver for both N2O daily flux and cumulative emissions during the growing season, while in the fallow period treatments did not affect the emission magnitude. Tillage intensity was not a key factor for N2O emissions. N2O emissions were significantly different in the two years. In particular, cumulative emissions of 2013-14 were about five times higher than in 2014-15, respectively on average 2885±260 g N-N2O ha-1 and 534±53 g N-N2O ha-1 for a similar monitoring period of about 300 days. Differences could be

  7. N use efficiencies and N2O emissions in two contrasting, biochar amended soils under winter wheat—cover crop—sorghum rotation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hüppi, Roman; Neftel, Albrecht; Lehmann, Moritz F.; Krauss, Maike; Six, Johan; Leifeld, Jens

    2016-08-01

    Biochar, a carbon-rich, porous pyrolysis product of organic residues, is evaluated as an option to tackle major problems of the global food system. Applied to soil, biochar can sequester carbon and have beneficial effects on nitrogen (N) cycling, thereby enhancing crop yields and reducing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. There is little understanding of the underlying mechanisms, but many experiments indicated increased yields and manifold changes in N transformation, suggesting an increase in N use efficiency. Biochar’s effects can be positive in extensively managed tropical agriculture, however less is known about its use in temperate soils with intensive fertilisation. We tested the effect of slow pyrolysis wood chip biochar on N use efficiency, crop yields and N2O emissions in a lysimeter system with two soil types (sandy loamy Cambisol and silty loamy Luvisol) in a winter wheat—cover crop—sorghum rotation. 15N-labelled ammonium nitrate fertiliser (170 kg N ha-1 in 3 doses, 10% 15N) was applied to the first crop to monitor its fate in three ecosystem components (plants, soil, leachate). Green rye was sown as cover crop to keep the first year’s fertiliser N for the second year’s sorghum crop (fertilised with 110 kg N ha-1 in two doses and natural abundance 15N). We observed no effects of biochar on N fertiliser use efficiency, yield or N uptake for any crop. Biochar reduced leaching by 43 ± 19% but only towards the end of the experiment with leaching losses being generally low. For both soils N2O emissions were reduced by 15 ± 4% with biochar compared to the control treatments. Our results indicate that application of the chosen biochar induces environmental benefits in terms of N2O emission and N leaching but does not substantially affect the overall N cycle and hence crop performance in the analyzed temperate crop rotation.

  8. Estimation of nocturnal CO2 and N2O soil emissions from changes in surface boundary layer mass storage

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grant, Richard H.; Omonode, Rex A.

    2018-04-01

    Annual budgets of greenhouse and other trace gases require knowledge of the emissions throughout the year. Unfortunately, emissions into the surface boundary layer during stable, calm nocturnal periods are not measurable using most micrometeorological methods due to non-stationarity and uncoupled flow. However, during nocturnal periods with very light winds, carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) frequently accumulate near the surface and this mass accumulation can be used to determine emissions. Gas concentrations were measured at four heights (one within and three above canopy) and turbulence was measured at three heights above a mature 2.5 m maize canopy from 23 July to 10 September 2015. Nocturnal CO2 and N2O fluxes from the canopy were determined using the accumulation of mass within a 6.3 m control volume and out the top of the control volume within the nocturnal surface boundary layer. Diffusive fluxes were estimated by flux gradient method. The total accumulative and diffusive fluxes during near-calm nights (friction velocities < 0.05 ms-1) averaged 1.16 µmol m-2 s-1 CO2 and 0.53 nmol m-2 s-1 N2O. Fluxes were also measured using chambers. Daily mean CO2 fluxes determined by the accumulation method were 90 to 130 % of those determined using soil chambers. Daily mean N2O fluxes determined by the accumulation method were 60 to 80 % of that determined using soil chambers. The better signal-to-noise ratios of the chamber method for CO2 over N2O, non-stationary flow, assumed Schmidt numbers, and anemometer tilt were likely contributing reasons for the differences in chambers versus accumulated nocturnal mass flux estimates. Near-surface N2O accumulative flux measurements in more homogeneous regions and with greater depth are needed to confirm the conclusion that mass accumulation can be effectively used to estimate soil emissions during nearly calm nights.

  9. Molecular approaches to understand the regulation of N2O emission from denitrifying bacteria - model strains and soil communities (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Frostegard, A.; Bakken, L. R.

    2010-12-01

    Emissions of N2O from agricultural soils are largely caused by denitrifying bacteria. Field measurements of N2O fluxes show large variations and depend on several environmental factors, and possibly also on the composition of the denitrifying microbial community. The temporal and spatial variation of fluxes are not adequately captured by biogeochemical models, and few options for mitigations have been invented, which underscores the need to understand the mechanisms underlying the emissions of N2O. Analyses of denitrification genes and transcripts extracted from soils are important for describing the system, but may have limited value for prediction of N2O emissions. In contrast, phenotypic analyses are direct measures of the organisms’ responses to changing environmental conditions. Our approach is to combine phenotypic characterizations using high-resolution gas kinetics, with gene transcription analyses to study denitrification regulatory phenotypes (DRP) of bacterial strains or complex microbial communities. The rich data sets obtained provide a basis for refinement of biochemical and physiological research on this key process in the nitrogen cycle. The strength of this combined approach is illustrated by a series of experiments investigating effects of soil pH on denitrification. Soil pH emerges as a master variable determining the microbial community composition as well as its denitrification product ratio (N2O/N2), with higher ratio in acid than in alkaline soil. It is therefore likely that emissions of N2O from agro-ecosystems will increase in large parts of the world where soil pH is decreasing due to intensified management and increased use of chemical fertilizers. Considering its immense implications, surprisingly few attempts have been made to unravel the mechanisms involved in the pH-control of the product stoichiometry of denitrification. We investigated the kinetics of gas transformations (O2, NO, N2O and N2) and transcription of functional genes

  10. Tracing changes in soil N transformations to explain the doubling of N2O emissions under elevated CO2 in the Giessen FACE

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moser, Gerald; Brenzinger, Kristof; Gorenflo, Andre; Clough, Tim; Braker, Gesche; Müller, Christoph

    2017-04-01

    To reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 & N2O) it is important to quantify main sources and identify the respective ecosystem processes. While the main sources of N2O emissions in agro-ecosystems under current conditions are well known, the influence of a projected higher level of CO2 on the main ecosystem processes responsible for N2O emissions has not been investigated in detail. A major result of the Giessen FACE in a managed temperate grassland was that a +20% CO2 level caused a positive feedback due to increased emissions of N2O to 221% related to control condition. To be able to trace the sources of additional N2O emissions a 15N tracing study was conducted. We measured the N2O emission and its 15N signature, together with the 15N signature of soil and plant samples. The results were analyzed using a 15N tracing model which quantified the main changes in N transformation rates under elevated CO2. Directly after 15N fertilizer application a much higher dynamic of N transformations was observed than in the long run. Absolute mineralisation and DNRA rates were lower under elevated CO2 in the short term but higher in the long term. During the one year study period beginning with the 15N labelling a 1.8-fold increase of N2O emissions occurred under elevated CO2. The source of increased N2O was associated with NO3- in the first weeks after 15N application. Elevated CO2 affected denitrification rates, which resulted in increased N2O emissions due to a change of gene transcription rates (nosZ/(nirK+nirS)) and resulting enzyme activity (see: Brenzinger et al.). Here we show that the reported enhanced N2O emissions for the first 8 FACE years do prevail even in the long-term (> 15 years). The effect of elevated CO2 on N2O production/emission can be explained by altered activity ratios within a stable microbial community.

  11. Impact of two different types of grassland-to-cropland-conversion on dynamics of soil organic matter mineralization and N2O emission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Roth, G.; Flessa, H.; Helfrich, M.; Well, R.

    2012-04-01

    Conversion of grassland to arable land often causes a decrease of soil organic matter stocks and it increases nitrate leaching and the emission of the greenhouse gases CO2 and N2O. Conversion methods which minimize the mechanical impact on the surface soil may reduce mineralization rates and greenhouse gas emissions. We determined the effect of two different types of grassland to maize conversion (a) plowing of the sward followed by seeding of maize and (b) chemical killing of the sward by glyphosate followed by direct seed of maize) on the mineralization of grassland derived organic matter, the release of nitrate and the emission of N2O. The field experiment was carried out at the research station Kleve which is located in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. A four times replicated plot experiment with the following treatments was set up in April 2010: (i) mechanical conversion of grassland to maize (ii) chemical conversion grassland to maize and (iii) continuous grassland as reference. Nitrogen fertilization was 137 kg N ha-1 for maize and 250 kg N ha-1 for grassland. Soil respiration and emission of N2O were measured weekly for one year using manual closed chambers and gas chromatography. Emission of CO2 from mineralization of grassland-derived organic matter was determined from the δ13C signature of soil respiration. Soil respiration was mainly fueled by mineralization of grassland-derived organic carbon. There was no effect of the type of grassland conversion on total mineralization of organic matter originating from grassland. Both grassland to maize conversion treatments exhibited very high soil nitrate concentrations one year after grassland conversion (about 250 kg NO3-N in 0 - 90 cm). Total N2O emission decreased in the order chemical conversion of grassland (25.5) > mechanical conversion of grassland (20.1) > permanent grassland (10.8). Emissions were highest after harvest of maize when soil moisture increased. The results show that both types of grassland

  12. Reduced Snow Cover Increases Wintertime Nitrous Oxide (N 2O) Emissions from an Agricultural Soil in the Upper U.S. Midwest

    DOE PAGES

    Ruan, Leilei; Robertson, G. Philip

    2016-11-21

    Throughout most of the northern hemisphere, snow cover decreased in almost every winter month from 1967 to 2012. Because snow is an effective insulator, snow cover loss has likely enhanced soil freezing and the frequency of soil freeze–thaw cycles, which can disrupt soil nitrogen dynamics including the production of nitrous oxide (N 2O). Here, we used replicated automated gas flux chambers deployed in an annual cropping system in the upper Midwest US for three winters (December–March, 2011–2013) to examine the effects of snow removal and additions on N 2O fluxes. Diminished snow cover resulted in increased N2O emissions each year;more » over the entire experiment, cumulative emissions in plots with snow removed were 69% higher than in ambient snow control plots and 95% higher than in plots that received additional snow (P < 0.001). Higher emissions coincided with a greater number of freeze–thaw cycles that broke up soil macroaggregates (250–8000 µm) and significantly increased soil inorganic nitrogen pools. We conclude that winters with less snow cover can be expected to accelerate N 2O fluxes from agricultural soils subject to wintertime freezing.« less

  13. Effect of plastic mulching and nitrapyrin on N2O concentration and emissions in China under climate change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, C.; Zhu, C.

    2017-12-01

    Fertilized agricultural soils are the main source of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O). In this study, both soil N2O concentration in the profile and N2O emission were measured to quantify the effect of plastic mulching and nitrapyrin on N2O dynamic in an oasis cotton field. During the observation period, both N2O concentration and N2O emissions rapidly increased following fertigation, and soil temperature, moisture and mineral N content were the main factors influencing N2O. Temporal variation in N2O emission coincided with changes in N2O content in all soil layers, indicating that the accumulation of N2O likely drives the release of N2O into the atmosphere. The crop yields, N2O content (the sum of aqueous and gaseous phases) in the soil and N2O emissions increased linearly as the application of N fertilizer increased from 80 to 400 kg N ha-1. Plastic mulching increased the crop yields by 16-21%, increased the N2O contents by 88-99%, and reduced the cumulative N2O emissions by 19-28%, indicating that the application of plastic film reduced N2O emission probably through restricted the N2O diffusion process, and limited the N2O production through enhanced the N uptake of cotton. The addition of nitrapyrin to the N fertilizer significantly reduced the levels of N2O without influencing crop yield, with N2O content in the soil profile and cumulative N2O emissions decreasing by 25-32% and 23-42%, respectively. Overall, our result suggested the combined use of plastic film and nitrapyrin could be an efficient practice to reduce N2O emission in the oasis cotton field. Keywords: N2O emissions; plastic film mulching; nitrapyrin; climate change

  14. Biogenic emissions of CO2 and N2O at multiple depths increase exponentially during a simulated soil thaw for a northern prairie Mollisol

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Soil respiration occurs at depths below the surface, but belowground data are lacking to support multilayer models of soil CO2 and N2O emissions. In particular, Q10s for CO2 and N2O within soil profiles are needed to determine if temperature sensitivities calculated at the surface are similar to th...

  15. Biochar reduces efficiency of nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dymethylpyrazole phospate (DMPP) mitigating N2O emissions.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fuertes-Mendizábal, Teresa; Huérfano, Ximena; Menéndez, Sergio; González-Murua, Carmen; Begoña González-Moro, Mª; Ippolito, James; Kamann, Claudia; Wrage-Mönnig, Nicole; Borchard, Nils; Cayuela, Maria Luz; Spokas, Kurt; Sigua, Gilbert; Novak, Jeff; Estavillo, José Mª

    2017-04-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is the strongest greenhouse gas associated with agricultural soils. Current agricultural practices, based on the use of N fertilizers, can lead to environmental N losses, with some losses occurring as N2O emissions. Among the strategies suggested by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to decrease N losses through agriculture is the utilization of nitrification inhibitors, such as DMPP (3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate). This compound inhibits nitrification, thus reducing N2O emissions. However, the efficiency of DMPP might be affected by soil amendments. One soil amendment is biochar, which typically increases soil C, can reduce N2O emissions, affect the retention of water, and alter the C and N cycle. Nevertheless, these effects are not uniformly observed across varying soil types, N fertilization schemes and biochar properties. Assuming that both DMPP and biochars with C/N > 30 ratios are presumably able to reduce soil N2O emissions, the aim of this study was to evaluate the synergic effect of a woody biochar applied in combination with DMPP on N2O emissions. For this purpose, a laboratory incubation study was conducted with a silt loam grassland soil and a biochar obtained from Pinus taeda at 500°C. The experimental design consisted of an arrangement including two biochar levels (0 and 2% (w/w)), three fertilization levels (unfertilized, fertilized and fertilized+DMPP) and two soil water content levels (40% and 80% of water filled pore space, WFPS), giving rise to 12 different individual treatments with four replications of each treatment. Soil N2O emissions were monitored over the incubation period (163 days). Results showed that DMPP reduced N2O emissions to levels comparable to the unfertilized controls. Biochar showed ability to mitigate N2O emissions only at the low soil water content (40% WFPS). However, when DMPP was applied to the biochar amended soil, a counteracting effect was observed, since the reduction in N2O emissions

  16. Yield-scaled N2O emissions were effectively reduced by biochar amendment of sandy loam soil under maize - wheat rotation in the North China Plain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Niu, Yuhui; Chen, Zengming; Müller, Christoph; Zaman, Monhammad M.; Kim, Donggill; Yu, Hongyan; Ding, Weixin

    2017-12-01

    It is increasingly recognized that the addition of biochar to soil has potential to mitigate climate change and increase soil fertility by enhancing carbon (C) storage. However, the effect of biochar on yield and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from upland fields remains unclear. In this study, a one-year field experiment was conducted in an area of calcareous fluvo-aquic soil to assess and quantify the effect of maize straw biochar in reducing N2O loss during 2014-2015 in the North China Plain. Eight treatments were designed as follows: no nitrogen (N) fertilizer (control, CK); biochar application at rates of 3 (B3), 6 (B6) and 12 (B12) t ha-1; chemical fertilizer (NPK) application at 200 kg N ha-1 (F); and fertilizer plus biochar application at rates of 3 (FB3), 6 (FB6) and 12 (FB12) t ha-1. Crop yield, N2O fluxes, soil mineral N concentrations, and soil auxiliary parameters were measured following the application of treatments during each season. During the maize growing season, N2O emission was 0.57 kg N2O-N ha-1 under CK treatment, and increased to 0.88, 0.93 and 1.10 kg N2O-N ha-1 under B3, B6 and B12, respectively. In contrast, N2O emissions were significantly reduced by 31.4-39.9% (P < 0.05) under FB treatments compared with F, and the N2O emission factor of the applied N was reduced from 1.36% under F to 0.71-0.85% under FB. There was also a significant interaction effect of fertilizer and biochar on N2O emissions (P < 0.01). During the wheat growing season, biochar had no effect on N2O emissions regardless of the fertilizer regime. Biochar application did not affect maize yield; however, a significant increase in wheat yield of 16.6-25.9% (P < 0.05) was observed without N fertilization. Nevertheless, a reduction in wheat yield was measured at a biochar rate of 12 t ha-1 with fertilization. Overall, under maize cropping, N2O emissions per unit yield of grain, biomass, grain N and biomass N (yield-scaled N2O emissions) were significantly reduced by 32

  17. N2O and CO2 emissions following repeated application of organic and mineral N fertiliser from a vegetable crop rotation.

    PubMed

    De Rosa, Daniele; Rowlings, David W; Biala, Johannes; Scheer, Clemens; Basso, Bruno; Grace, Peter R

    2018-05-11

    Accounting for nitrogen (N) release from organic amendments (OA) can reduce the use of synthetic N-fertiliser, sustain crop production, and potentially reduce soil borne greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. However, it is difficult to assess the GHG mitigation potential for OA as a substitute of N-fertiliser over the long term due to only part of the organic N added to soil is being released in the first year after application. High-resolution nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions monitored from a horticultural crop rotation over 2.5 years from conventional urea application rates were compared to treatments receiving an annual application of raw and composted chicken manure combined with conventional and reduced N-fertiliser rates. The repeated application of composted manure did not increase annual N 2 O emissions while the application of raw manure resulted in N 2 O emissions up to 35.2 times higher than the zero N fertiliser treatment and up to 4.7 times higher than conventional N-fertiliser rate due to an increase in C and N availability following the repeated application of raw OA. The main factor driving N 2 O emissions was the incorporation of organic material accompanied by high soil moisture while the application of synthetic N-fertiliser induced only short-term N 2 O emission pulse. The average annual N 2 O emission factor calculated accounting for the total N applied including OA was equal to 0.27 ± 0.17%, 3.7 times lower than the IPCC default value. Accounting for the estimated N release from OA only enabled a more realistic N 2 O emission factor to be defined for organically amended field that was equal to 0.48 ± 0.3%. This study demonstrated that accounting for the N released from repeated application of composted rather than raw manure can be a viable pathway to reduce N 2 O emissions and maintain soil fertility. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  18. [Effect of carbon substrate concentration on N2, N2O, NO, CO2, and CH4 emissions from a paddy soil in anaerobic condition].

    PubMed

    Chen, Nuo; Liao, Ting-ting; Wang, Rui; Zheng, Xun-hua; Hu, Rong-gui; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus

    2014-09-01

    Understanding the effects of carbon and nitrogen substrates concentrations on the emissions of denitrification gases including nitrogen (N2) , nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) from anaerobic paddy soils is believed to be helpful for development of greenhouse gas mitigation strategies. Moreover, understanding the quantitative dependence of denitrification products compositions on carbon substrate concentration could provide some key parameters or parameterization scheme for developing process-oriented model(s) of nitrogen transformation. Using a silt loam soil collected from a paddy field, we investigated the influence of carbon substrate concentration on the emissions of the denitrification gases, CO2 and CH4 from anaerobically incubated soils by setting two treatments: control (CK) with initial soil nitrate and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations of ~ 50 mg.kg-1 and -28 mg kg-1 , respectively; and DOC added (C + ) with initial soil nitrate and DOC concentrations of ~50 mg.kg-1 and ~300 mg.kg-1 , respectively. The emissions of denitrification gases, CO2 and CH4, as well as concentrations of carbon and nitrogen substrates for each treatment were dynamically measured, using the gas-flow-soil-core technique and a paralleling substrate monitoring system. The results showed that CH4 emission was not observed in CK treatment while observed in C treatment. Aggregate emission of greenhouse gases for C + treatment was significantly higher comparing with the CK treatment (P <0. 01). The mass fractions of NO, N20 and N2 emissions in total nitrogen gases emissions were approximately 9% , 35% and 56% for CK treatment, respectively; and approximately 31% , 50% and 19% for C+ treatment, respectively, with significant differences between these two treatments (P < 0.01). The results indicated that carbon substrate concentrations can significantly change the composition of nitrogen gas emissions. The results also implicated

  19. Potential short-term losses of N2O and N2 from high concentrations of biogas digestate in arable soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fiedler, Sebastian Rainer; Augustin, Jürgen; Wrage-Mönnig, Nicole; Jurasinski, Gerald; Gusovius, Bertram; Glatzel, Stephan

    2017-09-01

    Biogas digestate (BD) is increasingly used as organic fertilizer, but has a high potential for NH3 losses. Its proposed injection into soils as a countermeasure has been suggested to promote the generation of N2O, leading to a potential trade-off. Furthermore, the effect of high nutrient concentrations on N2 losses as they may appear after injection of BD into soil has not yet been evaluated. Hence, we performed an incubation experiment with soil cores in a helium-oxygen atmosphere to examine the influence of soil substrate (loamy sand, clayey silt), water-filled pore space (WFPS; 35, 55, 75 %) and application rate (0, 17.6 and 35.2 mL BD per soil core, 250 cm3) on the emission of N2O, N2 and CO2 after the usage of high loads of BD. To determine the potential capacity for gaseous losses, we applied anaerobic conditions by purging with helium for the last 24 h of incubation. Immediate N2O and N2 emissions as well as the N2 / (N2O+N2) product ratio depended on soil type and increased with WFPS, indicating a crucial role of soil gas diffusivity for the formation and emission of nitrogenous gases in agricultural soils. However, emissions did not increase with the application rate of BD. This is probably due to an inhibitory effect of the high NH4+ content of BD on nitrification. Our results suggest a larger potential for N2O formation immediately following BD injection in the fine-textured clayey silt compared to the coarse loamy sand. By contrast, the loamy sand showed a higher potential for N2 production under anaerobic conditions. Our results suggest that short-term N losses of N2O and N2 after injection may be higher than probable losses of NH3 following surface application of BD.

  20. The effects of nitrogen fertilization on N2O emissions from a rubber plantation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Wen-Jun; Ji, Hong-Li; Zhu, Jing; Zhang, Yi-Ping; Sha, Li-Qing; Liu, Yun-Tong; Zhang, Xiang; Zhao, Wei; Dong, Yu-Xin; Bai, Xiao-Long; Lin, You-Xin; Zhang, Jun-Hui; Zheng, Xun-Hua

    2016-06-01

    To gain the effects of N fertilizer applications on N2O emissions and local climate change in fertilized rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations in the tropics, we measured N2O fluxes from fertilized (75 kg N ha-1 yr-1) and unfertilized rubber plantations at Xishuangbanna in southwest China over a 2-year period. The N2O emissions from the fertilized and unfertilized plots were 4.0 and 2.5 kg N ha-1 yr-1, respectively, and the N2O emission factor was 1.96%. Soil moisture, soil temperature, and the area weighted mean ammoniacal nitrogen (NH4+-N) content controlled the variations in N2O flux from the fertilized and unfertilized rubber plantations. NH4+-N did not influence temporal changes in N2O emissions from the trench, slope, or terrace plots, but controlled spatial variations in N2O emissions among the treatments. On a unit area basis, the 100-year carbon dioxide equivalence of the fertilized rubber plantation N2O offsets 5.8% and 31.5% of carbon sink of the rubber plantation and local tropical rainforest, respectively. When entire land area in Xishuangbanna is considered, N2O emissions from fertilized rubber plantations offset 17.1% of the tropical rainforest’s carbon sink. The results show that if tropical rainforests are converted to fertilized rubber plantations, regional N2O emissions may enhance local climate warming.

  1. Comparison of N2O Emissions from Soils at Three Temperate Agricultural Sites

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Frolking, S. E.; Moiser, A. R.; Ojima, D. S.; Li, C.; Parton, W. J.; Potter, C. S.; Priesack, E.; Stenger, R.; Haberbosch, C.; Dorsch, P.; hide

    1997-01-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) flux simulations by four models were compared with year-round field measurements from five temperate agricultural sites in three countries. The field sites included an unfertilized, semi-arid rangeland with low N2O fluxes in eastern Colorado, USA; two fertilizer treatments (urea and nitrate) on a fertilized grass ley cut for silage in Scotland; and two fertilized, cultivated crop fields in Germany where N2O loss during the winter was quite high. The models used were daily trace gas versions of the CENTURY model, DNDC, ExpertN, and the NASA-Ames version of the CASA model. These models included similar components (soil physics, decomposition, plant growth, and nitrogen transformations), but in some cases used very different algorithms for these processes. All models generated similar results for the general cycling of nitrogen through the agro-ecosystems, but simulated nitrogen trace gas fluxes were quite different. In most cases the simulated N20 fluxes were within a factor of about 2 of the observed annual fluxes, but even when models produced similar N2O fluxes they often produced very different estimates of gaseous N loss as nitric oxide (NO), dinitrogen (N2), and ammonia (NH3). Accurate simulation of soil moisture appears to be a key requirement for reliable simulation of N2O emissions. All models simulated the general pattern of low background fluxes with high fluxes following fertilization at the Scottish sites, but they could not (or were not designed to) accurately capture the observed effects of different fertilizer types on N2O flux. None of the models were able to reliably generate large pulses of N2O during brief winter thaws that were observed at the two German sites. All models except DNDC simulated very low N2O fluxes for the dry site in Colorado. The US Trace Gas Network (TRAGNET) has provided a mechanism for this model and site intercomparison. Additional intercomparisons are needed with these and other models and additional data

  2. Effects of tillage practice on soil structure, N2O emissions and economics in cereal production under current socio-economic conditions in central Bosnia and Herzegovina

    PubMed Central

    Sitaula, Bishal Kumar; Čustović, Hamid; Žurovec, Jasminka; Dörsch, Peter

    2017-01-01

    Conservation tillage is expected to have a positive effect on soil physical properties, soil Carbon (C) storage, while reducing fuel, labour and machinery costs. However, reduced tillage could increase soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and offset the expected gains from increased C sequestration. To date, conservation tillage is barely practiced or studied in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH). Here, we report a field study on the short-term effects of reduced (RT) and no tillage (NT) on N2O emission dynamics, yield-scaled N2O emissions, soil structure and the economics of cereal production, as compared with conventional tillage (CT). The field experiment was conducted in the Sarajevo region on a clayey loam under typical climatic conditions for humid, continental BH. N2O emissions were monitored in a Maize-Barley rotation over two cropping seasons. Soil structure was studied at the end of the second season. In the much wetter 2014, N2O emission were in the order of CT > RT > NT, while in the drier 2015, the order was RT > CT > NT. The emission factors were within or slightly above the uncertainty range of the IPCC Tier 1 factor, if taking account for the N input from the cover crop (alfalfa) preceding the first experimental year. Saturated soils in spring, formation of soil crusts and occasional droughts adversely affected yields, particularly in the second year (barley). In 2014, yield-scaled N2O emissions ranged from 83.2 to 161.7 g N Mg-1 grain (corn) but were much greater in the second year due to crop failure (barley). RT had the smallest yield-scaled N2O emission in both years. NT resulted in economically inacceptable returns, due to the increased costs of weed control and low yields in both years. The reduced number of operations in RT reduced production costs and generated positive net returns. Therefore, RT could potentially provide agronomic and environmental benefits in crop production in BH. PMID:29117229

  3. Effects of tillage practice on soil structure, N2O emissions and economics in cereal production under current socio-economic conditions in central Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    PubMed

    Žurovec, Ognjen; Sitaula, Bishal Kumar; Čustović, Hamid; Žurovec, Jasminka; Dörsch, Peter

    2017-01-01

    Conservation tillage is expected to have a positive effect on soil physical properties, soil Carbon (C) storage, while reducing fuel, labour and machinery costs. However, reduced tillage could increase soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and offset the expected gains from increased C sequestration. To date, conservation tillage is barely practiced or studied in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH). Here, we report a field study on the short-term effects of reduced (RT) and no tillage (NT) on N2O emission dynamics, yield-scaled N2O emissions, soil structure and the economics of cereal production, as compared with conventional tillage (CT). The field experiment was conducted in the Sarajevo region on a clayey loam under typical climatic conditions for humid, continental BH. N2O emissions were monitored in a Maize-Barley rotation over two cropping seasons. Soil structure was studied at the end of the second season. In the much wetter 2014, N2O emission were in the order of CT > RT > NT, while in the drier 2015, the order was RT > CT > NT. The emission factors were within or slightly above the uncertainty range of the IPCC Tier 1 factor, if taking account for the N input from the cover crop (alfalfa) preceding the first experimental year. Saturated soils in spring, formation of soil crusts and occasional droughts adversely affected yields, particularly in the second year (barley). In 2014, yield-scaled N2O emissions ranged from 83.2 to 161.7 g N Mg-1 grain (corn) but were much greater in the second year due to crop failure (barley). RT had the smallest yield-scaled N2O emission in both years. NT resulted in economically inacceptable returns, due to the increased costs of weed control and low yields in both years. The reduced number of operations in RT reduced production costs and generated positive net returns. Therefore, RT could potentially provide agronomic and environmental benefits in crop production in BH.

  4. Slowdown of N2O emissions from China's croplands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, F.; Shang, Z.; Ciais, P.; Piao, S.; Tian, H.; Saikawa, E.; Zaehle, S.; Del Grosso, S. J.; Galloway, J. N.

    2016-12-01

    To feed the increasing population, China has experienced a rapid agricultural development over past decades, accompanied by increased fertilizer consumptions in croplands, but the magnitude, trend, and causes of the associated nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions has remain unclear. The primary sources of this uncertainty are conflicting estimates of fertilizer consumption and emission factors, the latter being uncertain because of very few regional representativeness of the Nrate-flux relationships in China. Here we re-estimate China's N2O emissions from croplands using three different methods: flux upscaling technique, process-based models and atmospheric inversion, and also analyze the corresponding drivers using an attribution approach. The three methods produce similar estimates of N2O emissions in the range of 0.67 ± 0.08 to 0.62± 0.11 Tg nitrogen per year, which is 29% larger than the estimates by the Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) that is adopted by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as the emission baseline and twofold larger than the latest Chinese national report submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, but the revised trend slows down after 2005. Fertilizer N application per area is the dominant factor driving the increase in N2O emissions across most cropping regions from 1990 to 2004, but climate-induced change of emission factors has also controlled N2O flux from 2005 onwards. Our findings suggest that, as precipitation would increase in North China but decline in the South in future, EF will increasingly control China's agri. soil emissions of N2O, unless offset by larger reductions of fertilizer consumptions.

  5. Simulating N2O emissions under different tillage systems of irrigated corn using RZ-Shaw model

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is potent greenhouse gas (GHG) and agriculture is a global source of N2O emissions from soil fertility management. Yet emissions vary by agronomic practices and environmental factors that govern soil moisture and temperature. Ecosystem models are important tools to estimate N2O e...

  6. Soil N2O and NO emissions from land use and land-use change in the tropics and subtropics: a meta-analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Lent, J.; Hergoualc'h, K.; Verchot, L. V.

    2015-08-01

    Deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics may substantially alter soil N-oxide emissions. It is particularly relevant to accurately quantify those changes to properly account for them in a REDD+ climate change mitigation scheme that provides financial incentives to reduce the emissions. With this study we provide updated land use (LU)-based emission rates (103 studies, 387 N2O and 111 NO case studies), determine the trend and magnitude of flux changes with land-use change (LUC) using a meta-analysis approach (43 studies, 132 N2O and 37 NO cases) and evaluate biophysical drivers of N2O and NO emissions and emission changes for the tropics. The average N2O and NO emissions in intact upland tropical forest amounted to 2.0 ± 0.2 (n = 88) and 1.7 ± 0.5 (n = 36) kg N ha-1 yr-1, respectively. In agricultural soils annual N2O emissions were exponentially related to N fertilization rates and average water-filled pore space (WFPS) whereas in non-agricultural sites a Gaussian response to WFPS fit better the observed NO and N2O emissions. The sum of soil N2O and NO fluxes and the ratio of N2O to NO increased exponentially and significantly with increasing nitrogen availability (expressed as NO3-/[NO3-+NH4+]) and WFPS, respectively; following the conceptual Hole-In-the-Pipe model. Nitrous and nitric oxide fluxes did not overall increase significantly as a result of LUC (Hedges's d of 0.11 ± 0.11 and 0.16 ± 0.19, respectively), however individual LUC trajectories or practices did. Nitrous oxide fluxes increased significantly after intact upland forest conversion to croplands (Hedges's d = 0.78 ± 0.24) and NO increased significantly following the conversion of low forest cover (secondary forest younger than 30 years, woodlands, shrublands) (Hedges's d of 0.44 ± 0.13). Forest conversion to fertilized systems significantly and highly raised both N2O and NO emission rates (Hedges's d of 1.03 ± 0.23 and 0.52 ± 0.09, respectively). Changes in nitrogen availability

  7. Sensitivity of terrestrial N2O emission to atmospheric nitrogen deposition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ito, A.; Sudo, K.; Nishina, K.; Ishijima, K.; Inatomi, M. I.

    2015-12-01

    Terrestrial N2O emission is generated from several nitrogen sources including biological fixation, agricultural fertilizer, and atmospheric deposition. There remain large uncertainties how much N2O is produced from atmospheric deposition. This is a crosscutting issue between global warming and atmospheric pollution. In this study, we assessed the sensitivity of global terrestrial N2O emission to atmospheric deposition, using a process-based model VISIT. In the model, N2O emission is estimated separately for nitrification and denitrfication with the NGAS parameterization. The global simulations were conducted from 1901 to 2014 at spatial resolution of 0.5 degree. Atmospheric deposition of ammonium, NOy, and organic nitrogen simulated by the atmospheric chemistry model CHASER from the pre-industrial time to the present was used. Annual total nitrogen deposition was estimated to increase from 27 Tg N in 1901 to 77 Tg N in 2014. The total N2O emission was also estimated to increase in the period, but it was largely attributable to the increased emission from croplands. We need further investigations for the N2O emission from natural soils, which may be nitrogen-limited.

  8. Modeling the effects of different N fertilizer rates on N2O emissions and nitrate leaching from arable soils in Korea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Y.; Berger, S.; Tenhunen, J. D.; Gebauer, G.; Kiese, R.

    2012-12-01

    Process-based biogeochemical models can be used to predict the impact of various agricultural management practices on plant nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen losses to the environment such as greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate leaching by analyzing the interactions between management practices, primary drivers such as climate, soil properties, crop types, etc., and biogeochemical reactions. In this study we applied the Landscape-DNDC model, which combines and uniforms functions of the agricultural-DNDC and the Forest-DNDC for simulation of C and N turnover, GHG emissions, nitrate leaching, and plant growth for a Korean arable field cultivated with radish (Raphanus sativus L.). The annual average temperature is app. 8.5°C and the annual precipitation is app. 1,500 mm. According to farmers practice the study field received a basal fertilizer application of app. 200 kg N ha-1 before setting up four fertilizer treatments i.e. additionally 50, 150, 250 and 350 kg N ha-1. All N treatment plots were tilled a week after application of specific N fertilizer in order to make row and interrow. Just before radish seeding rows were covered with black plastic mulch which was removed after harvest. In spite the widespread usage of black mulch in Korea or even Asia; so far biogeochemical models do not consider impacts of mulch on soil environmental conditions and soil biogeochemistry. Based on field measurements we adjusted input information and used only half of the annual precipitation and the maximum temperature for simulation of row conditions, whereas the actual weather data were used for the interrow simulations. Simulated N2O emissions agreed well with measurements; however peak emissions after fertilization were slightly underestimated in row and interrow. Annual N2O emissions of the fertilizer treatments increased with increasing fertilization rates from around 1.5 to 3 kg N ha-1 in the row and lower emissions of app. 1.5 kg N ha-1 (for all N treatments) in the

  9. Increased N2O emission by inhibited plant growth in the CO2 leaked soil environment: Simulation of CO2 leakage from carbon capture and storage (CCS) site.

    PubMed

    Kim, You Jin; He, Wenmei; Ko, Daegeun; Chung, Haegeun; Yoo, Gayoung

    2017-12-31

    Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations is continuing to increase due to anthropogenic activity, and geological CO 2 storage via carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology can be an effective way to mitigate global warming due to CO 2 emission. However, the possibility of CO 2 leakage from reservoirs and pipelines exists, and such leakage could negatively affect organisms in the soil environment. Therefore, to determine the impacts of geological CO 2 leakage on plant and soil processes, we conducted a greenhouse study in which plants and soils were exposed to high levels of soil CO 2 . Cabbage, which has been reported to be vulnerable to high soil CO 2 , was grown under BI (no injection), NI (99.99% N 2 injection), and CI (99.99% CO 2 injection). Mean soil CO 2 concentration for CI was 66.8-76.9% and the mean O 2 concentrations in NI and CI were 6.6-12.7%, which could be observed in the CO 2 leaked soil from the pipelines connected to the CCS sites. The soil N 2 O emission was increased by 286% in the CI, where NO 3 - -N concentration was 160% higher compared to that in the control. This indicates that higher N 2 O emission from CO 2 leakage could be due to enhanced nitrification process. Higher NO 3 - -N content in soil was related to inhibited plant metabolism. In the CI treatment, chlorophyll content decreased and chlorosis appeared after 8th day of injection. Due to the inhibited root growth, leaf water and nitrogen contents were consistently lowered by 15% under CI treatment. Our results imply that N 2 O emission could be increased by the secondary effects of CO 2 leakage on plant metabolism. Hence, monitoring the environmental changes in rhizosphere would be very useful for impact assessment of CCS technology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Evaluating four N2O emission algorithms in RZWQM2 in response to N rate on an irrigated corn field

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils are major contributors to greenhouse gases. Correctly assessing the effects of the interactions between agricultural practices and environmental factors on N2O emissions is required for better crop and nitrogen (N) management. We used an enhanced...

  11. Affect of dairy cow manure, urine, and slurry on N<2>O, CO<2>, and CH<4> emissions from Pasture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dorich, C.; Varner, R. K.; Contosta, A.; Li, C.

    2012-12-01

    Agriculture is responsible for roughly 25% of total anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) globally. These agricultural emissions are primarily in the form of methane (CH<4>) and nitrous oxide (N<2>O) where they account for roughly 40 and 80 percent of anthropogenic emissions of their gas, respectively. Measuring and modeling of these gases has remained difficult however as management varies between farms and N<2>O fluxes have been difficult to link to climate and site conditions. Most of these N<2>O fluxes occur during soil freeze-thaw and wetting-drying cycles as well as fertilizer addition moments, all of which are difficult to measure and harder yet to model. Thus the N<2>O flux remains poorly understood and may be underestimated in literature. This provides a problem in agriculture emissions as N use efficiency has been suggested as a proxy for farm scale emissions. On a farm scale these large fluxes of N<2>O from soil "hot moments" can account for up to 60% of the total GHG emissions and thus it is essential to capture the full flux. At the University of New Hampshire Agriculture Experiment Station's (NHAES) organic dairy farm a manure fertilizer experiment was conducted. Manure, urine, and slurry from the UNH dairy farms were collected, analyzed, and applied to pasture plots in May 2012 in order to examine N<2>O flux hot moments. Sites were measured at least bi-weekly with manual static flux chambers taken with soil temperature and moisture along with measurements for soil inorganic N, soil C:N, plant biomass and C:N, and soil pH. Gas samples were analyzed for CO<2>, CH<4>, and N<2>O. Emissions were compared with other fluxes from the farm ecosystem including; corn silage, free stall bedding, composting and solid manure, and a manure slurry tank.

  12. Optimizing rice plant photosynthate allocation reduces N2O emissions from paddy fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jiang, Yu; Huang, Xiaomin; Zhang, Xin; Zhang, Xingyue; Zhang, Yi; Zheng, Chengyan; Deng, Aixing; Zhang, Jun; Wu, Lianhai; Hu, Shuijin; Zhang, Weijian

    2016-07-01

    Rice paddies are a major source of anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, especially under alternate wetting-drying irrigation and high N input. Increasing photosynthate allocation to the grain in rice (Oryza sativa L.) has been identified as an effective strategy of genetic and agronomic innovation for yield enhancement; however, its impacts on N2O emissions are still unknown. We conducted three independent but complementary experiments (variety, mutant study, and spikelet clipping) to examine the impacts of rice plant photosynthate allocation on paddy N2O emissions. The three experiments showed that N2O fluxes were significantly and negatively correlated with the ratio of grain yield to total aboveground biomass, known as the harvest index (HI) in agronomy (P < 0.01). Biomass accumulation and N uptake after anthesis were significantly and positively correlated with HI (P < 0.05). Reducing photosynthate allocation to the grain by spikelet clipping significantly increased white root biomass and soil dissolved organic C and reduced plant N uptake, resulting in high soil denitrification potential (P < 0.05). Our findings demonstrate that optimizing photosynthate allocation to the grain can reduce paddy N2O emissions through decreasing belowground C input and increasing plant N uptake, suggesting the potential for genetic and agronomic efforts to produce more rice with less N2O emissions.

  13. Acidophilic denitrifiers dominate the N2O production in a 100-year-old tea orchard soil.

    PubMed

    Huang, Ying; Long, Xi-En; Chapman, Stephen J; Yao, Huaiying

    2015-03-01

    Aerobic denitrification is the main process for high N2O production in acid tea field soil. However, the biological mechanisms for the high emission are not fully understood. In this study, we examined N2O emission and denitrifier communities in 100-year-old tea soils with four pH levels (3.71, 5.11, 6.19, and 7.41) and four nitrate concentration (0, 50, 200, and 1000 mg kg(-1) of NO3 (-)-N) addition. Results showed the highest N2O emission (10.1 mg kg(-1) over 21 days) from the soil at pH 3.71 with 1000 mg kg(-1) NO3 (-) addition. The N2O reduction and denitrification enzyme activity in the acid soils (pH <7.0) were significantly higher than that of soils at pH 7.41. Moreover, TRF 78 of nirS and TRF 187 of nosZ dominated in soils of pH 3.71, suggesting an important role of acidophilic denitrifiers in N2O production and reduction. CCA analysis also showed a negative correlation between the dominant denitrifier ecotypes (nirS TRF 78, nosZ TRF 187) and soil pH. The representative sequences were identical to those of cultivated denitrifiers from acidic soils via phylogenetic tree analysis. Our results showed that the acidophilic denitrifier adaptation to the acid environment results in high N2O emission in this highly acidic tea soil.

  14. The contribution of hydroxylamine content to spatial variability of N2O formation in soil of a Norway spruce forest

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Shurong; Herbst, Michael; Bol, Roland; Gottselig, Nina; Pütz, Thomas; Weymann, Daniel; Wiekenkamp, Inge; Vereecken, Harry; Brüggemann, Nicolas

    2016-04-01

    Hydroxylamine (NH2OH), a reactive intermediate of several microbial nitrogen turnover processes, is a potential precursor of nitrous oxide (N2O) formation in the soil. However, the contribution of soil NH2OH to soil N2O emission rates in natural ecosystems is unclear. Here, we determined the spatial variability of NH2OH content and potential N2O emission rates of organic (Oh) and mineral (Ah) soil layers of a Norway spruce forest, using a recently developed analytical method for the determination of soil NH2OH content, combined with a geostatistical Kriging approach. Potential soil N2O emission rates were determined by laboratory incubations under oxic conditions, followed by gas chromatographic analysis and complemented by ancillary measurements of soil characteristics. Stepwise multiple regressions demonstrated that the potential N2O emission rates, NH2OH and nitrate (NO3-) content were spatially highly correlated, with hotspots for all three parameters observed in the headwater of a small creek flowing through the sampling area. In contrast, soil ammonium (NH4+) was only weakly correlated with potential N2O emission rates, and was excluded from the multiple regression models. While soil NH2OH content explained the potential soil N2O emission rates best for both layers, also NO3- and Mn content turned out to be significant parameters explaining N2O formation in both soil layers. The Kriging approach was improved markedly by the addition of the co-variable information of soil NH2OH and NO3- content. The results indicate that determination of soil NH2OH content could provide crucial information for the prediction of the spatial variability of soil N2O emissions.

  15. Linking Annual N2O Emission in Organic Soils to Mineral Nitrogen Input as Estimated by Heterotrophic Respiration and Soil C/N Ratio

    PubMed Central

    Mu, Zhijian; Huang, Aiying; Ni, Jiupai; Xie, Deti

    2014-01-01

    Organic soils are an important source of N2O, but global estimates of these fluxes remain uncertain because measurements are sparse. We tested the hypothesis that N2O fluxes can be predicted from estimates of mineral nitrogen input, calculated from readily-available measurements of CO2 flux and soil C/N ratio. From studies of organic soils throughout the world, we compiled a data set of annual CO2 and N2O fluxes which were measured concurrently. The input of soil mineral nitrogen in these studies was estimated from applied fertilizer nitrogen and organic nitrogen mineralization. The latter was calculated by dividing the rate of soil heterotrophic respiration by soil C/N ratio. This index of mineral nitrogen input explained up to 69% of the overall variability of N2O fluxes, whereas CO2 flux or soil C/N ratio alone explained only 49% and 36% of the variability, respectively. Including water table level in the model, along with mineral nitrogen input, further improved the model with the explanatory proportion of variability in N2O flux increasing to 75%. Unlike grassland or cropland soils, forest soils were evidently nitrogen-limited, so water table level had no significant effect on N2O flux. Our proposed approach, which uses the product of soil-derived CO2 flux and the inverse of soil C/N ratio as a proxy for nitrogen mineralization, shows promise for estimating regional or global N2O fluxes from organic soils, although some further enhancements may be warranted. PMID:24798347

  16. Linking annual N2O emission in organic soils to mineral nitrogen input as estimated by heterotrophic respiration and soil C/N ratio.

    PubMed

    Mu, Zhijian; Huang, Aiying; Ni, Jiupai; Xie, Deti

    2014-01-01

    Organic soils are an important source of N2O, but global estimates of these fluxes remain uncertain because measurements are sparse. We tested the hypothesis that N2O fluxes can be predicted from estimates of mineral nitrogen input, calculated from readily-available measurements of CO2 flux and soil C/N ratio. From studies of organic soils throughout the world, we compiled a data set of annual CO2 and N2O fluxes which were measured concurrently. The input of soil mineral nitrogen in these studies was estimated from applied fertilizer nitrogen and organic nitrogen mineralization. The latter was calculated by dividing the rate of soil heterotrophic respiration by soil C/N ratio. This index of mineral nitrogen input explained up to 69% of the overall variability of N2O fluxes, whereas CO2 flux or soil C/N ratio alone explained only 49% and 36% of the variability, respectively. Including water table level in the model, along with mineral nitrogen input, further improved the model with the explanatory proportion of variability in N2O flux increasing to 75%. Unlike grassland or cropland soils, forest soils were evidently nitrogen-limited, so water table level had no significant effect on N2O flux. Our proposed approach, which uses the product of soil-derived CO2 flux and the inverse of soil C/N ratio as a proxy for nitrogen mineralization, shows promise for estimating regional or global N2O fluxes from organic soils, although some further enhancements may be warranted.

  17. Interannual Variability in Soil Trace Gas (CO2, N2O, NO) Fluxes and Analysis of Controllers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Potter, C.; Klooster, S.; Peterson, David L. (Technical Monitor)

    1997-01-01

    Interannual variability in flux rates of biogenic trace gases must be quantified in order to understand the differences between short-term trends and actual long-term change in biosphere-atmosphere interactions. We simulated interannual patterns (1983-1988) of global trace gas fluxes from soils using the NASA Ames model version of CASA (Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach) in a transient simulation mode. This ecosystem model has been recalibrated for simulations driven by satellite vegetation index data from the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) over the mid-1980s. The predicted interannual pattern of soil heterotropic CO2 emissions indicates that relatively large increases in global carbon flux from soils occurred about three years following the strong El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event of 1983. Results for the years 1986 and 1987 showed an annual increment of +1 Pg (1015 g) C-CO2 emitted from soils, which tended to dampen the estimated global increase in net ecosystem production with about a two year lag period relative to plant carbon fixation. Zonal discrimination of model results implies that 80-90 percent of the yearly positive increments in soil CO2 emission during 1986-87 were attributable to soil organic matter decomposition in the low-latitudes (between 30 N and 30 S). Soils of the northern middle-latitude zone (between 30 N and 60 N) accounted for the residual of these annual increments. Total annual emissions of nitrogen trace gases (N2O and NO) from soils were estimated to vary from 2-4 percent over the time period modeled, a level of variability which is consistent with predicted interannual fluctuations in global soil CO2 fluxes. Interannual variability of precipitation in tropical and subtropical zones (30 N to 20 S appeared to drive the dynamic inverse relationship between higher annual emissions of NO versus emissions of N2O. Global mean emission rates from natural (heterotrophic) soil sources over the period modeled (1983

  18. Soil biochar amendment shapes the composition of N2O-reducing microbial communities.

    PubMed

    Harter, Johannes; Weigold, Pascal; El-Hadidi, Mohamed; Huson, Daniel H; Kappler, Andreas; Behrens, Sebastian

    2016-08-15

    Soil biochar amendment has been described as a promising tool to improve soil quality, sequester carbon, and mitigate nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. N2O is a potent greenhouse gas. The main sources of N2O in soils are microbially-mediated nitrogen transformation processes such as nitrification and denitrification. While previous studies have focused on the link between N2O emission mitigation and the abundance and activity of N2O-reducing microorganisms in biochar-amended soils, the impact of biochar on the taxonomic composition of the nosZ gene carrying soil microbial community has not been subject of systematic study to date. We used 454 pyrosequencing in order to study the microbial diversity in biochar-amended and biochar-free soil microcosms. We sequenced bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicons as well as fragments of common (typical) nosZ genes and the recently described 'atypical' nosZ genes. The aim was to describe biochar-induced shifts in general bacterial community diversity and taxonomic variations among the nosZ gene containing N2O-reducing microbial communities. While soil biochar amendment significantly altered the 16S rRNA gene-based community composition and structure, it also led to the development of distinct functional traits capable of N2O reduction containing typical and atypical nosZ genes related to nosZ genes found in Pseudomonas stutzeri and Pedobacter saltans, respectively. Our results showed that biochar amendment can affect the relative abundance and taxonomic composition of N2O-reducing functional microbial traits in soil. Thus these findings broaden our knowledge on the impact of biochar on soil microbial community composition and nitrogen cycling. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Controlling factors of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions at the field-scale in an agricultural slope

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vilain, Guillaume; Garnier, Josette; Tallec, Gaëlle; Tournebize, Julien; Cellier, Pierre; Flipo, Nicolas

    2010-05-01

    Agricultural practices widely contribute to the atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) concentration increase and are the major source of N2O which account for 24% of the global annual emission (IPCC, 2007). Soil nitrification and denitrification are the microbial processes responsible for the production of N2O, which also depends on soil characteristics and management. Besides their control by various factors, such as climate, soil conditions and management (content of NO3- and NH4+, soil water content, presence of degradable organic material…), the role of topography is less known although it can play an important role on N2O emissions (Izaurralde et al., 2004). Due to the scarcity of data on N2O direct vs. indirect emission rate from agriculture in the Seine Basin (Garnier et al., 2009), one of the objectives of the study conducted here was to determine the N2O emission rates of the various land use representative for the Seine Basin, in order to better assess the direct N2O emissions, and to explore controlling factor such as meteorology, topography, soil properties and crop successions. The main objective of this study was at the same time to characterize N2O fluxes variability along a transect from an agricultural plateau to a river and to analyze the influence of landscape position on these emissions. We conducted this study in the Orgeval catchment (Seine basin, France; between 48°47' and 48°55' N, and 03°00' and 03°55' E) from May 2008 to August 2009 on two agricultural fields cropped with wheat, barley, oats, corn. N2O fluxes were monitored from weekly to bimonthly using static manual chambers placed along the chosen transect in five different landscape positions from the plateau to the River. This study has shown that soil moisture (expressed as Water Filled Pore Space) and NO3- soil concentrations explained most of the N2O flux variability during the sampling period. Most of N2O was emitted directly after N fertilization application during a relatively

  20. Soil Emissions of N2O and NO in Agricultural Production Systems in the Upper Midwest U.S.: Management Controls and Measurement Issues (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Venterea, R. T.; Baker, J. M.

    2009-12-01

    Cropped fields in the upper Midwest have the potential to emit relatively large quantities of N2O and NO resulting from soil transformation of N fertilizers applied to crops such as corn and potatoes. The mitigation of N2O emissions may be an effective strategy for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. While the rate of N fertilizer application exerts some control over N trace gas emission rates, a variety of other management practices and environmental factors interact to regulate these emissions. Observation-based studies are essential for improving models, developing accurate inventories, and documenting offsets. Since 2003, we have been examining the effects of management factors including: tillage, crop rotation, irrigation, and fertilizer chemical form and application method on N2O and NO emissions from corn and potato production systems using chamber-based measurement techniques. A summary of our findings will be presented, including: Application of anhydrous ammonia resulted in twice the N2O emissions compared to urea fertilizer, and twice the NO emissions compared to liquid urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) fertilizer. Growing corn continuously compared to in rotation with soybeans did not alter the amount of N2O emitted during the corn growing season. Reduced tillage (RT), often promoted as a means of reducing carbon losses to the atmosphere, also altered soil N2O emissions. However, the impact of RT on N2O emissions was found to vary, in both magnitude and direction, as a function of N fertilizer management. In addition to these studies, our efforts to overcome some of the inherent limitations of chamber-based flux measurement techniques will be discussed.

  1. Automated CO2, CH4 and N2O Fluxes from Tree Stems and Soils: Magnitudes, Temporal Patterns and Drivers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barba, J.; Poyatos, R.; Vargas, R.

    2017-12-01

    The emissions of the main greenhouse gases (GHG; CO2, CH4 and N2O) through tree stems are still an uncertain component of the total GHG balance of forests. Despite that stem CO2 emissions have been studied for several decades, it is still unclear the drivers and spatiotemporal patterns of CH4 and N2O stem emissions. Additionally, it is unknown how stem emissions could be related to soil physiological processes or environmental conditions. We measured CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions hourly from April to July 2017 at two different heights (75 [LStem] and 150cm [HStem]) of bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis) trees and adjacent soil locations in a forested area in the Mid Atlantic of the USA. We designed an automated system to continuously measure the three greenhouse gases (GHG) in stems and soils. Stem and soil CO2 emissions showed similar seasonal patterns with an average of 6.56±0.09 (soil), 3.72±0.05 (LStem) and 2.47±0.04 µmols m-2 s-1 (HStem) (mean±95% CI). Soil temperature controlled CO2 fluxes at both daily and seasonal scales (R2>0.5 for all cases), but there was no clear effect of soil moisture. The stems were a clear CH4 source with emissions decreasing with height (0.35±0.02 and 0.25±0.01 nmols m-2 s-1 for LStem and HStem, respectively) with no apparent seasonal pattern, and no clear relationship with environmental drivers (e.g., temperature, moisture). In contrast, soil was a CH4 sink throughout the experiment (-0.55±0.02 nmols m-2 s-1) and its seasonal pattern responded to moisture changes. Despite soil and stem N2O emissions did not show a seasonal pattern or apparent dependency on temperature or moisture, they showed net N2O emissions with a decrease in emissions with stem height (0.29±0.05 for soil, 0.38±0.06 for LStem and 0.28±0.05 nmols m-2 s-1 for HStem). The three GHG emissions decreased with stem height at similar rates (33%, 28% and 27% for CO2, CH4 and N2O, respectively). These results suggest that the gases were not produced in the stem

  2. N loss to drain flow and N2O emissions from a corn-soybean rotation with winter rye.

    PubMed

    Gillette, K; Malone, R W; Kaspar, T C; Ma, L; Parkin, T B; Jaynes, D B; Fang, Q X; Hatfield, J L; Feyereisen, G W; Kersebaum, K C

    2018-03-15

    Anthropogenic perturbation of the global nitrogen cycle and its effects on the environment such as hypoxia in coastal regions and increased N 2 O emissions is of increasing, multi-disciplinary, worldwide concern, and agricultural production is a major contributor. Only limited studies, however, have simultaneously investigated NO 3 - losses to subsurface drain flow and N 2 O emissions under corn-soybean production. We used the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM) to evaluate NO 3 - losses to drain flow and N 2 O emissions in a corn-soybean system with a winter rye cover crop (CC) in central Iowa over a nine year period. The observed and simulated average drain flow N concentration reductions from CC were 60% and 54% compared to the no cover crop system (NCC). Average annual April through October cumulative observed and simulated N 2 O emissions (2004-2010) were 6.7 and 6.0kgN 2 O-Nha -1 yr -1 for NCC, and 6.2 and 7.2kgNha -1 for CC. In contrast to previous research, monthly N 2 O emissions were generally greatest when N loss to leaching were greatest, mostly because relatively high rainfall occurred during the months fertilizer was applied. N 2 O emission factors of 0.032 and 0.041 were estimated for NCC and CC using the tested model, which are similar to field results in the region. A local sensitivity analysis suggests that lower soil field capacity affects RZWQM simulations, which includes increased drain flow nitrate concentrations, increased N mineralization, and reduced soil water content. The results suggest that 1) RZWQM is a promising tool to estimate N 2 O emissions from subsurface drained corn-soybean rotations and to estimate the relative effects of a winter rye cover crop over a nine year period on nitrate loss to drain flow and 2) soil field capacity is an important parameter to model N mineralization and N loss to drain flow. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  3. The Impact of Iron on Soil N2O Production Depends on Oxygen Availability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, X.; Doane, T. A.; Burger, M.; Horwath, W. R.

    2014-12-01

    The continuous increase of nitrous oxide (N2O) abundance in the atmosphere is a global concern. Soils are both an important source and sink of N2O, which is produced and consumed through biological processes including ammonia oxidation, heterotrophic denitrification, codenitrification, and through abiotic processes such as chemodenitrification. Iron is the most abundant element in the earth and is also the most prevalent redox-active metal in the biosphere. Its role in both chemical and biochemical reactions in N biogeochemistry cycling is well recognized. However, iron's significance to N2O production is poorly understood, especially under varying O2 concentration. We examined N2O production under different O2 concentrations following amorphous iron (III) oxyhydroxide and ammonical N fertilizer additions in four soil slurries and two static soils (soil moisture was 50% of water holding capacity). Under 21% O2, the addition of iron (III) significantly decreased N2O production in all the soil slurries and static soils, while the opposite phenomenon was observed once the O2 concentration became limited (≤3% in the soil slurry and ≤0.5% in the static soil). Our results show that the influence of iron on soil N2O production depends on O2 availability, which is the dominant controller of N2O production pathways. We hypothesize that under ambient O2 conditions, iron can react with nitrite produced during ammonia oxidation, thus reducing the probability of NO2- being used by nitrifiers as electron acceptor in nitrifier denitrification. In contrast, under anaerobic conditions (O2<0.5%), less nitrite was detected in the presence of the iron addition. Under these conditions, iron may have inhibited N2O reductase, or reduced iron (II) reacted with nitrite, both of which would lead to greater release of N2O.These findings imply that management practices which focus on mitigating N2O emission should avoid the application of iron-rich materials such as biosolids when

  4. N2O emission from urine in the soil in the beef production in Southeast Brazil: soil moisture content and temperature effects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Simões Barneze, Arlete; Mancebo Mazzetto, Andre; Fernandes Zani, Caio; Siqueira Neto, Marcos; Clemente Cerri, Carlos

    2014-05-01

    Pasture expansion in Brazil has shown an increase in 4.5% per year, and a total cattle herd of about 200 millions in 2010. Associated to animal husbandry there are emissions of N2O (nitrous oxide) and other gases to the atmosphere. The liquid manure contributes to emitte 5% of the total N2O emissions. The urea content of cattle urine will readily hydrolyze to form ammonium after deposition to the soil. Nitrous oxide may then be emitted through the microbiological processes of nitrification and denitrification. Important factors can influence on these processes and consequently in nitrous oxide emissions, as soil water content and temperature (Bolan et al., 2004; Luo et al., 2008). The main goal of this research was to determine the soil water content and temperature influence on N2O emissions from urine depositions on the soil. In order to achieve the objective, soil incubation experiment was conducted in laboratory conditions at three levels of water-filled pore space (40%, 60% and 80% WFPS) and two temperatures (25ºC and 35ºC) with and without urine, with five replicates each. The soil used in this study was collected from the 0-10 cm layer of a grassland field in Southeast of Brazil and classified as Nitisols. For each measurement, the Kilner jar was hermetically sealed by replacing the lid and a first gas sample was immediately taken (time-zero, t0 sample) using a syringe and stored in a pre-evacuated gas vial. After 30 minutes the headspace of each jar was sampled again (time-thirty, t_30 sample). The lids were then removed and kept off until the next sampling day. Nitrous oxide concentrations in the sampled air were measured using a SRI Gas Chromatograph (Model 8610C). Gas fluxes were calculated by fitting linear regressions through the data collected at t0 and t_30 and were corrected for temperature and amount of soil incubated. Gas measurements were carried out up to 55 days. To determine the statistical significance, Tukey tests were carried out at 0

  5. Can conservation tillage reduce N2O emissions on cropland transitioning to organic vegetable production?

    PubMed

    Chen, Guihua; Kolb, Lauren; Cavigelli, Michel A; Weil, Ray R; Hooks, Cerruti R R

    2018-03-15

    Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is an important greenhouse gas and a catalyst of stratospheric ozone decay. Agricultural soils are the source of 75% of anthropogenic N 2 O emissions globally. Recently, significant attention has been directed at examining effects of conservation tillage on carbon sequestration in agricultural systems. However, limited knowledge is available regarding how these practices impact N 2 O emissions, especially for organic vegetable production systems. In this context, a three-year study was conducted in a well-drained sandy loam field transitioning to organic vegetable production in the Mid-Atlantic coastal plain of USA to investigate impacts of conservation tillage [strip till (ST) and no-till (NT)] and conventional tillage (CT) [with black plastic mulch (CT-BP) and bare-ground (CT-BG)] on N 2 O emissions. Each year, a winter cover crop mixture (forage radish: Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus, crimson clover: Trifolium incarnatum L., and rye: Secale cereale L.) was grown and flail-mowed in the spring. Nearly 80% of annual N 2 O-nitrogen (N) emissions occurred during the vegetable growing season for all treatments. Annual N 2 O-N emissions were greater in CT-BP than in ST and NT, and greater in CT-BG than in NT, but not different between CT-BG and CT-BP, ST and NT, or CT-BG and ST. Conventional tillage promoted N mineralization and plastic mulch increased soil temperature, which contributed to greater N 2 O-N fluxes. Though water filled porosity in NT was higher and correlated well with N 2 O-N fluxes, annual N 2 O-N emissions were lowest in NT suggesting a lack of substrates for nitrification and denitrification processes. Crop yield was lowest in NT in Year 1 and CT-BP in Year 3 but yield-scaled N 2 O-N emissions were consistently greatest in CT-BP and lowest in NT each year. Our results suggest that for coarse-textured soils in the coastal plain with winter cover crops, conservation tillage practices may reduce N 2 O emissions in organic

  6. Excessive use of nitrogen in Chinese agriculture results in high N2O/(N2O+N2) product ratio of denitrification, primarily due to acidification of the soils

    PubMed Central

    Qu, Zhi; Wang, Jingguo; Almøy, Trygve; Bakken, Lars R

    2014-01-01

    China is the world's largest producer and consumer of fertilizer N, and decades of overuse has caused nitrate leaching and possibly soil acidification. We hypothesized that this would enhance the soils' propensity to emit N2O from denitrification by reducing the expression of the enzyme N2O reductase. We investigated this by standardized oxic/anoxic incubations of soils from five long-term fertilization experiments in different regions of China. After adjusting the nitrate concentration to 2 mM, we measured oxic respiration (R), potential denitrification (D), substrate-induced denitrification, and the denitrification product stoichiometry (NO, N2O, N2). Soils with a history of high fertilizer N levels had high N2O/(N2O+N2) ratios, but only in those field experiments where soil pH had been lowered by N fertilization. By comparing all soils, we found a strong negative correlation between pH and the N2O/(N2O+N2) product ratio (r2 = 0.759, P < 0.001). In contrast, the potential denitrification (D) was found to be a linear function of oxic respiration (R), and the ratio D/R was largely unaffected by soil pH. The immediate effect of liming acidified soils was lowered N2O/(N2O+N2) ratios. The results provide evidence that soil pH has a marginal direct effect on potential denitrification, but that it is the master variable controlling the percentage of denitrified N emitted as N2O. It has been known for long that low pH may result in high N2O/(N2O+N2) product ratios of denitrification, but our documentation of a pervasive pH-control of this ratio across soil types and management practices is new. The results are in good agreement with new understanding of how pH may interfere with the expression of N2O reductase. We argue that the management of soil pH should be high on the agenda for mitigating N2O emissions in the future, particularly for countries where ongoing intensification of plant production is likely to acidify the soils. PMID:24249526

  7. Emission of N 2O on pulse-rice crop rotation in upland

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ramulu, T. S.; Sahoo, S. K.; Mohapatra, R. K.; Chaudhury, G. Roy; Das, S. N.

    The Seasonally Integrated Flux (SIF) of N 2O emission during pulse cultivation in Rabi season (Season-I: December to April) in rain-fed uplands of Orissa, was found to be 17.7 ± 0.07, 18.7 ± 0.16 and 43.3 ± 0.14 gha -1 for horse gram (HG), black gram (BG) and green gram (GG) respectively. During the subsequent Rabi season (Season-II), the SIF of N 2O for BG and GG cultivated in the same fields were 20.9 ± 0.24 and 38.0 ± 0.42 gha -1 respectively. Similarly SIF values during rice cultivation with different cultivars have also been calculated to be in the range -20.05 ± 0.33 to 21.98 ± 0.29. Statistical analysis showed good correlation of N 2O emission with climatic and soil parameters like temperature, nutrient N and organic matter in soil during pulse cultivation. Multivariate analysis was carried out to factorize the results obtained. Using student ' t' test, the N 2O emission was observed to be similar for two consecutive Rabi seasons for pulses like BG and GG.

  8. Reducing fertilizer-derived N2O emission: Point injection vs. surface application of ammonium-N fertilizer at a loamy sand site

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deppe, Marianna; Well, Reinhard; Giesemann, Anette; Kücke, Martin; Flessa, Heinz

    2013-04-01

    N2O emitted from soil originates either from denitrification of nitrate and/or nitrification of ammonium. N fertilization can have an important impact on N2O emission rates. Injection of nitrate-free ammonium-N fertilizer, in Germany also known as CULTAN (Controlled Uptake Long-Term Ammonium Nutrition), results in fertilizer depots with ammonium concentrations of up to 10 mg N g-1 soil-1. High concentrations of ammonium are known to inhibit nitrification. However, it has not yet been clarified how N2O fluxes are affected by CULTAN. In a field experiment, two application methods of nitrogen fertilizer were used at a loamy sand site: Ammonium sulphate was applied either by point injection or by surface application. 15N-ammonium sulphate was used to distinguish between N2O originating from either fertilizer-N or soil-N. Unfertilized plots and plots fertilized with unlabeled ammonium sulphate served as control. N2O emissions were measured using static chambers, nitrate and ammonium concentrations were determined in soil extracts. Stable isotope analysis of 15N in N2O, nitrate and ammonium was used to calculate the contribution of fertilizer N to N2O emissions and the fertilizer turnover in soil. 15N analysis clearly indicated that fertilizer derived N2O fluxes were higher from surface application plots. For the period of the growing season, about 24% of the flux measured in surface application treatment and less than 10% from injection treatment plots originated from the fertilizer. In addition, a lab experiment was conducted to gain insight into processes leading to N2O emission from fertilizer depots. One aim was to examine whether the ratio of N2O to nitrate formation differs depending on the ammonium concentration. Loamy sand soil was incubated in microcosms continuously flushed with air under conditions favouring nitrification. 15N-labeled nitrate was used to differentiate between nitrification and denitrification. Stable isotope analyses of 15N were performed on

  9. Effects of nitrogen application rate and a nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide on ammonia oxidizers and N2O emissions in a grazed pasture soil.

    PubMed

    Dai, Yu; Di, Hong J; Cameron, Keith C; He, Ji-Zheng

    2013-11-01

    Ammonia oxidizers, including ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) are important drivers of a key step of the nitrogen cycle - nitrification, which affects the production of the potent greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (N2O). A field experiment was conducted to determine the effect of nitrogen application rates and the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD) on the abundance of AOB and AOA and on N2O emissions in a grazed pasture soil. Nitrogen (N) was applied at four different rates, with urea applied at 50 and 100 kg N ha(-1) and animal urine at 300 and 600 kg N ha(-1). DCD was applied to some of the N treatments at 10 kg ha(-1). The results showed that the AOB amoA gene copy numbers were greater than those of AOA. The highest ratio of the AOB to AOA amoA gene copy numbers was 106.6 which occurred in the urine-N 600 treatment. The AOB amoA gene copy numbers increased with increasing nitrogen application rates. DCD had a significant impact in reducing the AOB amoA gene copy numbers especially in the high nitrogen application rates. N2O emissions increased with the N application rates. DCD had the most significant effect in reducing the daily and total N2O emissions in the highest nitrogen application rate. The greatest reduction of total N2O emissions by DCD was 69% in the urine-N 600 treatment. The reduction in the N2O emission factor by DCD ranged from 58% to 83%. The N2O flux and NO3(-)-N concentrations were significantly correlated to the growth of AOB, rather than AOA. This study confirms the importance of AOB in nitrification and the effect of DCD in inhibiting AOB growth and in decreasing N2O emissions in grazed pasture soils under field conditions. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Continuous measurements of N2O emissions from arable fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wallman, Magdalena; Lammirato, Carlo; Rütting, Tobias; Delin, Sofia; Weslien, Per; Klemedtsson, Leif

    2017-04-01

    Agriculture represents 59 % of the anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, according to the IPCC (Ciais et al. 2013). N2O emissions are typically irregular and vary widely in time and space, which makes it difficult to get a good representation of the emissions (Henault et al. 2012), particularly if measurements have low frequency and/or cover only a short time period. Manual measurements are, for practical reasons, often short-term and low-frequent, or restricted to periods where emissions are expected to be high, e.g. after fertilizing. However, the nature of N2O emissions, being largely unpredictable, calls for continuous or near-continuous measurements over long time periods. So far, rather few long-term, high resolution measurements of N2O emissions from arable fields are reported; among them are Flessa et al. (2002) and Senapati et al. (2016). In this study, we have a two-year data set (2015-2017) with hourly measurements from ten automatic chambers, covering unfertilized controls as well as different nitrogen fertilizer treatments. Grain was produced on the field, and effects of tillage, harvest and other cropping measures were covered. What we can see from the experiment is that (a) the unfertilized control plots seem to follow the same emission pattern as the fertilized plots, at a level similar to the standard mineral fertilized plots (120 kg N ha-1 yr-1) and (b) freeze/thaw emissions are comparable in size to emissions after fertilizing. These two findings imply that the importance of fertilizing to the overall N2O emissions from arable soils may be smaller than previously expected. References: Ciais, P., C. Sabine, G. Bala, L. Bopp, V. Brovkin, J. Canadell et al. 2013: Carbon and Other Biogeochemical Cycles. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung et

  11. Is biochar-manure co-compost a better solution for soil health improvement and N2O emissions mitigation?

    EPA Science Inventory

    Land application of compost has been a promising remediation strategy for soil health and environmental quality, but substantial emissions of greenhouse gases, especially N2O, need to be controlled during making and using compost. Biochar as a bulking agent for composting has bee...

  12. Reviews and syntheses: Soil N2O and NO emissions from land use and land-use change in the tropics and subtropics: a meta-analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Lent, J.; Hergoualc'h, K.; Verchot, L. V.

    2015-12-01

    Deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics may substantially alter soil N-oxide emissions. It is particularly relevant to accurately quantify those changes to properly account for them in a REDD+ climate change mitigation scheme that provides financial incentives to reduce the emissions. With this study we provide updated land use (LU)-based emission rates (104 studies, 392 N2O and 111 NO case studies), we determine the trend and magnitude of flux changes with land-use change (LUC) using a meta-analysis approach (44 studies, 135 N2O and 37 NO cases) and evaluate biophysical drivers of N2O and NO emissions and emission changes for the tropics. The average N2O and NO emissions in intact upland tropical forest amounted to 2.0 ± 0.2 (n = 90) and 1.7 ± 0.5 (n = 36) kg N ha-1 yr-1, respectively. In agricultural soils annual N2O emissions were exponentially related to N fertilization rates and average water-filled pore space (WFPS) whereas in non-agricultural sites a Gaussian response to WFPS fit better with the observed NO and N2O emissions. The sum of soil N2O and NO fluxes and the ratio of N2O to NO increased exponentially and significantly with increasing nitrogen availability (expressed as NO3- / [NO3-+NH4+]) and WFPS, respectively; following the conceptual Hole-In-the-Pipe model. Nitrous and nitric oxide fluxes did not increase significantly overall as a result of LUC (Hedges's d of 0.11 ± 0.11 and 0.16 ± 0.19, respectively), however individual LUC trajectories or practices did. Nitrous oxide fluxes increased significantly after intact upland forest conversion to croplands (Hedges's d = 0.78 ± 0.24) and NO increased significantly following the conversion of low forest cover (secondary forest younger than 30 years, woodlands, shrublands) (Hedges's d of 0.44 ± 0.13). Forest conversion to fertilized systems significantly and highly raised both N2O and NO emission rates (Hedges's d of 1.03 ± 0.23 and 0.52 ± 0.09, respectively). Changes in nitrogen

  13. Wet-season spatial variability of N2O emissions from a tea field in subtropical central China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fu, X.; Liu, X.; Li, Y.; Shen, J.; Wang, Y.; Zou, G.; Li, H.; Song, L.; Wu, J.

    2015-01-01

    Tea fields emit large amounts of nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere. Obtaining accurate estimations of N2O emissions from tea-planted soils is challenging due to strong spatial variability. We examined the spatial variability of N2O emissions from a red-soil tea field in Hunan province, China, on 22 April 2012 (in a wet season) using 147 static mini chambers approximately regular gridded in a 4.0 ha tea field. The N2O fluxes for a 30 min snapshot (10-10.30 a.m.) ranged from -1.73 to 1659.11 g N ha-1 d-1 and were positively skewed with an average flux of 102.24 g N ha-1 d-1. The N2O flux data were transformed to a normal distribution by using a logit function. The geostatistical analyses of our data indicated that the logit-transformed N2O fluxes (FLUX30t) exhibited strong spatial autocorrelation, which was characterized by an exponential semivariogram model with an effective range of 25.2 m. As observed in the wet season, the logit-transformed soil ammonium-N (NH4Nt), soil nitrate-N (NO3Nt), soil organic carbon (SOCt), total soil nitrogen (TSNt) were all found to be significantly correlated with FLUX30t (r=0.57-0.71, p<0.001). Three spatial interpolation methods (ordinary kriging, regression kriging and cokriging) were applied to estimate the spatial distribution of N2O emissions over the study area. Cokriging with NH4Nt and NO3Nt as covariables (r= 0.74 and RMSE =1.18) outperformed ordinary kriging (r= 0.18 and RMSE =1.74), regression kriging with the sample position as a predictor (r= 0.49 and RMSE =1.55) and cokriging with SOCt as a covariable (r= 0.58 and RMSE =1.44). The predictions of the three kriging interpolation methods for the total N2O emissions of the 4.0 ha tea field ranged from 148.2 to 208.1 g N d-1, based on the 30 min snapshots obtained during the wet season. Our findings suggested that to accurately estimate the total N2O emissions over a region, the environmental variables (e.g., soil properties) and the current land use pattern (e.g., tea

  14. Wet-season spatial variability in N2O emissions from a tea field in subtropical central China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fu, X.; Liu, X.; Li, Y.; Shen, J.; Wang, Y.; Zou, G.; Li, H.; Song, L.; Wu, J.

    2015-06-01

    Tea fields emit large amounts of nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere. Obtaining accurate estimations of N2O emissions from tea-planted soils is challenging due to strong spatial variability. We examined the spatial variability in N2O emissions from a red-soil tea field in Hunan Province, China, on 22 April 2012 (in a wet season) using 147 static mini chambers approximately regular gridded in a 4.0 ha tea field. The N2O fluxes for a 30 min snapshot (10:00-10:30 a.m.) ranged from -1.73 to 1659.11 g N ha-1 d-1 and were positively skewed with an average flux of 102.24 g N ha-1 d-1. The N2O flux data were transformed to a normal distribution by using a logit function. The geostatistical analyses of our data indicated that the logit-transformed N2O fluxes (FLUX30t) exhibited strong spatial autocorrelation, which was characterized by an exponential semivariogram model with an effective range of 25.2 m. As observed in the wet season, the logit-transformed soil ammonium-N (NH4Nt), soil nitrate-N (NO3Nt), soil organic carbon (SOCt) and total soil nitrogen (TSNt) were all found to be significantly correlated with FLUX30t (r = 0.57-0.71, p < 0.001). Three spatial interpolation methods (ordinary kriging, regression kriging and cokriging) were applied to estimate the spatial distribution of N2O emissions over the study area. Cokriging with NH4Nt and NO3Nt as covariables (r = 0.74 and RMSE = 1.18) outperformed ordinary kriging (r = 0.18 and RMSE = 1.74), regression kriging with the sample position as a predictor (r = 0.49 and RMSE = 1.55) and cokriging with SOCt as a covariable (r = 0.58 and RMSE = 1.44). The predictions of the three kriging interpolation methods for the total N2O emissions of 4.0 ha tea field ranged from 148.2 to 208.1 g N d-1, based on the 30 min snapshots obtained during the wet season. Our findings suggested that to accurately estimate the total N2O emissions over a region, the environmental variables (e.g., soil properties) and the current land use pattern

  15. The influence of microbial-based inoculants on N2O emissions from soil planted with corn (Zea mays L.) under greenhouse conditions with different nitrogen fertilizer regimens.

    PubMed

    Calvo, Pamela; Watts, Dexter B; Kloepper, Joseph W; Torbert, H Allen

    2016-12-01

    Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions are increasing at an unprecedented rate owing to the increased use of nitrogen (N) fertilizers. Thus, new innovative management tools are needed to reduce emissions. One potential approach is the use of microbial inoculants in agricultural production. In a previous incubation study, we observed reductions in N 2 O emissions when microbial-based inoculants were added to soil (no plants present) with N fertilizers under laboratory incubations. This present study evaluated the effects of microbial-based inoculants on N 2 O and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions when applied to soil planted with corn (Zea mays L.) under controlled greenhouse conditions. Inoculant treatments consisted of (i) SoilBuilder (SB), (ii) a metabolite extract of SoilBuilder (SBF), and (iii) a mixture of 4 strains of plant-growth-promoting Bacillus spp. (BM). Experiments included an unfertilized control and 3 N fertilizers: urea, urea - ammonium nitrate with 32% N (UAN-32), and calcium - ammonium nitrate with 17% N (CAN-17). Cumulative N 2 O fluxes from pots 41 days after planting showed significant reductions in N 2 O of 15% (SB), 41% (BM), and 28% (SBF) with CAN-17 fertilizer. When UAN-32 was used, reductions of 34% (SB), 35% (SBF), and 49% (BM) were obtained. However, no reductions in N 2 O emissions occurred with urea. Microbial-based inoculants did not affect total CO 2 emissions from any of the fertilized treatments or the unfertilized control. N uptake was increased by an average of 56% with microbial inoculants compared with the control (nonmicrobial-based treatments). Significant increases in plant height, SPAD chlorophyll readings, and fresh and dry shoot mass were also observed when the microbial-based treatments were applied (with and without N). Overall, results demonstrate that microbial inoculants can reduce N 2 O emissions following fertilizer application depending on the N fertilizer type used and can enhance N uptake and plant growth. Future

  16. NO versus N2O emissions from an NH4 +-amended Bermuda grass pasture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hutchinson, G. L.; Brams, E. A.

    1992-06-01

    We used an enclosure technique to monitor soil NO and N2O emissions during early summer regrowth of Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) on sandy loam in a humid, subtropical region of southern Texas. The evolution of both gases was substantially higher from plots harvested at the beginning of the experiment and fertilized 5 days later with 52 kg N ha-1 as (NH4)2SO4 than from plots not harvested or fertilized. Emission of NO, but not N2O, was stimulated by clipping and removing the grass, probably because eliminating the shading provided by the dense grass canopy changed these plots from cooler to warmer than unharvested plots, thereby stimulating the activity of soil microorganisms responsible for NO production. Neither gas flux was significantly affected by application of N until the next rainfall dissolved and moved the surface-applied fertilizer into the soil. Immediately thereafter, emissions of NO and N2O increased dramatically to peaks of 160 and 12 g N ha-1 d-1, respectively, and then declined at rates that closely paralleled the nitrification rate of added NH4+, indicating that the gases resulted from the activity of nitrifying microorganisms, rather than denitrifiers. Nitric oxide emissions during the 9-week measurement period averaged 7.2 times greater than N2O emissions and accounted for 3.2% of the added N. The data indicate that humid, subtropical grasslands, which not only have large geographical extent but also have been subject to intense anthropogenic disturbance, contribute significantly to the global atmospheric NOx budget.

  17. NO versus N2O emissions from an NH4(+)-amended Bermuda grass pasture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hutchinson, G. L.; Brams, E. A.

    1992-01-01

    An enclosure technique is used to monitor soil NO and N2O emissions during early summer regrowth of Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) on sandy loam in a humid, subtropical region of southern Texas. The evolution of both gases was substantially higher from plots harvested at the beginning of the experiment and fertilized five days later with 52 kg N/ha as (NH4)2SO4 than from plots not harvested or fertilized. Emission of NO, but not N2O, was stimulated by clipping and removing the grass, probably because eliminating the shading provided by the dense grass canopy changed these plots from cooler to warmer than unharvested plots, thereby stimulating the activity of soil microorganisms responsible for NO production. Neither gas flux was significantly affected by application of N until the next rainfall dissolved and moved the surface-applied fertilizer into the soil. Immediately thereafter, emissions of NO and N2O increased dramatically to peaks of 160 and 12 g N/ha/d, respectively, and then declined at rates that closely parallel the nitrification rate of added NH4(+), indicating that the gases resulted from the activity of nitrifying microorganisms, rather than denitrifiers. Nitric oxide emissions during the nine-week measurement period averaged 7.2 times greater than N2O emissions and accounted for 3.2 percent of the added N. The data indicate that humid, subtropical grasslands, which not only have large geographical extent but also have been subject to intense anthropogenic disturbance, contribute significantly to the global atmospheric NO(x) budget.

  18. CO2-induced alterations in plant nitrate utilization and root exudation stimulate N2O emissions

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Atmospheric carbon dioxide enrichment (eCO2) often increases soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, which has been largely attributed to increased denitrification induced by CO2-enhancement of soil labile C and moisture. However, the origin of the nitrogen (N) remains unexplained. Emerging evidence sug...

  19. Spatial distribution of hydroxylamine and its role in aerobic N2O formation in a Norway spruce forest soil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, S.; Weymann, D.; Gottselig, N.; Wiekenkamp, I.; Vereecken, H.; Brueggemann, N.

    2014-12-01

    Hydroxylamine (HA) as a crucial intermediate in the microbial oxidation of ammonium to nitrite (nitrification) is a potential precursor of abiotic N2O formation in the soil. However, the determination of HA concentration in natural soil samples has not been reported until now. Here, we determined the HA concentrations in organic (Oh) and mineral (Ah) layers of 135 soil samples collected from a spruce forest (Wüstebach, Eifel National Park, Germany) using a novel approach, based on the fast extraction of HA from the soil at a pH of 1.7, the oxidation of HA to N2O with Fe3+, and the analysis of produced N2O using gas chromatography (GC). Meanwhile, N2O emission rates were determined by means of aerobic laboratory incubations of 3-g soil in 22-mL vials. Subsequently, the spatial distribution of soil HA concentrations and N2O emission rates in the Oh and Ah layers of the whole sampling area were analyzed using a geostatistical approach. The correlations among soil HA, N2O emission rate, pH, soil C, N, Fe, Mn and soil water content (SWC) were further explored. The HA concentrations ranged from 0.3-44.6 μg N kg-1 dry soil and 0.02-16.2 μg N kg-1 dry soil in the Oh and the Ah layer, respectively. The spatial distribution of HA was similar in both layers, with substantial spatial variability dependent on soil type, tree density and distance to a stream. For example, HA concentration was greater at locations with a thick litter layer or at locations close to the stream. The average N2O emission rate in the Oh layer was 0.38 μg N kg-1 dry soil h-1, 10-fold larger than in the Ah layer. Interestingly, N2O emission rate exhibited high correlation with soil HA content in the Oh (R2 = 0.65, p < 0.01) and Ah (R2 = 0.45, p < 0.05) layer. The results demonstrated that HA is a crucial component for aerobic N2O formation and emission in spruce forest soils. Moreover, HA concentration was negatively correlated with pH and positively correlated with SWC in the Oh layer, while

  20. Nitrite intensity explains N management effects on N2O emissions in maize

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    It is typically assumed that the dependence of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions on soil nitrogen (N) availability is best quantified in terms of ammonium (NH4+) and/or nitrate (NO3-) concentrations. In contrast, nitrite (NO2-) is seldom measured separately from NO3- despite its role as a central substr...

  1. Effects of novel nitrification and urease inhibitors (DCD/TZ and 2-NPT) on N2O emissions from surface applied urea: An incubation study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ni, Kang; Kage, Henning; Pacholski, Andreas

    2018-02-01

    A 41-day incubation trial was conducted to test the single and combined effects of the novel urease (N-(2-Nitrophenyl) phosphoric triamide, 2-NPT) and nitrification inhibitors (mixture of dicyandiamide and 1H-1,2,4-triazole, DCD/TZ) on N2O emissions and underlying soil processes from a North German sandy loam soil. The effects of treatment on N2O emission were determined using static closed chamber incubation and detected using a photo-acoustic gas monitor. The emission processes were strongly related to soil mineral N and pH dynamics, obtained from destructive sampling of replicate incubation chambers. The combined use of urease and nitrification inhibitors slightly increased the reduction of N2O compared with single use of the nitrification inhibitor (69% vs. 61%). The small amount of soil used in the incubation and the depletion of labile carbon by air drying and pre-incubation caused very low initial N2O emissions, and glucose addition significantly stimulated N2O emission by supplying labile carbon. The urease inhibitor significantly reduced simultaneously determined qualitative NH3 emissions in either urea alone (90%) or urea plus nitrification inhibitor treatment (82%). These results highlighted the potential of the combined use of urease and nitrification inhibitors with urea application to mitigate soil NH3 and N2O emissions.

  2. Archaea produce lower yields of N2 O than bacteria during aerobic ammonia oxidation in soil.

    PubMed

    Hink, Linda; Nicol, Graeme W; Prosser, James I

    2017-12-01

    Nitrogen fertilisation of agricultural soil contributes significantly to emissions of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N 2 O), which is generated during denitrification and, in oxic soils, mainly by ammonia oxidisers. Although laboratory cultures of ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) produce N 2 O, their relative activities in soil are unknown. This work tested the hypothesis that AOB dominate ammonia oxidation and N 2 O production under conditions of high inorganic ammonia (NH 3 ) input, but result mainly from the activity of AOA when NH 3 is derived from mineralisation. 1-octyne, a recently discovered inhibitor of AOB, was used to distinguish N 2 O production resulting from archaeal and bacterial ammonia oxidation in soil microcosms, and specifically inhibited AOB growth, activity and N 2 O production. In unamended soils, ammonia oxidation and N 2 O production were lower and resulted mainly from ammonia oxidation by AOA. The AOA N 2 O yield relative to nitrite produced was half that of AOB, likely due to additional enzymatic mechanisms in the latter, but ammonia oxidation and N 2 O production were directly linked in all treatments. Relative contributions of AOA and AOB to N 2 O production, therefore, reflect their respective contributions to ammonia oxidation. These results suggest potential mitigation strategies for N 2 O emissions from fertilised agricultural soils. © 2016 The Authors. Environmental Microbiology published by Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. CO 2 uptake is offset by CH 4 and N 2O emissions in a poplar short-rotation coppice

    DOE PAGES

    Zenone, Terenzio; Zona, Donatella; Gelfand, Ilya; ...

    2015-04-18

    The need for renewable energy sources will lead to a considerable expansion in the planting of dedicated fast-growing biomass crops across Europe. These are commonly cultivated as short-rotation coppice (SRC), and currently poplar ( Populus spp.) is the most widely planted. In this study, we report the greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO 2), methane (CH 4) and nitrous oxide (N 2O) measured using eddy covariance technique in an SRC plantation for bioenergy production. Measurements were made during the period 2010–2013, that is, during the first two rotations of the SRC. The overall GHG balance of the 4more » years of the study was an emission of 1.90 (±1.37) Mg CO 2eq ha -1; this indicated that soil trace gas emissions offset the CO 2 uptake by the plantation. CH 4 and N 2O contributed almost equally to offset the CO 2 uptake of -5.28 (±0.67) Mg CO2eq ha -1 with an overall emission of 3.56 (±0.35) Mg CO 2eq ha -1 of N 2O and of 3.53 (±0.85) Mg CO 2eq ha-1 of CH 4. N 2O emissions mostly occurred during one single peak a few months after the site was converted to SRC; this peak comprised 44% of the total N 2O loss during the two rotations. Accurately capturing emission events proved to be critical for deriving correct estimates of the GHG balance. The nitrogen (N) content of the soil and the water table depth were the two drivers that best explained the variability in N 2O and CH 4, respectively. Here, this study underlines the importance of the ‘non-CO 2 GHGs’ on the overall balance. Further long-term investigations of soil trace gas emissions should monitor the N content and the mineralization rate of the soil, as well as the microbial community, as drivers of the trace gas emissions.« less

  4. N2O emissions in tropical rainforest and rubber plantation, the indicator from landuse changing in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, W. J.; Zhu, J.; Ji, H. L.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, J.; Zheng, X.

    2016-12-01

    To understand the effects of landuse on N2O emissions and local climate change in the tropics, we measured N2O fluxes from a primary tropical rainforest (TRF, with treatments of litter removal and control) and a fertilized rubber plantation (RP, with treatments of fertilization (75 kg N ha-1 yr-1) and unfertilization) at Xishuangbanna, southwest China since 2012. The results have shown: 1) Fertilized RP N2O emission is bimodel, one peak after dry season fertilizer, another after rainy season fertilizer. Otherwise, the unfertilized RP and TRF have the similar seasonal dynamic with one peak in the middle of rainy season. 2) due to the fertilizer influence, the poaitive correlation between soil temperature/soil moisture and N2O was more significantly in unfertilized RP than fertilized RP respectively litter input changed the dominated controller of N2O emission in TRF: litter carbon input and soil DOC content for control treatment and, soil temperature and soil NO3- -N for litter removal treatment. 3) lab incubation indicated denitrification and nitrification as the main source for N2O emission in TRF and RP, respectively. 4) The N2O emissions from the fertilized and unfertilized plots in RP were 4.0 and 2.5 kg N ha-1 yr-1, respectively, from control and litter removal plots in TRF were 0.48 and 0.32 kg N ha-1 yr-1,respectively. 5) 100-year carbon dioxide equivalence of N2O from fertilized RP offsets 5.8% and 31.5% of carbon sink of the rubber plantation and local TRF, respectively. Upscaling it to the whole Xishuangbanna, N2O emissions from fertilized RP offset 17.1% of the tropical rainforest's carbon sink. When tropical rainforests are converted to fertilized rubber plantations, the N2O emission seasonal dynamic and mechanisms changed, the global warming effect is enhanced.

  5. N2O emissions in tropical rainforest and rubber plantation, the indicator from landuse changing in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Wenjun; Zhu, Jing; Ji, Hong-li; Zhang, Yi-Ping; Sha, Li-Qing; Gao, Jin-Bo; Zhang, Jun-Hui; Zheng, Xunhua

    2017-04-01

    To understand the effects of landuse on N2O emissions and local climate change in the tropics, we measured N2O fluxes from a primary tropical rainforest (TRF, with treatments of litter removal and control) and a fertilized rubber plantation (RP, with treatments of fertilization (75 kg N ha-1 yr-1) and unfertilization) at Xishuangbanna, southwest China since 2012. The results have shown: 1) Fertilized RP N2O emission is bimodel, one peak after dry season fertilizer, another after rainy season fertilizer. Otherwise, the unfertilized RP and TRF have the similar seasonal dynamic with one peak in the middle of rainy season. 2) due to the fertilizer influence, the poaitive correlation between soil temperature/soil moisture and N2O was more significantly in unfertilized RP than fertilized RP respectively litter input changed the dominated controller of N2O emission in TRF: litter carbon input and soil DOC content for control treatment and, soil temperature and soil NO3- -N for litter removal treatment. 3) lab incubation indicated denitrification and nitrification as the main source for N2O emission in TRF and RP, respectively. 4) The N2O emissions from the fertilized and unfertilized plots in RP were 4.0 and 2.5 kg N ha-1 yr-1, respectively, from control and litter removal plots in TRF were 0.48 and 0.32 kg N ha-1 yr-1,respectively. 5) 100-year carbon dioxide equivalence of N2O from fertilized RP offsets 5.8% and 31.5% of carbon sink of the rubber plantation and local TRF, respectively. Upscaling it to the whole Xishuangbanna, N2O emissions from fertilized RP offset 17.1% of the tropical rainforest's carbon sink. When tropical rainforests are converted to fertilized rubber plantations, the N2O emission seasonal dynamic and mechanisms changed, the global warming effect is enhanced.

  6. [Emission of CH4, N2O and NH3 from vegetable field applied with animal manure composts].

    PubMed

    Wan, He-Feng; Zhao, Chen-Yang; Zhong, Jia; Ge, Zhen; Wei, Yuan-Song; Zheng, Jia-Xi; Wu, Yu-Long; Han, Sheng-Hui; Zheng, Bo-Fu; Li, Hong-Mei

    2014-03-01

    Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from vegetable land is of great concern recently because agriculture land is one of the major sources contributing to global GHG emission. In this study, an experiment of Lactuca sativa L. land applied with different animal manure composts was carried out in a greenhouse vegetable land located in the surburb of Beijing to monitor the emission of GHG (CH4 and N2O) and ammonia in situ, and to analyze the affecting factors of GHG and ammonia emission. Results showed that the emission factors (EFs) of CH4 from Treatment NRM, RM and CF were 0.2%, 0.027% and 0.004%, respectively,the EFs of N2O from these three treatments were 0.18%, 0.63% and 0.74%, respectively, and the EFs of ammonia were 2.00%, 3.98% and 2.53%, respectively. CH4 emission flux was significantly affected by soil temperature and humidity, while N2O emission flux was related to soil temperature, surface temperature and humidity. The emission fluxes of CH4, N2O and NH3 were significantly affected by soil moisture, but there was little relation between CH4, N2O and NH3 emissions and the ambient temperature in the greenhouse.

  7. N2O emission characteristics and its affecting factors in rain-fed potato fields in Wuchuan County, China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Liwei; Wang, Cheng; Pan, Zhihua; Xu, Hui; Gao, Lin; Zhao, Peiyi; Dong, Zhiqiang; Zhang, Jingting; Cui, Guohui; Wang, Sen; Han, Guolin; Zhao, hui

    2017-05-01

    Representing an important greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (N2O) emission from cultivated land is a hot topic in current climate change research. This study examined the influences of nitrogen fertilisation, temperature and soil moisture on the ammonia monooxygenase subunit A ( amoA) gene copy numbers and N2O emission characteristics. The experimental observation of N2O fluxes was based on the static chamber-gas chromatographic method. The ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidising archaea (AOA) gene copy numbers in different periods were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results indicated that rain-fed potato field was a N2O source, and the average annual N2O emission was approximately 0.46 ± 0.06 kgN2O-N/ha/year. N2O emissions increased significantly with increase in fertilisation, temperatures below 19.6 °C and soil volumetric water content under 15%. Crop rotation appreciably decreases N2O emissions by 34.4 to 52.4% compared to continuous cropping in rain-fed potato fields. The significant correlation between N2O fluxes and AOB copy numbers implied that N2O emissions were primarily controlled by AOB in rain-fed potato fields. The research has important theoretical and practical value for understanding N2O emissions from rain-fed dry farmland fields.

  8. N2O emission characteristics and its affecting factors in rain-fed potato fields in Wuchuan County, China.

    PubMed

    Wang, Liwei; Wang, Cheng; Pan, Zhihua; Xu, Hui; Gao, Lin; Zhao, Peiyi; Dong, Zhiqiang; Zhang, Jingting; Cui, Guohui; Wang, Sen; Han, Guolin; Zhao, Hui

    2017-05-01

    Representing an important greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emission from cultivated land is a hot topic in current climate change research. This study examined the influences of nitrogen fertilisation, temperature and soil moisture on the ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) gene copy numbers and N 2 O emission characteristics. The experimental observation of N 2 O fluxes was based on the static chamber-gas chromatographic method. The ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidising archaea (AOA) gene copy numbers in different periods were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results indicated that rain-fed potato field was a N 2 O source, and the average annual N 2 O emission was approximately 0.46 ± 0.06 kgN 2 O-N/ha/year. N 2 O emissions increased significantly with increase in fertilisation, temperatures below 19.6 °C and soil volumetric water content under 15%. Crop rotation appreciably decreases N 2 O emissions by 34.4 to 52.4% compared to continuous cropping in rain-fed potato fields. The significant correlation between N 2 O fluxes and AOB copy numbers implied that N 2 O emissions were primarily controlled by AOB in rain-fed potato fields. The research has important theoretical and practical value for understanding N 2 O emissions from rain-fed dry farmland fields.

  9. Comparing N2O emissions at varying N rates from irrigated and rainfed corn in the US Midwest

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Millar, N.; Kahmark, K.; Basso, B.; Robertson, G. P.

    2011-12-01

    Global N2O emissions from agriculture are estimated to be ~2.8 Pg CO2e yr-1 accounting for 60% of total anthropogenic emissions. N2O is the largest contributor to the GHG burden of cropping systems in the US, with annual estimated emissions of ~0.5 Tg primarily due to N fertilizer inputs and other soil management activities. Currently 23 million acres of corn, soybean and wheat are irrigated annually in the US with increased N2O emissions due to the practice likely under-reported in GHG inventories. Here we compare N2O emissions and yield from irrigated and rainfed corn at varying N rates between 0 and 246 kg N ha-1 from the Kellogg Biological Station in SW Michigan. Initial results show that N2O emissions increase with increasing N rate and are significantly higher from irrigated corn compared to rainfed corn at the same N rate. At increasing N rates daily emissions following an irrigation event were between 2.4 - 77.5 g N2O-N ha-1 from irrigated corn and 1.6 - 13.0 g N2O-N ha-1 from rainfed corn. Emissions data from automated and static chambers will be presented and trade-offs between N2O emissions, N fertilizer rate, crop yield and irrigation practice will be evaluated from an environmental and economic standpoint.

  10. [Effects of warming and precipitation exclusion on soil N2O fluxes in subtropical forests.

    PubMed

    Tang, Cai di; Zhang, Zheng; Cai, Xiao Zhen; Guo, Jian Fen; Yang, Yu Sheng

    2017-10-01

    In order to explore how soil warming and precipitation exclusion influence soil N2O fluxes, we used related functional genes as markers, and four treatments were set up, i.e. , control (CT), soil warming (W, 5 ℃ above the ambient temperature of the control), 50% precipitation reduction (P), soil warming plus 50% precipitation reduction (WP). The results showed that precipitation exclusion reduced soil ammonium nitrogen concentration significantly. Soil warming decreased soil N2O flux and soil denitrification potential significantly. Soil microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) in warming treatment (W) and precipitation exclusion treatment (P) was significantly lower than that in the control. The amoA gene abundance of AOA was negatively correlated with MBN and ammonium nitrogen contents, but neither soil nitrification potential nor soil N2O flux was correlated with the amoA gene abundance of AOA. Path analysis showed that the denitrification potential affected soil N2O flux directly, while microbial biomass phosphorus (MBP) and warming affected soil N2O flux indirectly through their direct effects on denitrification potential. Temperature might be the main driver of N2O flux in subtropical forest soils. Global warming would reduce N2O emissions from subtropical forest soils.

  11. Effects and mechanism of freeze-thawing cycles on the soil N2O fluxes in the temperate semi-arid steppe.

    PubMed

    Wang, Liqin; Qi, Yuchun; Dong, Yunshe; Peng, Qin; Guo, Shufang; He, Yunlong; Li, Zhaolin

    2017-06-01

    High nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions during freeze-thawing period (FTP) have been observed in many different ecosystems. However, the knowledge about the dynamic of soil N 2 O emissions and its main driving mechanism during the freeze-thawing processes in grassland ecosystem is still limited. An in-situ experiment was conducted during the FTP on the sites with 0 and 15% surplus of the average rainfall and two levels of N addition (0,10gN/(m 2 ·year)) during growing season (marked as W0N0, W15N0, W0N10, W15N10, respectively) to explore the effects of water and N background on soil N 2 O emissions during FTPs and the relationship between soil N 2 O emissions and environmental factors. The results indicated that water and N treatments conducted during growing season did not show significant effect on the N 2 O effluxes of FTP, but the soil mineral N contents of W0N10 treatment were significantly higher than those of W0N0, W15N0, W15N10 treatments (p<0.05). The soil PLFA concentrations of microbial groups monitored during 2015 spring freeze-thawing period (2015S-FTP) were lower than those during winter freeze-thawing period of 2014 (2014W-FTP), while cumulative soil N 2 O emissions of 2015S-FTP were higher than those of 2014W-FTP. The correlations between soil N 2 O effluxes and most of the measured environmental factors were insignificant, multiple stepwise regression analysis indicated that the soil temperature, soil NH 4 + -N content and air temperature were the major environmental factors which significantly influenced the N 2 O effluxes during 2014W-FTP, and air temperature and soil water content were the significant influencing factors during 2015S-FTP. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  12. N2O emissions from a nitrogen-enriched river

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    McMahon, P.B.; Dennehy, K.F.

    1999-01-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from the South Platte River in Colorado were measured using closed chambers in the fall, winter, and summer of 1994- 1995. The South Platte River was enriched in inorganic N (9-800 ??M) derived from municipal wastewater effluent and groundwater return flows from irrigated agricultural fields. River water was as much as 2500% supersaturated with N2O, and median N2O emission rates from the river surface ranged from less than 90 to 32 600 ??g-N m-2 d-1. Seventy-nine percent of the variance in N2O emission rates was explained by concentrations of total inorganic N in river water and by water temperature. The estimated total annual N2O emissions from the South Platte River were 2 x 1013-6 x 1013 ??g-N yr-1. This amount of annual N2O emissions was similar to the estimated annual N2O emissions from all primary municipal wastewater treatment processes in the United States (1). Results from this study indicate that N-enriched rivers could be important anthropogenic sources of N2O to the atmosphere. However, N2O emission measurements from other N-enriched rivers are needed to better quantify this source.Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from the South Platte River in Colorado were measured using closed chambers in the fall, winter, and summer of 1994-1995. The South Platte River was enriched in inorganic N (9-800 ??M) derived from municipal wastewater effluent and groundwater return flows from irrigated agricultural fields. River water was as much as 2500% supersaturated with N2O, and median N2O emission rates from the river surface ranged from less than 90 to 32 600 ??g-N m-2 d-1. Seventy-nine percent of the variance in N2O emission rates was explained by concentrations of total inorganic N in river water and by water temperature. The estimated total annual N2O emissions from the South Platte River were 2??1013-6??1013 ??g-N yr-1. This amount of annual N2O emissions was similar to the estimated annual N2O emissions from all primary municipal

  13. Ground and canopy soil N2O fluxes from smallholder oil palm plantations following deforestation in Sumatra, Indonesia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hassler, Evelyn; Corre, Marife D.; Kurniawan, Syahrul; Allen, Kara; Veldkamp, Edzo

    2017-04-01

    plantations. N fertilizer-induced N2O emissions were 0.2 - 0.7 % of the applied N. Oil-palm canopy soil N2O emissions per soil mass were large, but on a hectare basis these emissions were small due to the low amount of canopy soil per hectare (170 kg ha-1). Canopy soil N2O emission was 10.7 ± 3.3 g N2O-N ha-1 yr-1, which contributed only 1% of the total soil (canopy soil + ground soil) N2O fluxes. Over one-year measurements, the temporal patterns of ground and canopy soil N2O fluxes were controlled by soil mineral N and water contents. To improve estimate of soil N-oxide fluxes from oil palm plantations in this region, studies should focus on large-scale plantations (which usually have two to four times higher N fertilization rates than smallholders) with frequent measurements following fertilizer application.

  14. Soil-atmospheric exchange of CO2, CH4, and N2O in three subtropical forest ecosystems in southern China

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Tang, X.; Liu, S.; Zhou, G.; Zhang, Dongxiao; Zhou, C.

    2006-01-01

    The magnitude, temporal, and spatial patterns of soil-atmospheric greenhouse gas (hereafter referred to as GHG) exchanges in forests near the Tropic of Cancer are still highly uncertain. To contribute towards an improvement of actual estimates, soil-atmospheric CO2, CH4, and N2O fluxes were measured in three successional subtropical forests at the Dinghushan Nature Reserve (hereafter referred to as DNR) in southern China. Soils in DNR forests behaved as N2O sources and CH4 sinks. Annual mean CO2, N2O, and CH4 fluxes (mean ?? SD) were 7.7 ?? 4.6MgCO2-Cha-1 yr-1, 3.2 ?? 1.2 kg N2ONha-1 yr-1, and 3.4 ?? 0.9 kgCH4-Cha-1 yr-1, respectively. The climate was warm and wet from April through September 2003 (the hot-humid season) and became cool and dry from October 2003 through March 2004 (the cool-dry season). The seasonality of soil CO2 emission coincided with the seasonal climate pattern, with high CO2 emission rates in the hot-humid season and low rates in the cool-dry season. In contrast, seasonal patterns of CH4 and N2O fluxes were not clear, although higher CH4 uptake rates were often observed in the cool-dry season and higher N2O emission rates were often observed in the hot-humid season. GHG fluxes measured at these three sites showed a clear increasing trend with the progressive succession. If this trend is representative at the regional scale, CO2 and N2O emissions and CH4 uptake in southern China may increase in the future in light of the projected change in forest age structure. Removal of surface litter reduced soil CO2 effluxes by 17-44% in the three forests but had no significant effect on CH4 absorption and N2O emission rates. This suggests that microbial CH4 uptake and N2O production was mainly related to the mineral soil rather than in the surface litter layer. ?? 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  15. Shallow tillage generates higher N2O emissions: results of continuous chamber-based measurement in a winter wheat field.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Broux, François; Lognoul, Margaux; Theodorakopoulos, Nicolas; Hiel, Marie-Pierre; Bodson, Bernard; Heinesch, Bernard; Aubinet, Marc

    2017-04-01

    Agriculture is one of the most important contributors to GHG emission, notably through fertilized croplands. Though, few publications have studied simultaneously and through continuous measurement the N2O and CO2 emissions in cultivated lands. We conducted this study to assess the effect of farming practices and climate on both N2O and CO2 emissions from a winter wheat crop. The experiment was held in an experimental field in the loamy region in Belgium from March 2016 till crop harvest in August 2016. The fluxes were measured on two nearby parcels in a winter wheat field with restitution of the residues from previous crop. For the past 8 years, one parcel was subjected to a shallow tillage (ST, 10 cm depth) and the other one to a conventional tillage (CT, 25 cm depth). On each parcel, the emissions are assessed with homemade automated closed chambers. Measurement continuity and good temporal resolution (one mean flux every 4 hours) of the system allowed a fine detection and quantification of the emission peaks which usually represent the major part of N2O fluxes. In addition to gas fluxes, soil water content and temperature were measured continuously. Soil samples were taken regularly to determine soil pH, soil organic carbon and nitrogen pools (total, NO3- and NH4+) and study microbial diversity and nitrification/denitrification gene expression. Unexpectedly, results showed N2O emissions twice as large in the ST parcel as in the CT parcel. On the contrary, less important CO2 emissions were observed under ST. Several emission peaks of N2O were observed during the measurement period. The peaks occurred after fertilization events and seemed to be triggered by an elevation of soil water content. Interesting links could be made between soil NH4-N and NO3-N pools and N2O emissions. Nitrification being the main process originating the fluxes was suggested on the one hand by the temporal evolution of nitrogen pools and N2O emissions and on the other hand by the relation

  16. Diet effects on urine composition of cattle and N2O emissions.

    PubMed

    Dijkstra, J; Oenema, O; van Groenigen, J W; Spek, J W; van Vuuren, A M; Bannink, A

    2013-06-01

    Ruminant production contributes to emissions of nitrogen (N) to the environment, principally ammonia (NH3), nitrous oxide (N2O) and di-nitrogen (N2) to air, nitrate (NO3 -) to groundwater and particulate N to surface waters. Variation in dietary N intake will particularly affect excretion of urinary N, which is much more vulnerable to losses than is faecal N. Our objective is to review dietary effects on the level and form of N excreted in cattle urine, as well as its consequences for emissions of N2O. The quantity of N excreted in urine varies widely. Urinary N excretion, in particular that of urea N, is decreased upon reduction of dietary N intake or an increase in the supply of energy to the rumen microorganisms and to the host animal itself. Most of the N in urine (from 50% to well over 90%) is present in the form of urea. Other nitrogenous components include purine derivatives (PD), hippuric acid, creatine and creatinine. Excretion of PD is related to rumen microbial protein synthesis, and that of hippuric acid to dietary concentration of degradable phenolic acids. The N concentration of cattle urine ranges from 3 to 20 g/l. High-dietary mineral levels increase urine volume and lead to reduced urinary N concentration as well as reduced urea concentration in plasma and milk. In lactating dairy cattle, variation in urine volume affects the relationship between milk urea and urinary N excretion, which hampers the use of milk urea as an accurate indicator of urinary N excretion. Following its deposition in pastures or in animal houses, ubiquitous microorganisms in soil and waters transform urinary N components into ammonium (NH4 +), and thereafter into NO3 - and ultimately in N2 accompanied with the release of N2O. Urinary hippuric acid, creatine and creatinine decompose more slowly than urea. Hippuric acid may act as a natural inhibitor of N2O emissions, but inhibition conditions have not been defined properly yet. Environmental and soil conditions at the site of

  17. Flooding-related increases in CO2 and N2O emissions from a temperate coastal grassland ecosystem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gebremichael, Amanuel W.; Osborne, Bruce; Orr, Patrick

    2017-05-01

    Given their increasing trend in Europe, an understanding of the role that flooding events play in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will be important for improved assessments of local and regional GHG budgets. This study presents the results of an analysis of the CO2 and N2O fluxes from a coastal grassland ecosystem affected by episodic flooding that was of either a relatively short (SFS) or long (LFS) duration. Compared to the SFS, the annual CO2 and N2O emissions were 1.4 and 1.3 times higher at the LFS, respectively. Mean CO2 emissions during the period of standing water were 144 ± 18.18 and 111 ± 9.51 mg CO2-C m-2 h-1, respectively, for the LFS and SFS sites. During the growing season, when there was no standing water, the CO2 emissions were significantly larger from the LFS (244 ± 24.88 mg CO2-C m-2 h-1) than the SFS (183 ± 14.90 mg CO2-C m-2 h-1). Fluxes of N2O ranged from -0.37 to 0.65 mg N2O-N m-2 h-1 at the LFS and from -0.50 to 0.55 mg N2O-N m-2 h-1 at the SFS, with the larger emissions associated with the presence of standing water at the LFS but during the growing season at the SFS. Overall, soil temperature and moisture were identified as the main drivers of the seasonal changes in CO2 fluxes, but neither adequately explained the variations in N2O fluxes. Analysis of total C, N, microbial biomass and Q10 values indicated that the higher CO2 emissions from the LFS were linked to the flooding-associated influx of nutrients and alterations in soil microbial populations. These results demonstrate that annual CO2 and N2O emissions can be higher in longer-term flooded sites that receive significant amounts of nutrients, although this may depend on the restriction of diffusional limitations due to the presence of standing water to periods of the year when the potential for gaseous emissions are low.

  18. Comparison of APSIM and DNDC simulations of nitrogen transformations and N2O emissions.

    PubMed

    Vogeler, I; Giltrap, D; Cichota, R

    2013-11-01

    Various models have been developed to better understand nitrogen (N) cycling in soils, which is governed by a complex interaction of physical, chemical and biological factors. Two process-based models, the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) and DeNitrification DeComposition (DNDC), were used to simulate nitrification, denitrification and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from soils following N input from either fertiliser or excreta deposition. The effect of environmental conditions on N transformations as simulated by the two different models was compared. Temperature had a larger effect in APSIM on nitrification, whereas in DNDC, water content produced a larger response. In contrast, simulated denitrification showed a larger response to temperature and also organic carbon content in DNDC. And while denitrification in DNDC is triggered by rainfall ≥5mm/h, in APSIM, the driving factor is soil water content, with a trigger point at water content at field capacity. The two models also showed different responses to N load, with nearly linearly increasing N2O emission rates with N load simulated by DNDC, and a lower rate by APSIM. Increasing rainfall intensity decreased APSIM-simulated N2O emissions but increased those simulated by DNDC. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Microbial N Transformations and N2O Emission after Simulated Grassland Cultivation: Effects of the Nitrification Inhibitor 3,4-Dimethylpyrazole Phosphate (DMPP).

    PubMed

    Duan, Yun-Feng; Kong, Xian-Wang; Schramm, Andreas; Labouriau, Rodrigo; Eriksen, Jørgen; Petersen, Søren O

    2017-01-01

    Grassland cultivation can mobilize large pools of N in the soil, with the potential for N leaching and N 2 O emissions. Spraying with the nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) before cultivation was simulated by use of soil columns in which the residue distribution corresponded to plowing or rotovation to study the effects of soil-residue contact on N transformations. DMPP was sprayed on aboveground parts of ryegrass and white clover plants before incorporation. During a 42-day incubation, soil mineral N dynamics, potential ammonia oxidation (PAO), denitrifying enzyme activity (DEA), nitrifier and denitrifier populations, and N 2 O emissions were investigated. The soil NO 3 - pool was enriched with 15 N to trace sources of N 2 O. Ammonium was rapidly released from decomposing residues, and PAO was stimulated in soil near residues. DMPP effectively reduced NH 4 + transformation irrespective of residue distribution. Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) were both present, but only the AOB amoA transcript abundance correlated with PAO. DMPP inhibited the transcription of AOB amoA genes. Denitrifier genes and transcripts (nirK, nirS, and clades I and II of nosZ) were recovered, and a correlation was found between nirS mRNA and DEA. DMPP showed no adverse effects on the abundance or activity of denitrifiers. The 15 N enrichment of N 2 O showed that denitrification was responsible for 80 to 90% of emissions. With support from a control experiment without NO 3 - amendment, it was concluded that DMPP will generally reduce the potential for leaching of residue-derived N, whereas the effect of DMPP on N 2 O emissions will be significant only when soil NO 3 - availability is limiting. Residue incorporation following grassland cultivation can lead to mobilization of large pools of N and potentially to significant N losses via leaching and N 2 O emissions. This study proposed a mitigation strategy of applying 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate

  20. Direct N2O Fluxes from Agroecosystems in Cold Climates: Importance of Soil Freeze-Thaw

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Congreves, K. A.; Wagner-Riddle, C.; Abalos, D.; Ambadan, J. T.; Brown, S. E.; Tenuta, M.; Gao, X.; Amiro, B. D.; Berg, A. A.

    2016-12-01

    To develop effective climate change mitigation strategies and reduce N2O emissions, the global contribution of freeze-thaw cycles from croplands must be characterized; we present the first study to do so. Long-term N2O flux datasets from micrometeorological approaches were compiled from two Canadian sites (Elora ON & Glenlea MB). Measurements encompassed a total of 21-yr on 16-ha of land producing annual field crops, yielding an unprecedented record of N2O fluxes (42118 half-hourly values) at sites subjected to freeze-thaw cycles from Nov-Apr. At Elora (the warmer site) N2O flux events were associated with thaw cycles throughout Nov-Apr and the main thaw event took place between mid/end of April when air temperatures rose above 0°C and snow melted. The continental site (Glenlea) did not have significant N2O flux events during the prolonged freeze period, but had considerably higher emissions over the thaw period when soil temperature and liquid water content increased more slowly than Elora. Based on cumulative N2O emissions from both sites (Nov-Apr), emissions were closely related to freezing degree days (FDD). An exponential-to-plateau model significantly fit (p<0.0001, r= 0.72) the relationship between N2O emissions and FDD, characterizing larger N2O emissions as FDD increased (y=1.95 (1-exp-0.00852x), y=cumulative N2O-N kg ha-1 and x=FDD). To estimate the global contribution of N2O emissions from seasonally frozen croplands in the northern hemisphere, we applied the algorithm to a global map of FDD derived from three reanalysis products (ERA-Interim, MERRA-Land, GLDAS-NOAH) combined with MODIS land fraction data for croplands. Average global freeze-thaw induced N2O emissions for croplands was estimated at 1.07 Tg N, though it may range from 0.79 - 1.35 Tg N due to model error and variation. This global contribution of N2O from seasonally frozen cropland soils may be responsible for previously observed discrepancies between top-down and bottom-up approaches.

  1. Direct impacts of biochar on N2O production during denitrification by a soil microbial community

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mishra, Akanksha; Harter, Johannes; Hagemann, Nikolas; Kappler, Andreas

    2017-04-01

    Biochar, i.e. biomass heated under O2 limitation to 350-1000°C (pyrolysis), is suggested as a beneficial soil amendment to mitigate climate change and to maintain and restore the fertility of agro-ecosystems. Its stability enables long-term carbon sequestration and biochar effectively reduces soil-borne N2O emissions. Biochar's ability to reduce N2O emissions is well recognized through field and laboratory experiments as well as meta-analyses. However, the underlying mechanisms remain widely debated. Microbial nitrogen transformations, especially denitrification, the stepwise reduction of nitrate/nitrite via NO and N2O to N2, are considered to be a major source of N2O emissions. Soil microcosm experiments showed lower N2O emissions in the presence of biochar often correlate with a higher abundance and/or activity of N2O reducing bacteria in the presence of biochar. However, it is still unknown whether these shifts in the microbial community and/or activity is cause or effect of reduced N2O production. Biochar has the potential to change the physico-chemical environment towards conditions that favor complete denitrification, i.e. decrease the N2O/(N2O+N2) product ratio. Specifically, biochar can increase soil pH, reduce the availability of nitrate and increase the entrapment of gases, including N2O. These effects are known to decrease the N2O/(N2O+N2) ratio. In addition to the observed effects in the physio-chemical environment, we hypothesized that biochar has a direct impact on the soil microbial community. For instance, it has been shown to provide a suitable habitat to microorganisms, or facilitate electron transfer between microbe and substrates by acting as an electron shuttle or as a temporary acceptor/donor of electrons. To test this hypothesis, our experiment consisted of a microbial community extracted from soil and cultivated under anoxic conditions. It was introduced as an inoculum into three different treatments: biochar, quartz (control with a solid

  2. Emissions of N2O from tropical forest soils - Response to fertilization with NH4(+), NO3(-), and PO4(3-)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Keller, M.; Kaplan, W. A.; Wofsy, S. C.; Da Costa, Jose Maria

    1988-01-01

    Undisturbed oxisols in a central Amazon tropical forest were fertilized with ammonium, nitrate, or phosphate. Enhanced emissions of N2O were observed for all treatments within one day of fertilization, with the response NO3(-) much greater than NH4(+) much greater than PO4(3-). Approximately, 0.5 percent of applied NO3(-) was converted to N2O within two weeks after application, with less than 0.1 percent of the NH4(+) converted to N2O. These experiments reveal a potentially large source of N2O from microbial reduction of NO3(-) in the clay soils of Amazonia.

  3. Impact of raw pig slurry and pig farming practices on physicochemical parameters and on atmospheric N2O and CH 4 emissions of tropical soils, Uvéa Island (South Pacific).

    PubMed

    Roth, E; Gunkel-Grillon, P; Joly, L; Thomas, X; Decarpenterie, T; Mappe-Fogaing, I; Laporte-Magoni, C; Dumelié, N; Durry, G

    2014-09-01

    Emissions of CH4 and N2O related to private pig farming under a tropical climate in Uvéa Island were studied in this paper. Physicochemical soil parameters such as nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, Kjeldahl nitrogen, total organic carbon, pH and moisture were measured. Gaseous soil emissions as well as physicochemical parameters were compared in two private pig farming strategies encountered on this island on two different soils (calcareous and ferralitic) in order to determine the best pig farming management: in small concrete pens or in large land pens. Ammonium levels were higher in control areas while nitrate and nitrite levels were higher in soils with pig slurry inputs, indicating that nitrification was the predominant process related to N2O emissions. Nitrate contents in soils near concrete pens were important (≥ 55 μg N/g) and can thus be a threat for the groundwater. For both pig farming strategies, N2O and CH4 fluxes can reach high levels up to 1 mg N/m(2)/h and 1 mg C/m(2)/h, respectively. CH4 emissions near concrete pens were very high (≥ 10.4 mg C/m(2)/h). Former land pens converted into agricultural land recover low N2O emission rates (≤ 0.03 mg N/m(2)/h), and methane uptake dominates. N2O emissions were related to nitrate content whereas CH4 emissions were found to be moisture dependent. As a result relating to the physicochemical parameters as well as to the gaseous emissions, we demonstrate that pig farming in large land pens is the best strategy for sustainable family pig breeding in Uvéa Islands and therefore in similar small tropical islands.

  4. Global trends and uncertainties in terrestrial denitrification and N2O emissions

    PubMed Central

    Bouwman, A. F.; Beusen, A. H. W.; Griffioen, J.; Van Groenigen, J. W.; Hefting, M. M.; Oenema, O.; Van Puijenbroek, P. J. T. M.; Seitzinger, S.; Slomp, C. P.; Stehfest, E.

    2013-01-01

    Soil nitrogen (N) budgets are used in a global, distributed flow-path model with 0.5° × 0.5° resolution, representing denitrification and N2O emissions from soils, groundwater and riparian zones for the period 1900–2000 and scenarios for the period 2000–2050 based on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Total agricultural and natural N inputs from N fertilizers, animal manure, biological N2 fixation and atmospheric N deposition increased from 155 to 345 Tg N yr−1 (Tg = teragram; 1 Tg = 1012 g) between 1900 and 2000. Depending on the scenario, inputs are estimated to further increase to 408–510 Tg N yr−1 by 2050. In the period 1900–2000, the soil N budget surplus (inputs minus withdrawal by plants) increased from 118 to 202 Tg yr−1, and this may remain stable or further increase to 275 Tg yr−1 by 2050, depending on the scenario. N2 production from denitrification increased from 52 to 96 Tg yr−1 between 1900 and 2000, and N2O–N emissions from 10 to 12 Tg N yr−1. The scenarios foresee a further increase to 142 Tg N2N and 16 Tg N2O–N yr−1 by 2050. Our results indicate that riparian buffer zones are an important source of N2O contributing an estimated 0.9 Tg N2O–N yr−1 in 2000. Soils are key sites for denitrification and are much more important than groundwater and riparian zones in controlling the N flow to rivers and the oceans. PMID:23713114

  5. [Effects of different fertilization measures on N2O emission in oil sunflower field in irrigation area of upper Yellow River].

    PubMed

    Chen, Zhe; Chen, Yuan-yuan; Gao, Ji; Liu, Ru-liang; Yang, Zheng-li; Zhang, Ai-ping

    2015-01-01

    Agricultural soil has become the largest anthropogenic source of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N20). To estimate the impacts of long-term combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizers on N20 emission in a typical winter wheat-oil sunflower cropping system in the Ningxia irrigation area, we measured N20 fluxes using the static opaque chamber-gas chromatograph method and monitored the seasonal dynamics of related factors. Our results showed that nitrogen addition in the previous crop field significantly stimulated N2O emissions during the following oil-sunflower cultivation, and the mean fluxes of N300-OM, N240-OM1/2, N300 and N240 were (34.16 ± 9.72), (39.69 ±10.70), (27.75 ±9.57) and (26.30 ± 8.52) µg . m-2 . h-1, respectively, which were 4.09, 4.75, 3.32 and 3.15 times of the control groups. The total cumulative N2O emissions of fertilizer treatments in growing season was as high as 796.7 to 1242.5 g . hm-2, which was 2.99 to 4.67 times of the control groups. During the growing season, the rates of N2O emission in each month organic and inorganic fertlizers combined treatments were similar at high levels. N2O emission in chemical fertilizer treatments gradually decreased, and the main period of N2O emission occurred at the beginning of growing season. Taking July for example, N2O emission accounted for 41.3% to 41. 8% of total cumulative amount. The amounts of N20 emission under organic and inorganic fertilizers combined treatments were significantly higher than under chemical fertilizer treatments. The N2O emissions were not significantly different between conventional and optimized applications of nitrogen fertilizer under the same fertilizing method, either between N300-OM and N240-OM1/2, or between N300 and N240. On account of the drought, N2O emission in each treatment was mainly affected by soil moisture. N2O emission had a significant positive correlation with soil ammonium nitrogen content under combined applications of organic and inorganic

  6. A New High-Resolution N2O Emission Inventory for China in 2008

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shang, Z.; Zhou, F.; Ciais, P.; Tao, S.; Piao, S.; Raymond, P. A.; He, C.; Li, B.; Wang, R.; Wang, X.; Peng, S.; Zeng, Z.; Chen, H.; Ying, N.; Hou, X.; Xu, P.

    2014-12-01

    population fraction from 0.3 to 0.9 among 2884 counties, and N2O emission density increases with urban expansion. Moreover, additional experiments and the use of a reliable data-driven approach or process-based models can improve the spatial resolution and reduce the uncertainties in PKU-N2O, especially from agricultural soils and manure management.

  7. Nitrous oxide emission inventory of German forest soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schulte-Bisping, Hubert; Brumme, Rainer; Priesack, Eckart

    2003-02-01

    Annual fluxes of N2O trace gas emissions were assessed after stratifying German forest soils into Seasonal Emission Pattern (SEP) and Background Emission Pattern (BEP). Broad-leaved forests with soil pH(KCl) ≤ 3.3 were assigned to have SEP, broad-leaved forests with soil pH(KCl) > 3.3 and all needle-leaved forests to have BEP. BEPs were estimated by a relationship between annual N2O emissions and carbon content of the O-horizon. SEPs were primarily controlled by temperature and moisture and simulated by the model Expert-N after calibration to a 9-year record of N2O measurements. Analysis with different climate and soil properties indicated that the model reacts highly sensitive to changes in soil temperature, soil moisture, and soil texture. A geographic information system (ARC/INFO) was used for a spatial resolution of 1 km × 1 km grid where land cover, dominant soil units, and hygro climate classes were combined. The mean annual N2O emission flux from German forest soils was estimated as 0.32 kg ha-1 yr-1. Broad-leaved forests with SEP had the highest emissions (2.05 kg ha-1 yr-1) followed by mixed forests (0.38 kg ha-1 yr-1), broad-leaved forests (0.37 kg ha-1 yr-1), and needle-leaved forests with BEP (0.17 kg ha-1 yr-1). The annual N2O emission from German forest soils was calculated as 3.26 Gg N2O-N yr-1. Although needle-leaved trees cover about 57% of the entire forest area in Germany, their contribution is low (0.96 Gg N2O-N yr-1). Broad-leaved forests cover about 22% of the forest area but have 55% higher emissions (1.49 Gg N2O-N yr-1) than needle-leaved. Mixed forests cover 21% of the area and contribute 0.81 Gg N2O-N yr-1. Compared to the total N2O emissions in Germany of 170 Gg N yr-1, forest soils contribute only 1.9%. However, there are some uncertainties in this emission inventory, which are intensely discussed.

  8. Coupled effects of straw and nitrogen management on N2O and CH4 emissions of rainfed agriculture in Northwest China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Htun, Yin Min; Tong, Yanan; Gao, Pengcheng; Xiaotang, Ju

    2017-05-01

    Straw incorporation is a common agricultural practice, but the additional carbon source may increase greenhouse gas emissions by stimulating microbial activity in soil, particularly when straw is applied at the same time as nitrogen (N) fertilizer. We investigated the coupled effects of straw and N fertilizer on greenhouse gas emissions in a rainfed winter wheat-summer fallow system in Northwest China. Simultaneous applications of straw and N fertilizer increased N2O emissions by up to 88%, net greenhouse gas (NGHG) emission and net greenhouse gas intensity (NGHGI) by over 90%, and the N2O emission factor by over 2-fold. When straw was applied before N fertilizer, the emission factor (0.22%) decreased by approximately one-half compared with that for simultaneous applications (0.45%). In addition, early straw incorporation decreased N2O emissions, NGHG, and NGHGI by 35% (0.62 kg N2O-N ha-1 yr-1), 40% (242 kg CO2-eq ha-1 yr-1), and 38% (42 kg CO2-eq t-1 grain), respectively. We identified the period 30-35 days after N fertilization as a crucial period for evaluating the effectiveness of management practices on N2O emissions. The time between straw and fertilizer applications was negatively related to N2O emission (R2 = 0.8031; p < 0.01) but positively related to soil CH4 uptake (R2 = 0.7662; p < 0.01). Therefore, early straw incorporation can effectively mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by reducing N2O flux and increasing soil CH4 uptake without significantly decreasing grain yield.

  9. Ammonium sorption and ammonia inhibition of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria explain contrasting soil N2O production

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Venterea, R. T.; Sadowsky, M.; Breuillin-Sessoms, F.; Wang, P.; Clough, T. J.; Coulter, J. A.

    2015-12-01

    Better understanding of process controls over nitrous oxide (N2O) production in urine-impacted 'hot spots' and fertilizer bands is needed to improve mitigation strategies and emission models. Following amendment with bovine (Bos taurus) urine (Bu) or urea (Ur), we measured inorganic N, pH, N2O, and genes associated with nitrification in two soils ('L' and 'W') having similar texture, pH, C, and C/N ratio. Solution-phase ammonia (slNH3) was also calculated accounting for non-linear ammonium (NH4+) sorption capacities (ASC). Soil W displayed greater nitrification rates and nitrate (NO3-) levels than soil L, but was more resistant to nitrite (NO2-) accumulation and produced two to ten times less N2O than soil L. Genes associated with NO2- oxidation (nxrA) increased substantially in soil W but remained static in soil L. Soil NO2- was strongly correlated with N2O production, and cumulative (c-) slNH3 explained 87% of the variance in c-NO2-. Differences between soils were explained by greater slNH3 in soil L which inhibited NO2- oxidization leading to greater NO2- levels and N2O production. This is the first study to correlate the dynamics of soil slNH3, NO2-, N2O and nitrifier genes, and the first to show how ASC can regulate NO2- levels and N2O production.

  10. Ammonium sorption and ammonia inhibition of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria explain contrasting soil N2O production.

    PubMed

    Venterea, Rodney T; Clough, Timothy J; Coulter, Jeffrey A; Breuillin-Sessoms, Florence; Wang, Ping; Sadowsky, Michael J

    2015-07-16

    Better understanding of process controls over nitrous oxide (N2O) production in urine-impacted 'hot spots' and fertilizer bands is needed to improve mitigation strategies and emission models. Following amendment with bovine (Bos taurus) urine (Bu) or urea (Ur), we measured inorganic N, pH, N2O, and genes associated with nitrification in two soils ('L' and 'W') having similar texture, pH, C, and C/N ratio. Solution-phase ammonia (slNH3) was also calculated accounting for non-linear ammonium (NH4(+)) sorption capacities (ASC). Soil W displayed greater nitrification rates and nitrate (NO3(-)) levels than soil L, but was more resistant to nitrite (NO2(-)) accumulation and produced two to ten times less N2O than soil L. Genes associated with NO2(-) oxidation (nxrA) increased substantially in soil W but remained static in soil L. Soil NO2(-) was strongly correlated with N2O production, and cumulative (c-) slNH3 explained 87% of the variance in c-NO2(-). Differences between soils were explained by greater slNH3 in soil L which inhibited NO2(-) oxidization leading to greater NO2(-) levels and N2O production. This is the first study to correlate the dynamics of soil slNH3, NO2(-), N2O and nitrifier genes, and the first to show how ASC can regulate NO2(-) levels and N2O production.

  11. Ammonium sorption and ammonia inhibition of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria explain contrasting soil N2O production

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Venterea, Rodney T.; Clough, Timothy J.; Coulter, Jeffrey A.; Breuillin-Sessoms, Florence

    2015-07-01

    Better understanding of process controls over nitrous oxide (N2O) production in urine-impacted ‘hot spots’ and fertilizer bands is needed to improve mitigation strategies and emission models. Following amendment with bovine (Bos taurus) urine (Bu) or urea (Ur), we measured inorganic N, pH, N2O, and genes associated with nitrification in two soils (‘L’ and ‘W’) having similar texture, pH, C, and C/N ratio. Solution-phase ammonia (slNH3) was also calculated accounting for non-linear ammonium (NH4+) sorption capacities (ASC). Soil W displayed greater nitrification rates and nitrate (NO3-) levels than soil L, but was more resistant to nitrite (NO2-) accumulation and produced two to ten times less N2O than soil L. Genes associated with NO2- oxidation (nxrA) increased substantially in soil W but remained static in soil L. Soil NO2- was strongly correlated with N2O production, and cumulative (c-) slNH3 explained 87% of the variance in c-NO2-. Differences between soils were explained by greater slNH3 in soil L which inhibited NO2- oxidization leading to greater NO2- levels and N2O production. This is the first study to correlate the dynamics of soil slNH3, NO2-, N2O and nitrifier genes, and the first to show how ASC can regulate NO2- levels and N2O production.

  12. Inhibition experiments on nitrous oxide emission from paddy soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, Xingkai; Boeckx, Pascal; Zhou, Likai; Van Cleemput, Oswald

    2002-08-01

    Rice fields using nitrogen-based fertilizers play an important role in the global N2O budget. However, our knowledge is still limited with regard to the mechanisms affecting the N2O emission and to the measures that can reduce the emission. This paper reports a study of N2O emission from paddy soils. The effects of urea, hydroquinone (HQ, a urease inhibitor), and dicyandiamide (DCD, a nitrification inhibitor) have been studied in pot experiments with and without rice plants and with and without addition of wheat straw. With no wheat straw amendment, all treatments with inhibitors, especially with HQ + DCD, had a much smaller N2O emission during the rice growing period than the urea treatment, whereas a substantially increased N2O emission was observed from a rice-free soil with inhibitors. The N2O emission from the rice-planted soil was exponentially positive correlated with the NO3--N concentration in the rice aboveground biomass. By comparing the total N2O emission from the rice-free soil and from the rice-planted soil, we found that urea application alone might induce an apparent plant-mediated N2O emission, being 0.39 +/- 0.08% of the applied urea N. Wheat straw incorporated into the flooded surface layer soil could increase the plant-mediated N2O emission significantly. However, application of HQ + DCD could reduce this emission (0.27 +/- 0.08% of the applied urea N, compared with 0.89 +/- 0.18% in the urea treatment). It also reduced the N2O emission from the rice-free soil and from the rice-planted soil. Stepwise regression analysis indicates that denitrification in the flooded surface layer soil was the main source of N2O emission from this wetland rice cultivation, particularly when wheat straw was added. A significantly nonlinear negative relation was found between the N2O emission and the CH4 emission when no wheat straw was added, but it was hard to quantify this trade-off relation when wheat straw was incorporated into the flooded surface layer soil.

  13. Effect of granulated wood ash fertilization on N2O emissions in boreal peat forests

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liimatainen, Maarit; Martikainen, Pertti J.; Hytönen, Jyrki; Maljanen, Marja

    2016-04-01

    Peatlands cover one third of the land surface area in Finland and over half of that are drained for forestry. Natural peatlands are either small sources of nitrous oxide (N2O) or they can also act as a sinks of N2O. When peatlands are drained, oxygen concentration in the peat increases, organic matter decomposition accelerates and N2O emissions may increase significantly, especially in nutrient rich peat soils. Hence drainage and land-use changes can have a big impact on N2O fluxes in peatlands. The annual consumption of wood chips is to be increased to 13.5 M m3 from the present 8.7 M m3 in Finland. This will also increase the amount of wood ash in the power plants. Wood ash contains considerable amounts of mineral nutrients but lacks nitrogen. Therefore, it has been used as a fertilizer in nitrogen rich peatland forests lacking other nutrients. Recycling of ash would also return the nutrients lost during biomass harvesting back to the forests. We studied the effects of granulated wood ash as a fertilizer in peat soils drained for forestry. Ash is nowadays granulated mainly to facilitate its handling and spreading. Granulation also stabilizes the ash decreasing the solubility of most of the nutrients and minimizing harmful effects of ash spread over the vegetation. Granulated wood ash increases soil pH less than loose ash. Drainage of peatland forests increases microbial activity in the soil which is furthermore intensified with the addition of ash promoting organic matter decomposition and possibly affecting N2O emissions. We studied the effect of granulated wood ash on N2O fluxes in three different peat forests in Finland in both field and laboratory experiments. In the field, N2O emissions were not affected by granulated wood ash fertilization but the soil respiration rate increased. However, in the laboratory studies we observed a clear decrease in N2O production due to wood ash addition, although changes in pH values were only minor. We studied what could

  14. Temporal integration of soil N2O fluxes: validation of IPNOA station automatic chamber prototype.

    PubMed

    Laville, P; Bosco, S; Volpi, I; Virgili, G; Neri, S; Continanza, D; Bonari, E

    2017-09-04

    The assessment of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) fluxes from agricultural soil surfaces still poses a major challenge to the scientific community. The evaluations of integrated soil fluxes of N 2 O are difficult owing to their lower emissions when compared with CO 2 . These emissions are also sporadic as environmental conditions act as a limiting factor. A station prototype was developed to integrate annual N 2 O and CO 2 emissions using an automatic chamber technique and infrared spectrometers within the LIFE project (IPNOA: LIFE11 ENV/IT/00032). It was installed from June 2014 to October 2015 in an experimental maize field in Tuscany. The detection limits for the fluxes were evaluated up to 1.6 ng N-N 2 O m 2  s -1 and 0.3 μg C-CO 2  m 2  s -1 . A cross-comparison carried out in September 2015 with the "mobile IPNOA prototype"; a high-sensibility transportable instrument already validated provided evidence of very similar values and highlighted flux assessment limitations according to the gas analyzers used. The permanent monitoring device showed that temporal distribution of N 2 O fluxes can be very large and discontinuous over short periods of less than 10 days and that N 2 O fluxes were below the detection limit of the instrumentation during approximately 70% of the measurement time. The N 2 O emission factors were estimated to 1.9% in 2014 and 1.7% in 2015, within the range of IPCC assessments.

  15. Organically fertilized tea plantation stimulates N2O emissions and lowers NO fluxes in subtropical China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yao, Z.; Wei, Y.; Liu, C.; Zheng, X.; Xie, B.

    2015-07-01

    Tea plantations are rapidly expanding in China and other countries in the tropical and subtropical zones, but so far there are very few studies including direct measurements on nitrogenous gases fluxes from tea plantations. On the basis of 2 year field measurements from 2012 to 2014, we provided an insight into the assessment of annual nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO) fluxes from Chinese subtropical tea plantations under three practices of conventional urea application, alternative oilcake incorporation and no nitrogen fertilization. Clearly, the N2O and NO fluxes exhibited large intra- and inter-annual variations, and furthermore their temporal variability could be well described by a combination of soil environmental factors including soil mineral N, water-filled pore space and temperature, based on a revised "hole-in-the-pipe" model. Averaged over 2 years, annual background N2O and NO emissions were approximately 4.0 and 1.6 kg N ha-1 yr-1, respectively. Compared to no nitrogen fertilization, both urea and oilcake application significantly stimulated annual N2O and NO emissions, amounting to 14.4-32.7 kg N2O-N ha-1 yr-1 and at least 12.3-19.4 kg NO-N ha-1 yr-1. In comparison with conventional urea treatment, on average, the application of organic fertilizer significantly increased N2O emission by 71 % but decreased NO emission by 22 %. Although the magnitude of N2O and NO fluxes was substantially influenced by N source, the annual direct emission factors of fertilizer N were estimated to be 2.8-5.9, 2.7-4.0 and 6.8-9.1 % for N2O, NO and N2O + NO, respectively, which are significantly higher than those defaults for global upland croplands. This indicated that the rarely determined N2O and NO formation appeared to be a significant pathway in the nitrogen cycle of tea plantations, which are a potential source of national nitrogenous gases inventory.

  16. Organically fertilized tea plantation stimulates N2O emissions and lowers NO fluxes in subtropical China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yao, Z.; Wei, Y.; Liu, C.; Zheng, X.; Xie, B.

    2015-10-01

    Tea plantations are rapidly expanding in China and other countries in the tropical and subtropical zones, but so far there are very few studies including direct measurements of nitrogenous gas fluxes from tea plantations. On the basis of 2-year field measurements from 2012 to 2014, we provided an insight into the assessment of annual nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO) fluxes from Chinese subtropical tea plantations under three practices of conventional urea application, alternative oilcake incorporation and no nitrogen fertilization. Clearly, the N2O and NO fluxes exhibited large intra- and inter-annual variations, and furthermore, their temporal variability could be well described by a combination of soil environmental factors including soil mineral N, water-filled pore space and temperature, based on a revised "hole-in-the-pipe" model. Averaged over a 2-year study, annual background N2O and NO emissions were approximately 4.0 and 1.6 kg N ha-1 yr-1, respectively. Compared to no nitrogen fertilization, both urea and oilcake application significantly stimulated annual N2O and NO emissions, amounting to 14.4-32.7 kg N2O-N ha-1 yr-1 and at least 12.3-19.4 kg NO-N ha-1 yr-1, respectively. In comparison with conventional urea treatment, on average, the application of organic fertilizer significantly increased N2O emission by 71 % but decreased NO emission by 22 %. Although the magnitude of N2O and NO fluxes was substantially influenced by the source of N, the annual direct emission factors of N fertilizer were estimated to be 2.8-5.9, 2.7-4.0 and 6.8-9.1 % for N2O, NO and N2O+NO, respectively, which are significantly higher than those defaults for global upland croplands. This indicated that the rarely determined N2O and NO formation appeared to be a significant pathway in the nitrogen cycle of tea plantations, which are a potential source of national nitrogenous gases inventory.

  17. Effect of Soil pH Increase by Biochar on NO, N2O and N2 Production during Denitrification in Acid Soils

    PubMed Central

    Obia, Alfred; Cornelissen, Gerard; Mulder, Jan; Dörsch, Peter

    2015-01-01

    Biochar (BC) application to soil suppresses emission of nitrous- (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO), but the mechanisms are unclear. One of the most prominent features of BC is its alkalizing effect in soils, which may affect denitrification and its product stoichiometry directly or indirectly. We conducted laboratory experiments with anoxic slurries of acid Acrisols from Indonesia and Zambia and two contrasting BCs produced locally from rice husk and cacao shell. Dose-dependent responses of denitrification and gaseous products (NO, N2O and N2) were assessed by high-resolution gas kinetics and related to the alkalizing effect of the BCs. To delineate the pH effect from other BC effects, we removed part of the alkalinity by leaching the BCs with water and acid prior to incubation. Uncharred cacao shell and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) were also included in the study. The untreated BCs suppressed N2O and NO and increased N2 production during denitrification, irrespective of the effect on denitrification rate. The extent of N2O and NO suppression was dose-dependent and increased with the alkalizing effect of the two BC types, which was strongest for cacao shell BC. Acid leaching of BC, which decreased its alkalizing effect, reduced or eliminated the ability of BC to suppress N2O and NO net production. Just like untreated BCs, NaOH reduced net production of N2O and NO while increasing that of N2. This confirms the importance of altered soil pH for denitrification product stoichiometry. Addition of uncharred cacao shell stimulated denitrification strongly due to availability of labile carbon but only minor effects on the product stoichiometry of denitrification were found, in accordance with its modest effect on soil pH. Our study indicates that stimulation of denitrification was mainly due to increases in labile carbon whereas change in product stoichiometry was mainly due to a change in soil pH. PMID:26397367

  18. Effect of Soil pH Increase by Biochar on NO, N2O and N2 Production during Denitrification in Acid Soils.

    PubMed

    Obia, Alfred; Cornelissen, Gerard; Mulder, Jan; Dörsch, Peter

    2015-01-01

    Biochar (BC) application to soil suppresses emission of nitrous- (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO), but the mechanisms are unclear. One of the most prominent features of BC is its alkalizing effect in soils, which may affect denitrification and its product stoichiometry directly or indirectly. We conducted laboratory experiments with anoxic slurries of acid Acrisols from Indonesia and Zambia and two contrasting BCs produced locally from rice husk and cacao shell. Dose-dependent responses of denitrification and gaseous products (NO, N2O and N2) were assessed by high-resolution gas kinetics and related to the alkalizing effect of the BCs. To delineate the pH effect from other BC effects, we removed part of the alkalinity by leaching the BCs with water and acid prior to incubation. Uncharred cacao shell and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) were also included in the study. The untreated BCs suppressed N2O and NO and increased N2 production during denitrification, irrespective of the effect on denitrification rate. The extent of N2O and NO suppression was dose-dependent and increased with the alkalizing effect of the two BC types, which was strongest for cacao shell BC. Acid leaching of BC, which decreased its alkalizing effect, reduced or eliminated the ability of BC to suppress N2O and NO net production. Just like untreated BCs, NaOH reduced net production of N2O and NO while increasing that of N2. This confirms the importance of altered soil pH for denitrification product stoichiometry. Addition of uncharred cacao shell stimulated denitrification strongly due to availability of labile carbon but only minor effects on the product stoichiometry of denitrification were found, in accordance with its modest effect on soil pH. Our study indicates that stimulation of denitrification was mainly due to increases in labile carbon whereas change in product stoichiometry was mainly due to a change in soil pH.

  19. Spatially explicit estimates of N2 O emissions from croplands suggest climate mitigation opportunities from improved fertilizer management.

    PubMed

    Gerber, James S; Carlson, Kimberly M; Makowski, David; Mueller, Nathaniel D; Garcia de Cortazar-Atauri, Iñaki; Havlík, Petr; Herrero, Mario; Launay, Marie; O'Connell, Christine S; Smith, Pete; West, Paul C

    2016-10-01

    With increasing nitrogen (N) application to croplands required to support growing food demand, mitigating N2 O emissions from agricultural soils is a global challenge. National greenhouse gas emissions accounting typically estimates N2 O emissions at the country scale by aggregating all crops, under the assumption that N2 O emissions are linearly related to N application. However, field studies and meta-analyses indicate a nonlinear relationship, in which N2 O emissions are relatively greater at higher N application rates. Here, we apply a super-linear emissions response model to crop-specific, spatially explicit synthetic N fertilizer and manure N inputs to provide subnational accounting of global N2 O emissions from croplands. We estimate 0.66 Tg of N2 O-N direct global emissions circa 2000, with 50% of emissions concentrated in 13% of harvested area. Compared to estimates from the IPCC Tier 1 linear model, our updated N2 O emissions range from 20% to 40% lower throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe, to >120% greater in some Western European countries. At low N application rates, the weak nonlinear response of N2 O emissions suggests that relatively large increases in N fertilizer application would generate relatively small increases in N2 O emissions. As aggregated fertilizer data generate underestimation bias in nonlinear models, high-resolution N application data are critical to support accurate N2 O emissions estimates. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  20. [Effects of water levels and the additions of different nitrogen forms on soil net nitrogen transformation rate and N2O emission in subtropical forest soils].

    PubMed

    Ma, Fen; Ma, Hong-liang; Qiu, Hong; Yang, Hong-yu

    2015-02-01

    An incubation experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of the additions of different nitrogen forms on nitrogen transformation in red soils of subtropical forest under soil moisture conditions with 40%, 70% and 110% of water holding capacity (WHC). The results showed that soil net mineralization and ammonification rates were maximum at 70% WHC and minimum at 40% WHC. Compared with the control, the addition of NO(3-)-N decreased the soil net mineralization and ammonification rates by 56.1% and 43.0% under 70% WHC condition, and decreased by 68.2% and 19.0% under 110% WHC, respectively. However, the proportion of ammonification to mineralization increased at 70% and 110% WHC, which suggested that nitrate addition inhibited the nitrification. With addition of NO(3-)-N at 110% WHC, the net nitrification rate was lowest while N20 emission was highest with the concomitant decrease of nitrate content, indicating that N2O emission was largely derived from denitrification. However, at 40% WHC and 70% WHC, the maximum N20 flux was found at the early stage of incubation. Even with addition of NH(4+)-N and NO(3-)-N, N2O flux did not change much at the latter stage of incubation, indicating that autotrophic nitrification was dominant for N20 production at the early stage of incubation. Under 40% WHC condition, soluble organic carbon increased more and it increased largely with NH(4+)-N addition, which meant NH(4+)-N addition could enhance the mineralization of soil organic matter. Under 40% and 110% WHC conditions, the addition of NH(4+)-N increased significantly the soil soluble organic nitrogen (SON) by 73.6% and 176.6% compared with the control, respectively. A significant increase of 78.7% for SON was only found at 40% WHC under addition of NO(3-)-N compared with the control. These results showed that high soil moisture condition and addition of NH(4+)-N were of benefit to SON formation.

  1. Verifying the UK N_{2}O emission inventory with tall tower measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carnell, Ed; Meneguz, Elena; Skiba, Ute; Misselbrook, Tom; Cardenas, Laura; Arnold, Tim; Manning, Alistair; Dragosits, Ulli

    2016-04-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a key greenhouse gas (GHG), with a global warming potential ˜300 times greater than that of CO2. N2O is emitted from a variety of sources, predominantly from agriculture. Annual UK emission estimates are reported, to comply with government commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The UK N2O inventory follows internationally agreed protocols and emission estimates are derived by applying emission factors to estimates of (anthropogenic) emission sources. This approach is useful for comparing anthropogenic emissions from different countries, but does not capture regional differences and inter-annual variability associated with environmental factors (such as climate and soils) and agricultural management. In recent years, the UK inventory approach has been refined to include regional information into its emissions estimates (e.g. agricultural management data), in an attempt to reduce uncertainty. This study attempts to assess the difference between current published inventory methodology (default IPCC methodology) and a revised approach, which incorporates the latest thinking, using data from recent work. For 2013, emission estimates made using the revised approach were 30 % lower than those made using default IPCC methodology, due to the use of lower emission factors suggested by recent projects (www.ghgplatform.org.uk, Defra projects: AC0116, AC0213 and MinNO). The 2013 emissions estimates were disaggregated on a monthly basis using agricultural management (e.g. sowing dates), climate data and soil properties. The temporally disaggregated emission maps were used as input to the Met Office atmospheric dispersion model NAME, for comparison with measured N2O concentrations, at three observation stations (Tacolneston, E England; Ridge Hill, W England; Mace Head, W Ireland) in the UK DECC network (Deriving Emissions linked to Climate Change). The Mace Head site, situated on the west coast of Ireland, was

  2. Nitrous oxide emission related to ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and mitigation options from N fertilization in a tropical soil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Soares, Johnny R.; Cassman, Noriko A.; Kielak, Anna M.; Pijl, Agata; Carmo, Janaína B.; Lourenço, Kesia S.; Laanbroek, Hendrikus J.; Cantarella, Heitor; Kuramae, Eiko E.

    2016-07-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) from nitrogen fertilizers applied to sugarcane has high environmental impact on ethanol production. This study aimed to determine the main microbial processes responsible for the N2O emissions from soil fertilized with different N sources, to identify options to mitigate N2O emissions, and to determine the impacts of the N sources on the soil microbiome. In a field experiment, nitrogen was applied as calcium nitrate, urea, urea with dicyandiamide or 3,4 dimethylpyrazone phosphate nitrification inhibitors (NIs), and urea coated with polymer and sulfur (PSCU). Urea caused the highest N2O emissions (1.7% of N applied) and PSCU did not reduce cumulative N2O emissions compared to urea. NIs reduced N2O emissions (95%) compared to urea and had emissions comparable to those of the control (no N). Similarly, calcium nitrate resulted in very low N2O emissions. Interestingly, N2O emissions were significantly correlated only with bacterial amoA, but not with denitrification gene (nirK, nirS, nosZ) abundances, suggesting that ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, via the nitrification pathway, were the main contributors to N2O emissions. Moreover, the treatments had little effect on microbial composition or diversity. We suggest nitrate-based fertilizers or the addition of NIs in NH4+-N based fertilizers as viable options for reducing N2O emissions in tropical soils and lessening the environmental impact of biofuel produced from sugarcane.

  3. Nitrous oxide emission related to ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and mitigation options from N fertilization in a tropical soil

    PubMed Central

    Soares, Johnny R.; Cassman, Noriko A.; Kielak, Anna M.; Pijl, Agata; Carmo, Janaína B.; Lourenço, Kesia S.; Laanbroek, Hendrikus J.; Cantarella, Heitor; Kuramae, Eiko E.

    2016-01-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) from nitrogen fertilizers applied to sugarcane has high environmental impact on ethanol production. This study aimed to determine the main microbial processes responsible for the N2O emissions from soil fertilized with different N sources, to identify options to mitigate N2O emissions, and to determine the impacts of the N sources on the soil microbiome. In a field experiment, nitrogen was applied as calcium nitrate, urea, urea with dicyandiamide or 3,4 dimethylpyrazone phosphate nitrification inhibitors (NIs), and urea coated with polymer and sulfur (PSCU). Urea caused the highest N2O emissions (1.7% of N applied) and PSCU did not reduce cumulative N2O emissions compared to urea. NIs reduced N2O emissions (95%) compared to urea and had emissions comparable to those of the control (no N). Similarly, calcium nitrate resulted in very low N2O emissions. Interestingly, N2O emissions were significantly correlated only with bacterial amoA, but not with denitrification gene (nirK, nirS, nosZ) abundances, suggesting that ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, via the nitrification pathway, were the main contributors to N2O emissions. Moreover, the treatments had little effect on microbial composition or diversity. We suggest nitrate-based fertilizers or the addition of NIs in NH4+-N based fertilizers as viable options for reducing N2O emissions in tropical soils and lessening the environmental impact of biofuel produced from sugarcane. PMID:27460335

  4. Nitrous oxide emission related to ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and mitigation options from N fertilization in a tropical soil.

    PubMed

    Soares, Johnny R; Cassman, Noriko A; Kielak, Anna M; Pijl, Agata; Carmo, Janaína B; Lourenço, Kesia S; Laanbroek, Hendrikus J; Cantarella, Heitor; Kuramae, Eiko E

    2016-07-27

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) from nitrogen fertilizers applied to sugarcane has high environmental impact on ethanol production. This study aimed to determine the main microbial processes responsible for the N2O emissions from soil fertilized with different N sources, to identify options to mitigate N2O emissions, and to determine the impacts of the N sources on the soil microbiome. In a field experiment, nitrogen was applied as calcium nitrate, urea, urea with dicyandiamide or 3,4 dimethylpyrazone phosphate nitrification inhibitors (NIs), and urea coated with polymer and sulfur (PSCU). Urea caused the highest N2O emissions (1.7% of N applied) and PSCU did not reduce cumulative N2O emissions compared to urea. NIs reduced N2O emissions (95%) compared to urea and had emissions comparable to those of the control (no N). Similarly, calcium nitrate resulted in very low N2O emissions. Interestingly, N2O emissions were significantly correlated only with bacterial amoA, but not with denitrification gene (nirK, nirS, nosZ) abundances, suggesting that ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, via the nitrification pathway, were the main contributors to N2O emissions. Moreover, the treatments had little effect on microbial composition or diversity. We suggest nitrate-based fertilizers or the addition of NIs in NH4(+)-N based fertilizers as viable options for reducing N2O emissions in tropical soils and lessening the environmental impact of biofuel produced from sugarcane.

  5. Ammonium sorption and ammonia inhibition of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria explain contrasting soil N2O production

    PubMed Central

    Venterea, Rodney T.; Clough, Timothy J.; Coulter, Jeffrey A.; Breuillin-Sessoms, Florence

    2015-01-01

    Better understanding of process controls over nitrous oxide (N2O) production in urine-impacted ‘hot spots’ and fertilizer bands is needed to improve mitigation strategies and emission models. Following amendment with bovine (Bos taurus) urine (Bu) or urea (Ur), we measured inorganic N, pH, N2O, and genes associated with nitrification in two soils (‘L’ and ‘W’) having similar texture, pH, C, and C/N ratio. Solution-phase ammonia (slNH3) was also calculated accounting for non-linear ammonium (NH4+) sorption capacities (ASC). Soil W displayed greater nitrification rates and nitrate (NO3−) levels than soil L, but was more resistant to nitrite (NO2−) accumulation and produced two to ten times less N2O than soil L. Genes associated with NO2− oxidation (nxrA) increased substantially in soil W but remained static in soil L. Soil NO2− was strongly correlated with N2O production, and cumulative (c-) slNH3 explained 87% of the variance in c-NO2−. Differences between soils were explained by greater slNH3 in soil L which inhibited NO2− oxidization leading to greater NO2− levels and N2O production. This is the first study to correlate the dynamics of soil slNH3, NO2−, N2O and nitrifier genes, and the first to show how ASC can regulate NO2− levels and N2O production. PMID:26179972

  6. Wetting-induced pulses produced unexpectedly high emissions of N2O and NOx in a desert ecosystem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eberwein, J. R.; Carey, C.; Aronson, E. L.; Jenerette, D.

    2015-12-01

    Approximately one third of Earth's land surface is subjected to arid conditions, and aridland soils have the potential for significant feedbacks to global climate change drivers, such as anthropogenic nitrogen deposition. This study examined wetting-induced pulses of N2O and NOx along a nitrogen deposition gradient in the Colorado Desert of southern California. Measurements were made before and following water (to simulate a 2 cm rain event) and nitrogen plus water additions (30 kg NH4NO3 ha-1) at 15 minutes, 12 hours and 24 hours post-wetting. We found nitrogenous fluxes that were substantially higher than expected. N2O fluxes, in particular were remarkably high reaching up to 200 ng N2O-N m-2 s-1, similar to agriculture levels and in the range of peat bog emissions. There was a clear transition between N2O emissions, which peaked 15 minutes after wetting, and NOx emissions, which peaked at the 12 hour timepoint. NOx emissions were also considerable, reaching as high as 350 ng NOx-N m-2 s-1. Both N2O and NOx fluxes responded strongly to water additions, demonstrating a clear wetting-induced pulse response. While N2O was not affected by nitrogen additions, NOx fluxes demonstrated a significant increase with nitrogen plus water over water alone (p=0.016). These results suggest that gaseous nitrogen export, particularly N2O emissions, is a greater form of nitrogen loss in arid systems than is currently assumed. This potential for high nitrogen emissions and the capacity for anthropogenic nitrogen deposition to increase these emissions present serious implications for local air quality and significant soil feedbacks to climate change.

  7. Effects of the fungicides mancozeb and chlorothalonil on fluxes of CO2, N2O, and CH4 in a fertilized Colorado grassland soil

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kinney, C.A.; Mosier, A.R.; Ferrer, I.; Furlong, E.T.; Mandernack, K.W.

    2004-01-01

    Management of agricultural soil plays an important role in present and future atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4). Pesticides are used as management tools in crop production, but little is known about their effects on soil-atmosphere exchange of CO2, N2O, and CH4. Field studies described in this paper determined the effect of two commonly used fungicides, mancozeb and chlorothalonil, on trace gas exchange. Separate experimental plots, 1 m2, were established in nitrogen fertilized no-tilled native grassland and tilled soils with and without fungicide application. Two studies were conducted. The first study was initiated in June 1999 and lasted for 1 year with monthly flux measurements from tilled and no-till soils. The second study commenced in August 2001 with twelve weekly measurements from tilled soils only. From both studies mancozeb suppressed emissions of CO2 and N2O in the tilled soil by an average of 28% and 47%, respectively. This suppression corresponded with efficacy periods of 14-29 and 56-77 days, respectively. From the no-till soils mancozeb decreased CO2 and N2O emissions by 33% and 80% for periods of 29 and 94 days, respectively. Mancozeb inhibited CH4 consumption in the first study by 46% and 71% in the tilled and no-till soil for periods of 8 and 29 days, respectively, but had no effect in the second study. From both studies chlorothalonil initially suppressed CO2 and N2O emissions and enhanced CH4 uptake in the tilled soil by an average of 37%, 40%, and 115%, respectively. These effects corresponded with efficacy periods of 14-29, 21-56, and 1-14 days, respectively. In the no-till soil chlorothalonil inhibited CO2 and N2O emissions and enhanced CH4 uptake by 29%, 48%, and 86% for periods of 29, 56, and 56 days, respectively. Following the initial period of suppression, chlorothalonil subsequently enhanced N2O emissions in the tilled soil by an average of 51% and in the no

  8. Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Emissions by Termites: Does the Feeding Guild Matter?

    PubMed

    Brauman, Alain; Majeed, Muhammad Zeeshan; Buatois, Bruno; Robert, Alain; Pablo, Anne-Laure; Miambi, Edouard

    2015-01-01

    In the tropics, termites are major players in the mineralization of organic matter leading to the production of greenhouse gases including nitrous oxide (N2O). Termites have a wide trophic diversity and their N-metabolism depends on the feeding guild. This study assessed the extent to which N2O emission levels were determined by termite feeding guild and tested the hypothesis that termite species feeding on a diet rich in N emit higher levels of N2O than those feeding on a diet low in N. An in-vitro incubation approach was used to determine the levels of N2O production in 14 termite species belonging to different feeding guilds, collected from a wide range of biomes. Fungus-growing and soil-feeding termites emit N2O. The N2O production levels varied considerably, ranging from 13.14 to 117.62 ng N2O-N d(-1) (g dry wt.)(-1) for soil-feeding species, with Cubitermes spp. having the highest production levels, and from 39.61 to 65.61 ng N2O-N d(-1) (g dry wt.)(-1) for fungus-growing species. Wood-feeding termites were net N2O consumers rather than N2O producers with a consumption ranging from 16.09 to 45.22 ng N2O-N d(-1) (g dry wt.)(-1). Incubating live termites together with their mound increased the levels of N2O production by between 6 and 13 fold for soil-feeders, with the highest increase in Capritermes capricornis, and between 14 and 34 fold for fungus-growers, with the highest increase in Macrotermes muelleri. Ammonia-oxidizing (amoA-AOB and amoA-AOA) and denitrifying (nirK, nirS, nosZ) gene markers were detected in the guts of all termite species studied. No correlation was found between the abundance of these marker genes and the levels of N2O production from different feeding guilds. Overall, these results support the hypothesis that N2O production rates were higher in termites feeding on substrates with higher N content, such as soil and fungi, compared to those feeding on N-poor wood.

  9. N2O emissions from humid tropical agricultural soils: effects of soil moisture, texture and nitrogen availability

    Treesearch

    A.M. Weitza; E. Linderb; S. Frolkingc; P.M. Crillc; M. Keller

    2001-01-01

    We studied soil moisture dynamics and nitrous oxide (N2O) ¯uxes from agricultural soils in the humid tropics of Costa Rica. Using a splitplot design on two soils (clay, loam) we compared two crop types (annual, perennial) each unfertilized and fertilized. Both soils are of andic origin. Their properties include relatively low bulk density and high organic matter...

  10. Enhancing soil infiltration reduces gaseous emissions and improves N uptake from applied dairy slurry.

    PubMed

    Bhandral, R; Bittman, S; Kowalenko, G; Buckley, K; Chantigny, M H; Hunt, D E; Bounaix, F; Friesen, A

    2009-01-01

    Rapid infiltration of liquid manure into the soil reduces emissions of ammonia (NH(3)) into the atmosphere. This study was undertaken to assess the effects of two low-cost methods of assisting infiltration of applied dairy slurry on emissions of NH(3), nitrous oxide (N(2)O), and on crop N uptake. The two methods were removing of solids by settling-decantation to make the manure less viscous and mechanically aerating the soil. Ammonia emissions were measured with wind tunnels as percentage of applied total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN) while emissions of N(2)O were measured with vented chambers. Mechanically aerating the soil before manure application significantly reduced emissions of NH(3) relative to the nonaerated soil in spring (38.6 to 20.3% of applied TAN), summer (41.1 to 26.4% of applied TAN) and fall (27.7 to 13.6% of applied TAN) trials. Decantation of manure had no effect on NH(3) emissions in spring, tended to increase emissions in summer and significantly decreased emissions in fall (30.3 to 11.1% of applied TAN). Combining the two abatement techniques reduced NH(3) emission by 82% in fall, under cool weather conditions typical of manure spreading. The two abatement techniques generally did not significantly affect N(2)O emissions. Uptake of applied N by Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) was generally significantly greater with decanted than from whole manure but the effect of aeration was generally small and not significant. The study shows that low cost methods that assist manure infiltration into the soil may be used to greatly reduce ammonia loss without increasing N(2)O emissions, but efficacy of abatement methods is affected by weather conditions.

  11. Effects of soil dry-wet cycles and nitrogen fertilization on soil nitrous oxide emission: Simulation using the DNDC model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hui, D.; Chen, H.; Deng, Q.; Wang, G.; Schadt, C. W.

    2017-12-01

    The major source of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) is from croplands. A rapid pulse response of soil N2O emission to precipitation (PPT) is often reported, especially after a drought period. However, how precipitation pattern (i.e. frequency) and intensity, and nitrogen (N) fertilization would interactively influence soil N2O emission has not been well investigated. In this modeling study, we took advantage of a validated biogeochemical model (DNDC) in a cornfield and simulated soil N2O emission under manipulated precipitation treatments and three levels (Low, medium and high) of N application rate. The PPT treatments included precipitation pattern (from very frequent, to medium, and rare dry-wet cycles without changes in total annual precipitation) and intensity (from ambient, to -50%, +50%, and +100% ambient precipitation without changes in precipitation pattern). Results showed that both precipitation pattern and intensity, as well as nitrogen application rate had significant influences on the pulse responses and annual soil N2O emission. Very frequent dry-wet cycles tended to increase soil N2O emission while long drought-wet cycles had lower soil N2O emission, but the timing of N fertilization and precipitation also played an important role in the magnitude of pulse response and annual budget of N2O emission. As expected, soil N2O emission was higher under the high N application and lower under the low N application rate. Double precipitation (+100%) had the highest soil N2O emission, but showed no significant differences with +50% and ambient precipitation. The drought (-50%) treatment significantly reduced soil N2O emission. Annual soil N2O emission could be described as N2O=-6.7436+0.1098N+0.0049PPT, R2=0.86. Our results demonstrate that not only the intensity and pattern of precipitation greatly influence soil N2O emission, but also the timing of rainfall and N fertilization may play an important role in soil N2O pulse responses and annual N2O emission in

  12. "Hot spots" of N and C impact nitric oxide, nitrous oxide and nitrogen gas emissions from a UK grassland soil.

    PubMed

    Loick, Nadine; Dixon, Elizabeth; Abalos, Diego; Vallejo, Antonio; Matthews, Peter; McGeough, Karen; Watson, Catherine; Baggs, Elizabeth M; Cardenas, Laura M

    2017-11-01

    Agricultural soils are a major source of nitric- (NO) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O), which are produced and consumed by biotic and abiotic soil processes. The dominant sources of NO and N 2 O are microbial nitrification and denitrification, and emissions of NO and N 2 O generally increase after fertiliser application. The present study investigated the impact of N-source distribution on emissions of NO and N 2 O from soil and the significance of denitrification, rather than nitrification, as a source of NO emissions. To eliminate spatial variability and changing environmental factors which impact processes and results, the experiment was conducted under highly controlled conditions. A laboratory incubation system (DENIS) was used, allowing simultaneous measurement of three N-gases (NO, N 2 O, N 2 ) emitted from a repacked soil core, which was combined with 15 N-enrichment isotopic techniques to determine the source of N emissions. It was found that the areal distribution of N and C significantly affected the quantity and timing of gaseous emissions and 15 N-analysis showed that N 2 O emissions resulted almost exclusively from the added amendments. Localised higher concentrations, so-called hot spots, resulted in a delay in N 2 O and N 2 emissions causing a longer residence time of the applied N-source in the soil, therefore minimising NO emissions while at the same time being potentially advantageous for plant-uptake of nutrients. If such effects are also observed for a wider range of soils and conditions, then this will have major implications for fertiliser application protocols to minimise gaseous N emissions while maintaining fertilisation efficiency.

  13. Sunflower N2O emissions under two different water regimes in Mediterranean climate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Monaco, Eugenia; Vitale, Luca; Di Tommasi, Paul; Tedeschi, Anna; Tosca, Maurizio; Magliulo, Vincenzo

    2017-04-01

    Human activities are altering the atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) concentration with negative effects on global climate and environment. Cropland represents about 12 % of earth's surface and largely contribute to GHGs production, in particular N2O, due to a massive use of nitrogen fertilization. In particular, agriculture and intensive livestock farming may significantly affect biogeochemical cycles included nitrogen cycle. However, it is often difficult to predict the total amount of fluxes caused by agricultural management, which impact on both the whole agro-ecosystem. The objective of the experiment was to evaluate soil N2O fluxes under two different irrigation managements. The experimental trial was conducted in a farm in surrounding of Naples, southern Italy. The crop monitored was sunflower for biomass uses. Two irrigation levels were performed: returning 100% (optimal irrigation) and 50% (deficit irrigation) of soil field capacity for the layer 0.0-0.50 m. 314 Kg ha-1 of urea fertilizer was supplied in two times: at sowing and 40 days later. Before sowing, six autochambers were inserted 3 cm into the soil and connected to a gas chromatograph and a scanning apparatus. A program for chambers' management was implemented to monitor soil N2O fluxes measured different times of the day. Biometric parameters such as LAI, root depth, above- and below-ground biomass were monitored during the experiment. Results shows that soil N2O fluxes were affected by irrigation regime; in particular, the deficit irrigation determined lower N2O fluxes compared to optimal irrigation but the total biomass production and yield were comparable between the two water regimes. So low input farm management could be take in account to reduce the total N2O emission and maintain at the same time high productivity level in terms of biomass and yield. Keywords: N2O fluxes, Irrigation schedule, sunflower

  14. Nitrous oxide (N2O) emission from aquaculture: a review.

    PubMed

    Hu, Zhen; Lee, Jae Woo; Chandran, Kartik; Kim, Sungpyo; Khanal, Samir Kumar

    2012-06-19

    Nitrous oxide (N(2)O) is an important greenhouse gas (GHG) which has a global warming potential 310 times that of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) over a hundred year lifespan. N(2)O is generated during microbial nitrification and denitrification, which are common in aquaculture systems. To date, few studies have been conducted to quantify N(2)O emission from aquaculture. Additionally, very little is known with respect to the microbial pathways through which N(2)O is formed in aquaculture systems. This review suggests that aquaculture can be an important anthropogenic source of N(2)O emission. The global N(2)O-N emission from aquaculture in 2009 is estimated to be 9.30 × 10(10) g, and will increase to 3.83 × 10(11)g which could account for 5.72% of anthropogenic N(2)O-N emission by 2030 if the aquaculture industry continues to increase at the present annual growth rate (about 7.10%). The possible mechanisms and various factors affecting N(2)O production are summarized, and two possible methods to minimize N(2)O emission, namely aquaponic and biofloc technology aquaculture, are also discussed. The paper concludes with future research directions.

  15. Characterization of the N2O isotopic composition (15N, 18O and N2O isotopomers) emitted from incubated Amazon forest soils. Implications for the global N2O isotope budget

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pérez, T.; García, D.; Trumbore, S.; Tyler, S.; de Camargo, P.; Moreira, M.; Piccolo, M.; Park, S.; Boering, K.; Cerri, C.

    2003-04-01

    Tropical rain forest soils are the largest natural source of N2O to the atmosphere. Uncertainty in the signature of this source limits the utility of isotopes in constraining the global N2O budget. Differentiating the relative contribution of nitrification and denitrification to the emitted N2O using stable isotopes has been difficult due to the lack of enrichment factors values for each process measured in situ. We have devised a method for measuring enrichment factors using soil incubation experiments. We selected three Amazon rain forest soils: (1) Clay and (2) Sandy from Santarem, Pará State, and (3) Sandy from Nova Vida Farm, Rondonia State, Brazil. The enrichment factor values for nitrification and denitrification are: -97.8±4.2 and -9.9±3.8 per mil for clay Santarem soil, -86.8±4.3 and -45.2±4.5 per mil for sandy Santarem soil and-112.6±3.8 and -10.4±3.5 per mil for Nova Vida Farm soils, respectively. Our results show that enrichment factors for both processes differ with soil texture and location. The enrichment factors for nitrification are significantly smaller than the range reported in the literature (-66 to -42 per mil). Also, the enrichment factors for the Santarem soils (clay and sandy) differ significantly implying that soil texture (which will affect the soil air filled pore space at a given water content) is influencing the bacteria isotopic discrimination. However, the enrichment factors for the Santarem clay sand Nova Vida sandy soils do not differ by much. This suggests that the enrichment factors not only can be affected by texture but also by the microbial fauna present in these soils. We also determined the measurement of the N2O positional dependence. N2O is a linear molecule with two nitrogen atoms. The 15N isotope can be located in either the central nitrogen (alpha position) or in the terminal nitrogen (beta position). The isotopomer site preference (15N alpha - 15N beta) can be used to differentiate processes of production and

  16. Effect of N-fertilization on N2 and N2O flux rates in relation to the structure of the denitrifying bacterial community in fen soil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Augustin, J.; Behrendt, U.; Ulrich, A.

    2009-04-01

    Drained fen peatlands of north-east Europe managed by different agricultural regimes constitute an important source for emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) into the atmosphere. The strength of N2O fluxes showed a high variability in time and space influenced by complex interactions of formation and transfer processes with environmental parameters which makes prediction of emissions uncertain. This applies particularly to the denitrification. This is one of the microbial processes with special interest for N2O production in the context of frequently varying soil-moisture content of fen soils that favouring anaerobic conditions. Moreover, denitrification may result in the production of both N2O and N2 in varying proportions. However, not only the knowledge about the effect of soil chemical and physical properties, climate, vegetation, and management on the actual N2O and N2 fluxes is very incomplete at fen soils. There are also no information about the role of structure and activity of denitrifying microbial communities in this context either. The experiments presented in this study aim at addressing this subject matter. Relatively undisturbed soil columns (250 cm3) from a long-term N-fertilization experiment on a fen grassland (over a period of 45 years) were used for measurement of the current N2 and N2O fluxes followed by processing the soil sample for microbiological analysis immediately to investigate the influence of N-fertilization on these parameters. The direct measurement of N2 and N2O fluxes was performed by a helium atmosphere incubation technique in the lab. Results showed a strong influence of N-fertilization and soil moisture on the emission of N2 and N2O. Shifts in the total microbial community were estimated by phospholipid fatty acid analysis, a fingerprint focused on active organisms. Results showed that seasonal effects interfered the influence of N-fertilization on shifts of the total microbial community composition. To characterise the denitrifying

  17. Experimental warming of a mountain tundra increases soil CO2 effluxes and enhances CH4 and N2O uptake at Changbai Mountain, China

    PubMed Central

    Zhou, Yumei; Hagedorn, Frank; Zhou, Chunliang; Jiang, Xiaojie; Wang, Xiuxiu; Li, Mai-He

    2016-01-01

    Climatic warming is expected to particularly alter greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soils in cold ecosystems such as tundra. We used 1 m2 open-top chambers (OTCs) during three growing seasons to examine how warming (+0.8–1.2 °C) affects the fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from alpine tundra soils. Results showed that OTC warming increased soil CO2 efflux by 141% in the first growing season and by 45% in the second and third growing season. The mean CH4 flux of the three growing seasons was −27.6 and −16.7 μg CH4-C m−2h−1 in the warmed and control treatment, respectively. Fluxes of N2O switched between net uptake and emission. Warming didn’t significantly affect N2O emission during the first and the second growing season, but stimulated N2O uptake in the third growing season. The global warming potential of GHG was clearly dominated by soil CO2 effluxes (>99%) and was increased by the OTC warming. In conclusion, soil temperature is the main controlling factor for soil respiration in this tundra. Climate warming will lead to higher soil CO2 emissions but also to an enhanced CH4 uptake with an overall increase of the global warming potential for tundra. PMID:26880107

  18. Disaggregated N2O emission factors in China based on cropping parameters create a robust approach to the IPCC Tier 2 methodology

    PubMed Central

    Shepherd, Anita; Yan, Xiaoyuan; Nayak, Dali; Newbold, Jamie; Moran, Dominic; Dhanoa, Mewa Singh; Goulding, Keith; Smith, Pete; Cardenas, Laura M.

    2015-01-01

    China accounts for a third of global nitrogen fertilizer consumption. Under an International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 2 assessment, emission factors (EFs) are developed for the major crop types using country-specific data. IPCC advises a separate calculation for the direct nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions of rice cultivation from that of cropland and the consideration of the water regime used for irrigation. In this paper we combine these requirements in two independent analyses, using different data quality acceptance thresholds, to determine the influential parameters on emissions with which to disaggregate and create N2O EFs. Across China, the N2O EF for lowland horticulture was slightly higher (between 0.74% and 1.26% of fertilizer applied) than that for upland crops (values ranging between 0.40% and 1.54%), and significantly higher than for rice (values ranging between 0.29% and 0.66% on temporarily drained soils, and between 0.15% and 0.37% on un-drained soils). Higher EFs for rice were associated with longer periods of drained soil and the use of compound fertilizer; lower emissions were associated with the use of urea or acid soils. Higher EFs for upland crops were associated with clay soil, compound fertilizer or maize crops; lower EFs were associated with sandy soil and the use of urea. Variation in emissions for lowland vegetable crops was closely associated with crop type. The two independent analyses in this study produced consistent disaggregated N2O EFs for rice and mixed crops, showing that the use of influential cropping parameters can produce robust EFs for China. PMID:26865831

  19. Disaggregated N2O emission factors in China based on cropping parameters create a robust approach to the IPCC Tier 2 methodology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shepherd, Anita; Yan, Xiaoyuan; Nayak, Dali; Newbold, Jamie; Moran, Dominic; Dhanoa, Mewa Singh; Goulding, Keith; Smith, Pete; Cardenas, Laura M.

    2015-12-01

    China accounts for a third of global nitrogen fertilizer consumption. Under an International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 2 assessment, emission factors (EFs) are developed for the major crop types using country-specific data. IPCC advises a separate calculation for the direct nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions of rice cultivation from that of cropland and the consideration of the water regime used for irrigation. In this paper we combine these requirements in two independent analyses, using different data quality acceptance thresholds, to determine the influential parameters on emissions with which to disaggregate and create N2O EFs. Across China, the N2O EF for lowland horticulture was slightly higher (between 0.74% and 1.26% of fertilizer applied) than that for upland crops (values ranging between 0.40% and 1.54%), and significantly higher than for rice (values ranging between 0.29% and 0.66% on temporarily drained soils, and between 0.15% and 0.37% on un-drained soils). Higher EFs for rice were associated with longer periods of drained soil and the use of compound fertilizer; lower emissions were associated with the use of urea or acid soils. Higher EFs for upland crops were associated with clay soil, compound fertilizer or maize crops; lower EFs were associated with sandy soil and the use of urea. Variation in emissions for lowland vegetable crops was closely associated with crop type. The two independent analyses in this study produced consistent disaggregated N2O EFs for rice and mixed crops, showing that the use of influential cropping parameters can produce robust EFs for China.

  20. Validation of a station-prototype designed to integrate temporally soil N2O fluxes: IPNOA Station prototype.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Laville, Patricia; Volpi, Iride; Bosco, Simona; Virgili, Giorgio; Neri, Simone; Continanza, Davide; Bonari, Enrico

    2016-04-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) flux measurements from agricultural soil surface still accounts for the scientific community as major challenge. The evaluations of integrated soil N2O fluxes are difficult because these emissions are lower than for the other greenhouse gases sources (CO2, CH4). They are also sporadic, because highly dependent on few environmental conditions acting as limiting factors. Within a LIFE project (IPNOA: LIFE11 ENV/IT/00032) a station prototype was developed to integrate annually N2O and CO2 emissions using automatically chamber technique. Main challenge was to develop a device enough durable to be able of measuring in continuous way CO2 and N2O fluxes with sufficient sensitivity to allow make reliable assessments of soil GHG measurements with minimal technical field interventions. The IPNOA station prototype was developed by West System SRL and was set up during 2 years (2014 -2015) in an experimental maize field in Tuscan. The prototype involved six automatic chambers; the complete measurement cycle was of 2 hours. Each chamber was closing during 20 min and biogas accumulations were monitoring in line with IR spectrometers. Auxiliary's measurements including soil temperatures and water contents as weather data were also monitoring. All data were managed remotely with the same acquisition software installed in the prototype control unit. The operation of the prototype during the two cropping years allowed testing its major features: its ability to evaluate the temporal variation of N2O soil fluxes during a long period with weather conditions and agricultural managements and to prove the interest to have continuous measurements of fluxes. The temporal distribution of N2O fluxes indicated that emissions can be very large and discontinuous over short periods less ten days and that during about 70% of the time N2O fluxes were around detection limit of the instrumentation, evaluated to 2 ng N ha-1 day-1. N2O emission factor assessments were 1.9% in 2014

  1. Nitrous oxide emissions from soil amended with 15N-labelled urea with nitrification inhibitor (Nitrapyrin) and mulch

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khan, Aamir; Heiling, Maria; Zaman, Mohammad; Resch, Christian

    2017-04-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O), one of the key greenhouse and ozone (O3) depleting gases, constitutes 7% of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect. Its global warming potential is 310 times higher than that of carbon dioxide (CO2) and 16 times than methane (CH4) over a 100-year period. To develop mitigation tools for N2O emissions, and to investigate the relationship between gross N transformation and N2O emission from soil, it is imperative to understand N2O emission from soils as influenced by N inputs, environmental conditions and farm management practices. The use of nitrification inhibitor such as Nitrapyrin and crop residues (mulch) may have a role in mitigating N2O losses from soil because of their effects on nitrification and denitrification. It prevents hydrolytic action on urea and keeps nitrogen in ammonium form. To determine the effects of urea applied with nitrification inhibitor and mulch on N2O emissions from soil, an incubation experiment was conducted under controlled moisture of 60% water filled pore space (WFPS) and temperature (20±2oC) conditions. Soil samples (0-20 cm soil depth) collected from an arable site were treated with 15N-labelled urea (5 atom %) at 150 kg N/ha rate. The 5 treatments including control, (urea, urea with Nitrapyrin (800 g/100 kg urea), urea with mulch (5 tons/ha) and urea with Nitrapyrin and mulch) were replicated 4 times using 500 ml glass jars. The N2O isotopic signature and the intramolecular distribution of 15N were measured by off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy (Los Gatos Research). The preliminary results showed that nitrification inhibitor (Nitrapyrin) can be used to distinguish between different pathways of N2O production from soil. In addition to the site preference of the 15N promises to be a helpful tool to determine the source of the generated N2O.

  2. Verifying the UK agricultural N2O emission inventory with tall tower measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carnell, E. J.; Meneguz, E.; Skiba, U. M.; Misselbrook, T. H.; Cardenas, L. M.; Arnold, T.; Manning, A.; Dragosits, U.

    2016-12-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a key greenhouse gas (GHG), with a global warming potential 300 times greater than that of CO2. N2O is emitted from a variety of sources, predominantly from agriculture. Annual UK emission estimates are reported, to comply with government commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The UK N2O inventory follows internationally agreed protocols and emission estimates are derived by applying emission factors to estimates of (anthropogenic) emission sources. This approach is useful for comparing anthropogenic emissions from different countries, but does not capture regional differences and inter-annual variability associated with environmental factors (such as climate and soils) and agricultural management. In recent years, the UK inventory approach has been refined to include regional information into its emissions estimates, in an attempt to reduce uncertainty. This study attempts to assess the difference between current published inventory methodology (default IPCC methodology) and an alternative approach, which incorporates the latest thinking, using data from recent work. For 2013, emission estimates made using the alternative approach were 30 % lower than those made using default IPCC methodology, due to the use of lower emission factors suggested by recent projects (Defra projects: AC0116, AC0213 and MinNO). The 2013 emissions estimates were disaggregated on a monthly basis using agricultural management (e.g. sowing dates), climate data and soil properties. The temporally disaggregated emission maps were used as input to the Met Office atmospheric dispersion model NAME, for comparison with measured N2O concentrations, at three observation stations (Tacolneston, E. England; Ridge Hill, W. England; Mace Head, W. Ireland) in the UK DECC network (Deriving Emissions linked to Climate Change). The Mace Head site, situated on the west coast of Ireland, was used to establish baseline concentrations. The

  3. Surface Nitrification: A Major Uncertainty in Marine N2O Emissions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zamora, Lauren M.; Oschlies, Andreas

    2014-01-01

    The ocean is responsible for up to a third of total global nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, but uncertainties in emission rates of this potent greenhouse gas are high (approaching 100%). Here we use a marine biogeochemical model to assess six major uncertainties in estimates of N2O production, thereby providing guidance in how future studies may most effectively reduce uncertainties in current and future marine N2O emissions. Potential surface N2O production from nitrification causes the largest uncertainty in N2O emissions (estimated up to approximately 1.6 Tg N/yr (sup -1) or 48% of modeled values), followed by the unknown oxygen concentration at which N2O production switches to N2O consumption (0.8 Tg N/yr (sup -1)or 24% of modeled values). Other uncertainties are minor, cumulatively changing regional emissions by less than 15%. If production of N2O by surface nitrification could be ruled out in future studies, uncertainties in marine N2O emissions would be halved.

  4. Pasture age effects on N[sub 2]O, NO and CH[sub 4] emissions in the Atlantic Lowlands of Costa Rica

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Keller, M.; Reiners, W.A.; Veldkamp, E.

    A study conducted in Brazil indicated that N[sub 2]O emissions increased following forest conversion to pasture. Our first study in Costa Rica indicated the reverse. To explore this contradiction, we measured N[sub 2]O, NO, and CH[sub 4] emissions in a chronosequence of 8 sites comprising forest and derive pastures of ayes 2 to 25 years, all on the same soil type in the Atlantic Lowlands of Costa Rica. We found large differences through the chronosequence in the fluxes of these three gases. Flux changes were related to changes in available nitrogen, organic matter, moisture content, and bulk density in themore » soil. N[sub 2]O emissions from the 2-year pasture were much greater than from the forest. Emissions declined with pasture age so that 25-year pasture had much smaller emissions than the forest. NO emissions from young pastures were similar to forest emissions, then declined sharply with pasture age. Forest soils consumed CH[sub 4]. Pasture soils mainly produced CH[sub 4]. Prediction of the effects of land use change on trace gas fluxes in the tropics will require an assessment of the history and soil condition of individual land units.« less

  5. CH4 and N2O Emissions from Rice Paddy Soils in Vietnam - Identifying Regional Hotspots and Quantifying the Total Emission Strength using a Biogeochemical Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Werner, C.; Kraus, D.; Mai, T. V.; Butterbach-Bahl, K.

    2016-12-01

    Agriculture is the economic backbone for over two thirds of Vietnam's population, providing food security, employment and income. However, agriculture in Vietnam is challenged by climate change and climate extremes and at the same time, agriculture remains a key source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The first bi-annual update report (BUR1), published in 2014 indicated that while the proportion of GHG emissions from agriculture had fallen from 43.1% to 33.2% from 2000 to 2010, the emission total increased from 65.1 mio to 88.4 mio t CO2e. Reducing GHG emissions from agriculture has thus become a key issue within the national strategy of GHG emission management. Here we present first data using IPCC Tier 3 modeling for quantifying the source strength of rice based crop systems for CH4 and N2O. We used LandscapeDNDC and linked it to a newly developed spatial landuse and land management database (climate, soil properties, and detailed field management data). Site application showed good agreement of simulated biomass, yield and GHG emissions with field observations, providing confidence for model use at national scale. Our results also show good agreement with national yield data and total annual emissions of the simulated period (2006-2015) ranged from 1060 - 1502 kt CH4 and 6.2 - 7.7 kt N2O, respectively. The dominating emission hotspot for CH4 is the Mekong Delta region with its double and triple rice cropping systems (819 kt CH4/yr, Fig. 1). With regard to N2O, emission hotspots have been identified to be closely related to regions with high fertilizer use and single to double rice cropping systems (Fig. 1). Though, our emission estimates are likely representing the best of current knowledge on national GHG emissions from rice based systems in Vietnam, the uncertainty is significant as information on rice system management remains vague. Sensitivity studies show that changes in field management affecting the soil organic carbon dynamics (duration of flooding

  6. N2O fluxes at the soil-atmosphere interface in various ecosystems and the global N2O budget

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Banin, Amos

    1987-01-01

    The overall purpose of this research task is to study the effects of soil properties and ecosystem variables on N2O exchanges at the soil-atmosphere interface, and to assess their effects on the globle N2O budget. Experimental procedures are implemented in various sites to measure the source/sink relations of N2O at the soil-atmosphere interface over prolonged periods of time as part of the research of biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. A data-base for establishing quantitative correlations between N2O fluxes and soil and environmental parameters that are of potential use for remote sensing, is being developed.

  7. Tree species influence soil-atmosphere fluxes of the greenhouse gases CO2, CH4 and N2O

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Steffens, Christina; Vesterdal, Lars; Pfeiffer, Eva-Maria

    2016-04-01

    In the temperate zone, forests are the greatest terrestrial sink for atmospheric CO2, and tree species affect soil C stocks and soil CO2 emissions. When considering the total greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of the forest soil, the relevant GHGs CH4 and N2O should also be considered as they have a higher global warming potential than CO2. The presented data are first results from a field study in a common garden site in Denmark where tree species with ectomycorrhizal colonization (beech - Fagus sylvatica, oak - Quercus robur) and with arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization (maple - Acer pseudoplatanus, ash - Fraxinus excelsior) have been planted in monocultures in adjacent blocks of about 0.25 ha in the year 1973 on former arable land. The soil-atmosphere fluxes of all three gases were measured every second week since August 2015. The hypothesis is that the total GHG efflux from forest soil would differ between species, and that these differences could be related to the type of mycorrhizal association and leaf litter quality. Preliminary results (August to December 2015) indicate that tree species influence the fluxes (converted to CO2-eq) of the three GHGs. Total soil CO2 efflux was in the low end of the range reported for temperate broadleaved forests but similar to the measurements at the same site approximately ten years ago. It was highest under oak (9.6±2.4 g CO2 m-2 d-1) and lowest under maple (5.2±1.6 g CO2 m-2 d-1). In contrast, soil under oak was a small but significant sink for CH4(-0.005±0.003 g CO2-eq m-2 d-1), while there were almost no detectable CH4 fluxes in maple. Emissions of N2O were highest under beech (0.6±0.6 g CO2-eq m-2 d-1) and oak (0.2±0.09 g CO2-eq m-2 d-1) and lowest under ash (0.03±0.04 g CO2-eq m-2 d-1). In the total GHG balance, soil CH4 uptake was negligible (≤0.1% of total emissions). Emissions of N2O (converted to CO2-eq) contributed <1% (ash) to 8% (beech) to total GHG emissions. Summing up all GHG emissions, the tree species

  8. Geographic Inventory Framework (GiF) for estimating N2O and CH4 emissions from agriculture in the province of Alberta, Canada

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dimitrov, D. D.; Wang, J.

    2016-12-01

    A Geographic Information Framework (GiF) has been created to estimate and map agricultural N2O and CH4 emissions of the province of Alberta, Canada. The GiF consists of a modelling component, a GIS component, and application software to communicate between the model, database and census data. For compatibility, GiF follows the IPCC Tier 1 method and contains census data for animal populations, crop areas, and farms for the main IPCC animal and plant types (dairy cows, cattle cows, pigs, sheep, poultry, other animals, grasses, legumes, other crops), and estimated N2O and CH4 emissions from manure management, enteric fermentation, direct soil emissions (with applied manure, synthetic fertilizer, crop residue degradation, biological fixation) and indirect soil emissions (with atmospheric deposition and leaching). Methane emissions from enteric fermentation (609.24 Gg) prevailed over those from manure (44.99 Gg), and nitrous oxide emission from manure (22.01 Gg) prevailed over those from soil (17.73 Gg), with cattle cows emitting most N2O and CH4, followed by plant N2O emissions, and pigs and dairy cows CH4 emissions. The GIS maps showed discernible pattern of N2O and CH4 emissions increasing from North and West to the central Alberta and then slightly declining to South and East, which could be useful to address various mitigation strategies. The framework allows easy replacement of Tier 1 emission factors by Tire 2 or 3 ones from process-based models. Future applying of the latter will allow accounting for CO2 source/sink strength of agricultural ecosystems, hence their complete GHG balance affected by soil, water, and climate.

  9. Mechanistic modeling of reactive soil nitrogen emissions across agricultural management practices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rasool, Q. Z.; Miller, D. J.; Bash, J. O.; Venterea, R. T.; Cooter, E. J.; Hastings, M. G.; Cohan, D. S.

    2017-12-01

    The global reactive nitrogen (N) budget has increased by a factor of 2-3 from pre-industrial levels. This increase is especially pronounced in highly N fertilized agricultural regions in summer. The reactive N emissions from soil to atmosphere can be in reduced (NH3) or oxidized (NO, HONO, N2O) forms, depending on complex biogeochemical transformations of soil N reservoirs. Air quality models like CMAQ typically neglect soil emissions of HONO and N2O. Previously, soil NO emissions estimated by models like CMAQ remained parametric and inconsistent with soil NH3 emissions. Thus, there is a need to more mechanistically and consistently represent the soil N processes that lead to reactive N emissions to the atmosphere. Our updated approach estimates soil NO, HONO and N2O emissions by incorporating detailed agricultural fertilizer inputs from EPIC, and CMAQ-modeled N deposition, into the soil N pool. EPIC addresses the nitrification, denitrification and volatilization rates along with soil N pools for agricultural soils. Suitable updates to account for factors like nitrite (NO2-) accumulation not addressed in EPIC, will also be made. The NO and N2O emissions from nitrification and denitrification are computed mechanistically using the N sub-model of DAYCENT. These mechanistic definitions use soil water content, temperature, NH4+ and NO3- concentrations, gas diffusivity and labile C availability as dependent parameters at various soil layers. Soil HONO emissions found to be most probable under high NO2- availability will be based on observed ratios of HONO to NO emissions under different soil moistures, pH and soil types. The updated scheme will utilize field-specific soil properties and N inputs across differing manure management practices such as tillage. Comparison of the modeled soil NO emission rates from the new mechanistic and existing schemes against field measurements will be discussed. Our updated framework will help to predict the diurnal and daily variability

  10. Organically treated biochar increases plant production and reduces N2O emissions: mechanistic insights by 15N tracing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kammann, Claudia; Messerschmidt, Nicole; Clough, Tim; Schmidt, Hans-Peter; Marhan, Sven; Koyro, Hans-Werner; Steffens, Diedrich; Müller, Christoph

    2014-05-01

    Pyrogenic carbon (biochar) offers considerable potential for carbon capture and soil storage (CCSS) compared to other, less recalcitrant soil-C additives. Recent meta-analysis demonstrated that it can significantly reduce agricultural N2O emissions. Freshly produced biochars, however, do not always have yield-improving effects, i.e. there is no immediate economic incentive for using it. Hence, combining biochar with organic nutrient-rich amendments may be a promising agricultural strategy to accelerate CCSS, but it is unclear if biochar still reduces N2O emissions, in particular when it may act as nutrient carrier. We explored the potential of biochar to improve the GHG-cost/yield ratio and thereby its socio-economic value as soil amendment in two subsequent studies under controlled conditions: (1) A proof-of-concept study where the effects of untreated biochar were compared to those of co-composted biochar combined with stepwise improved nutritional regimes (+/- compost; +/- mineral-N application), and (2) a 15N-labeling-tracing study to unravel N exchange on biochar particles and N2O production and reduction mechanisms. Both studies were carried out in nutrient-poor sandy soils, the most likely initial target soils for biochar-CCSS strategies. While the untreated biochar reduced plant growth under N-limiting conditions, or at best did not reduce it, the co-composted biochar always significantly stimulated plant growth. The relative stimulation was largest with the lowest nutrient additions (305% versus 61% of control with untreated biochar). Electro-ultra-filtration analyses revealed that the co-composted but not the untreated biochar carried considerable amounts of easily extractable as well as more strongly sorbed plant nutrients, in particular nitrate and phosphorus. The subsequent 15N labelling-tracing study revealed that the co-composted biochar still (i) acted as a mineral-N exchange site for nitrate and ammonium despite its N-preloading, (ii) reduced N2O

  11. Suppression of nitrification and N2O emission by karanjin--a nitrification inhibitor prepared from karanja (Pongamia glabra Vent.).

    PubMed

    Majumdar, Deepanjan

    2002-06-01

    A laboratory incubation study was undertaken to study nitirification and N2O emission in an alluvial, sandy loam soil (typic ustochrept), fertilized with urea and urea combined with different levels of two nitrification inhibitors viz. karanjin and dicyandiamide (DCD). Karanjin [a furanoflavonoid, obtained from karanja (Pongamia glabra Vent.) seeds] and DCD were incorporated at the rate of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% of applied urea-N (100 mg kg(-1) soil), to the soil (100 g) adjusted to field capacity moisture content. Mean N2O flux was appreciably reduced on addition of the inhibitors with urea. Amounts of nitrified N (i.e. (NO3- + NO2-)-N) in total inorganic N (i.e. (NO3 + NO2- + NH4+)-N) in soil were found to be much lower on the addition of karanjin with urea (2-8%) as compared to urea plus DCD (14-66%) during incubation, indicating that karanjin was much more potent nitrification inhibitor than DCD. Nitrification inhibition was appreciable on the application of different levels of karanjin (62-75%) and DCD (9-42%). Cumulative N2O-N loss was found to be in the range of 0.5-80% of the nitrified N at different stages of incubation. Application of karanjin resulted in higher mitigation of total N2O-N emission (92-96%) when compared with DCD (60-71%).

  12. Complementing the topsoil information of the Land Use/Land Cover Area Frame Survey (LUCAS) with modelled N2O emissions.

    PubMed

    Lugato, Emanuele; Paniagua, Lily; Jones, Arwyn; de Vries, Wim; Leip, Adrian

    2017-01-01

    Two objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy post-2013 (CAP, 2014-2020) in the European Union (EU) are the sustainable management of natural resources and climate smart agriculture. To understand the CAP impact on these priorities, the Land Use/Cover statistical Area frame Survey (LUCAS) employs direct field observations and soil sub-sampling across the EU. While a huge amount of information can be retrieved from LUCAS points for monitoring the environmental status of agroecosystems and assessing soil carbon sequestration, a fundamental aspect relating to climate change action is missing, namely nitrous oxide (N2O) soil emissions. To fill this gap, we ran the DayCent biogeochemistry model for more than 11'000 LUCAS sampling points under agricultural use, assessing also the model uncertainty. The results showed that current annual N2O emissions followed a skewed distribution with a mean and median values of 2.27 and 1.71 kg N ha-1 yr-1, respectively. Using a Random Forest regression for upscaling the modelled results to the EU level, we estimated direct soil emissions of N2O in the range of 171-195 Tg yr-1 of CO2eq. Moreover, the direct regional upscaling using modelled N2O emissions in LUCAS points was on average 0.95 Mg yr-1 of CO2eq. per hectare, which was within the range of the meta-model upscaling (0.92-1.05 Mg ha-1 yr-1 of CO2eq). We concluded that, if information on management practices would be made available and model bias further reduced by N2O flux measurement at representative LUCAS points, the combination of the land use/soil survey with a well calibrated biogeochemistry model may become a reference tool to support agricultural, environmental and climate policies.

  13. Effects of cover crops incorporation and nitrogen fertilization on N2O and CO2 emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kandel, T. P.; Gowda, P. H.; Northup, B. K.; DuPont, J.; Somenahally, A. C.; Rocateli, A.

    2017-12-01

    In this study, we measured N2O and CO2 fluxes from plots planted to hairy vetch (winter cover crop) and broadleaf vetch (spring cover crop) as N sources for the following crabgrass (summer forage crop) in El Reno, Oklahoma, USA. Comparisons also included 0 and 60 kg ha-1 mineral N fertilizer supplied as dry urea. No significant N2O fluxes were observed during rapid growing periods of cover crops (March-April, 2017), however, large fluxes were observed after hairy vetch incorporation. Immediately after the hairy vetch biomass incorporation, large rainfall events were recorded. The fluxes subsided gradually with drying soil condition but were enhanced after every consecutive rainfall events. A rainfall induced flux measuring up to 8.2 kg N2O ha-1 day-1 was observed after 26 days of biomass incorporation. In total, 29 kg N2O ha-1 (18 kg N ha-1) was emitted within a month after biomass incorporation from hairy vetch plots. Growth of broadleaf vetch was poor and N2O fluxes were also lower. Similarly, plots fertilized with 60 kg N ha-1 had significant fluxes of N2O but the magnitude was much lower than the hairy vetch plots. Dynamics of N2O and CO fluxes correlated strongly. The results thus indicated that although cover crops may provide many environmental/agronomic benefits such as N fixation, soil carbon built-up, weed suppression and erosion control, high N2O emissions may dwarf these benefits.

  14. Increased soil emissions of potent greenhouse gases under increased atmospheric CO2.

    PubMed

    van Groenigen, Kees Jan; Osenberg, Craig W; Hungate, Bruce A

    2011-07-13

    Increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(2)) can affect biotic and abiotic conditions in soil, such as microbial activity and water content. In turn, these changes might be expected to alter the production and consumption of the important greenhouse gases nitrous oxide (N(2)O) and methane (CH(4)) (refs 2, 3). However, studies on fluxes of N(2)O and CH(4) from soil under increased atmospheric CO(2) have not been quantitatively synthesized. Here we show, using meta-analysis, that increased CO(2) (ranging from 463 to 780 parts per million by volume) stimulates both N(2)O emissions from upland soils and CH(4) emissions from rice paddies and natural wetlands. Because enhanced greenhouse-gas emissions add to the radiative forcing of terrestrial ecosystems, these emissions are expected to negate at least 16.6 per cent of the climate change mitigation potential previously predicted from an increase in the terrestrial carbon sink under increased atmospheric CO(2) concentrations. Our results therefore suggest that the capacity of land ecosystems to slow climate warming has been overestimated. ©2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

  15. Oceanic N2O emissions in the 21st century

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martinez-Rey, J.; Bopp, L.; Gehlen, M.; Tagliabue, A.; Gruber, N.

    2014-12-01

    The ocean is a substantial source of nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere, but little is known on how this flux might change in the future. Here, we investigate the potential evolution of marine N2O emissions in the 21st century in response to anthropogenic climate change using the global ocean biogeochemical model NEMO-PISCES. We implemented two different parameterizations of N2O production, which differ primarily at low oxygen (O2) conditions. When forced with output from a climate model simulation run under the business-as-usual high CO2 concentration scenario (RCP8.5), our simulations suggest a decrease of 4 to 12% in N2O emissions from 2005 to 2100, i.e., a reduction from 4.03/3.71 to 3.54/3.56 Tg N yr-1 depending on the parameterization. The emissions decrease strongly in the western basins of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, while they tend to increase above the Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs), i.e., in the Eastern Tropical Pacific and in the northern Indian Ocean. The reduction in N2O emissions is caused on the one hand by weakened nitrification as a consequence of reduced primary and export production, and on the other hand by stronger vertical stratification, which reduces the transport of N2O from the ocean interior to the ocean surface. The higher emissions over the OMZ are linked to an expansion of these zones under global warming, which leads to increased N2O production associated primarily with denitrification. From the perspective of a global climate system, the averaged feedback strength associated with the projected decrease in oceanic N2O emissions amounts to around -0.009 W m-2 K-1, which is comparable to the potential increase from terrestrial N2O sources. However, the assesment for a compensation between the terrestrial and marine feedbacks calls for an improved representation of N2O production terms in fully coupled next generation of Earth System Models.

  16. Inverse modelling estimates of N2O surface emissions and stratospheric losses using a global dataset

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thompson, R. L.; Bousquet, P.; Chevallier, F.; Dlugokencky, E. J.; Vermeulen, A. T.; Aalto, T.; Haszpra, L.; Meinhardt, F.; O'Doherty, S.; Moncrieff, J. B.; Popa, M.; Steinbacher, M.; Jordan, A.; Schuck, T. J.; Brenninkmeijer, C. A.; Wofsy, S. C.; Kort, E. A.

    2010-12-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) levels have been steadily increasing in the atmosphere over the past few decades at a rate of approximately 0.3% per year. This trend is of major concern as N2O is both a long-lived Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and an Ozone Depleting Substance (ODS), as it is a precursor of NO and NO2, which catalytically destroy ozone in the stratosphere. Recently, N2O emissions have been recognised as the most important ODS emissions and are now of greater importance than emissions of CFC's. The growth in atmospheric N2O is predominantly due to the enhancement of surface emissions by human activities. Most notably, the intensification and proliferation of agriculture since the mid-19th century, which has been accompanied by the increased input of reactive nitrogen to soils and has resulted in significant perturbations to the natural N-cycle and emissions of N2O. There exist two approaches for estimating N2O emissions, the so-called 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' approaches. Top-down approaches, based on the inversion of atmospheric measurements, require an estimate of the loss of N2O via photolysis and oxidation in the stratosphere. Uncertainties in the loss magnitude contribute uncertainties of 15 to 20% to the global annual surface emissions, complicating direct comparisons between bottom-up and top-down estimates. In this study, we present a novel inversion framework for the simultaneous optimization of N2O surface emissions and the magnitude of the loss, which avoids errors in the emissions due to incorrect assumptions about the lifetime of N2O. We use a Bayesian inversion with a variational formulation (based on 4D-Var) in order to handle very large datasets. N2O fluxes are retrieved at 4-weekly resolution over a global domain with a spatial resolution of 3.75° x 2.5° longitude by latitude. The efficacy of the simultaneous optimization of emissions and losses is tested using a global synthetic dataset, which mimics the available atmospheric data. Lastly, using real

  17. Historical Pattern and Future Trajectories of Terrestrial N2O Emission driven by Multi-factor Global Changes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lu, C.; Tian, H.; Yang, J.; Zhang, B.; Xu, R.

    2015-12-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is among the most important greenhouse gases only next to carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) due to its long life time and high radiative forcing (with a global warming potential 265 times as much as CO2 at 100-year time horizon). The Atmospheric concentration of N2O has increased by 20% since pre-industrial era, and this increase plays a significant role in shaping anthropogenic climate change. However, compared to CO2- and CH4-related research, fewer studies have been performed in assessing and predicting the spatiotemporal patterns of N2O emission from natural and agricultural soils. Here we used a coupled biogeochemical model, DLEM, to quantify the historical and future changes in global terrestrial N2O emissions resulting from natural and anthropogenic perturbations including climate variability, atmospheric CO2 concentration, nitrogen deposition, land use and land cover changes, and agricultural land management practices (i.e., synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use, manure application, and irrigation etc.) over the period 1900-2099. We focused on inter-annual variation and long-term trend of terrestrial N2O emission driven by individual and combined environmental changes during historical and future periods. The sensitivity of N2O emission to climate, atmospheric composition, and human activities has been examined at biome-, latitudinal, continental and global scales. Future projections were conducted to identify the hot spots and hot time periods of global N2O emission under two emission scenarios (RCP2.6 and RCP8.5). It provides a modeling perspective for understanding human-induced N2O emission growth and developing potential management strategies to mitigate further atmospheric N2O increase and climate warming.

  18. Nitrogen soil emissions and belowground plant processes in Mediterranean annual pastures are altered by ozone exposure and N-inputs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sánchez-Martín, L.; Bermejo-Bermejo, V.; García-Torres, L.; Alonso, R.; de la Cruz, A.; Calvete-Sogo, H.; Vallejo, A.

    2017-09-01

    Increasing tropospheric ozone (O3) and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition alter the structure and composition of pastures. These changes could affect N and C compounds in the soil that in turn can influence soil microbial activity and processes involved in the emission of N oxides, methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), but these effects have been scarcely studied. Through an open top chamber (OTC) field experiment, the combined effects of both pollutants on soil gas emissions from an annual experimental Mediterranean community were assessed. Four O3 treatments and three different N input levels were considered. Fluxes of nitric (NO) and nitrous (N2O) oxide, CH4 and CO2 were analysed as well as soil mineral N and dissolved organic carbon. Belowground plant parameters like root biomass and root C and N content were also sampled. Ozone strongly increased soil N2O emissions, doubling the cumulative emission through the growing cycle in the highest O3 treatment, while N-inputs enhanced more slightly NO; CH4 and CO2 where not affected. Both N-gases had a clear seasonality, peaking at the start and at the end of the season when pasture physiological activity is minimal; thus, higher microorganism activity occurred when pasture had a low nutrient demand. The O3-induced peak of N2O under low N availability at the end of the growing season was counterbalanced by the high N inputs. These effects were related to the O3 x N significant interaction found for the root-N content in the grass and the enhanced senescence of the community. Results indicate the importance of the belowground processes, where competition between plants and microorganisms for the available soil N is a key factor, for understanding the ecosystem responses to O3 and N.

  19. Nitrification and N2O production processes in soil incubations after ammonium fertilizer application at high concentrations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deppe, Marianna; Well, Reinhard; Giesemann, Anette; Flessa, Heinz

    2016-04-01

    High concentrations of ammonium as they occur, e.g., after point-injection of ammonium fertilizer solution according to the CULTAN fertilization technique may retard nitrification. Potential advantages in comparison to conventional fertilization include a higher N efficiency of crops, reduced nitrate leaching, and lower N2O and N2 emissions. Dynamics of nitrification due to plant uptake and dilution processes, leading to decreasing ammonium concentrations in fertilizer depots, has only poorly been studied before. Furthermore, there is little information about the relative contribution of different N2O production processes under these conditions. To elucidate the process dynamics a laboratory incubation study was conducted. After fertilization with ammonium sulfate at 5 levels (from 0 to 5000 mg NH4+-N kg-1; 20mg NO3--N kg-1 each), sandy loam soil was incubated in dynamic soil microcosms for 21 days. N2O, CH4 and CO2 fluxes as well as isotope signatures of N2O and, at three dates, NO3- and NH4+ were measured. To identify N2O production processes, acetylene inhibition (0.01 vol.%), 15N tracer approaches, and isotopomer data (15N site preference and δ18O) were used. N2O emissions were highest at 450mg NH4+-N kg-1 and declined with further increasing concentrations. At 5000 mg NH4+-N kg-1 nitrification was completely inhibited. However, approximately 90% of N2O production was inhibited by acetylene application, and there was no change in the relative contribution of nitrification and denitrification to N2O production with N level. Applying the non-equilibrium technique to our 15N tracer data revealed heterogeneous distribution of denitrification in soil, with at least two distinct NO3- pools, and spatial separation of NO3- formation and consumption. In comparison with the acetylene inhibition and 15N tracer approaches the results of the isotopomer approach were reasonable and indicated substantial contribution of nitrifier-denitrification (10-40%) to total N2O

  20. The overwhelming role of soil N2O emissions in net greenhouse gas balance of the U.S. Corn Belt: Modeling estimate of nitrogen fertilizer impacts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lu, C.; Yu, Z.; Cao, P.; Tian, H.

    2017-12-01

    The Corn Belt of the Midwestern U.S. is one of the most productive systems in the world during the growing season, with gross primary production exceeding even that of the Amazon forests. Fueled by increased commodity prices in the late 2000s, the area in corn and soybean in the U.S. has reached record highs with most of the newly added cropland converted from grasslands, wetland, and Conservation Reserve Program land. Intensive management practices, such as fertilizer use, irrigation, tillage, residue removal etc., have been implemented following cropland expansion to maximize crop yield from converted marginal land or from more monoculture production. The Corn Belt has been recognized as one of the major contributors to carbon sinks in the U.S., partially because crop harvest and residue removal reduced soil respiration. In the meanwhile, 75% of the total N2O emission in the U.S. comes from agriculture, among which the Corn Belt is the major source due to nitrogen management, and has large potential of climate mitigation. However, it remains far from certain how intensive cropland expansion and management practices in this region have affected soil carbon accumulation and non-CO2 GHG emissions. In this study, by using a process-based land ecosystem model, Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM), we investigated the impacts of nitrogen fertilizer use on soil carbon accumulation and direct N2O emissions across the U.S. Corn Belt. Surprisingly, we found N fertilizer-induced SOC storage continued shrinking after the 1980s while N2O emissions remains relatively constant. The N fertilizer use led to a net greenhouse gas release since 2000 in both the western and eastern Corn Belt, contributing to climate warming. This study implies an increasing importance of nitrogen management for both agricultural production and climate mitigation.

  1. Spatial and temporal variability of N2O emission on grazed pastures - influence of management and meteorological drivers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ammann, Christof; Voglmeier, Karl; Jocher, Markus

    2017-04-01

    Grazed pastures are considered as strong sources of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) with local hot-spots resulting from the uneven spatial distribution of the excretion of the grazing animals. Especially urine patches can result in a high local nitrogen (N) surplus, which can cause large deviations from average soil conditions. The strong spatial and temporal variability of the gaseous emissions represents an inherent problem for the quantification, interpretation and modelling. Micrometeorological methods integrating over a larger domain like the eddy covariance method are well suited to quantify the integrated ecosystem emissions of N2O. In contrast, chamber methods are more useful to investigate specific underlying processes and their dependences on driving parameters. We present results of a pasture experiment in western Switzerland where eddy covariance and chamber measurements of N2O fluxes have been performed using a very sensitive and fast response quantum cascade laser (QCL) instrument. Small scale emissions of N2O from dung and urine patches as well as from other "background" pasture surface areas were quantified using an optimized 'fast-box' chamber system. Variable and partly high N2O emissions of the pasture were observed during all seasons. Beside management factors (grazing phases, fertiliser application), temperature and soil moisture showed a large effect on the fluxes. Fresh urine patches from grazing cows were found to be main emission sources and their temporal dynamics was studied in detail. We present a first approach to up-scale the chamber measurements to the field-scale and compare the results with the eddy covariance measurements.

  2. Top-down constraints on global N2O emissions at optimal resolution: application of a new dimension reduction technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wells, Kelley C.; Millet, Dylan B.; Bousserez, Nicolas; Henze, Daven K.; Griffis, Timothy J.; Chaliyakunnel, Sreelekha; Dlugokencky, Edward J.; Saikawa, Eri; Xiang, Gao; Prinn, Ronald G.; O'Doherty, Simon; Young, Dickon; Weiss, Ray F.; Dutton, Geoff S.; Elkins, James W.; Krummel, Paul B.; Langenfelds, Ray; Steele, L. Paul

    2018-01-01

    We present top-down constraints on global monthly N2O emissions for 2011 from a multi-inversion approach and an ensemble of surface observations. The inversions employ the GEOS-Chem adjoint and an array of aggregation strategies to test how well current observations can constrain the spatial distribution of global N2O emissions. The strategies include (1) a standard 4D-Var inversion at native model resolution (4° × 5°), (2) an inversion for six continental and three ocean regions, and (3) a fast 4D-Var inversion based on a novel dimension reduction technique employing randomized singular value decomposition (SVD). The optimized global flux ranges from 15.9 Tg N yr-1 (SVD-based inversion) to 17.5-17.7 Tg N yr-1 (continental-scale, standard 4D-Var inversions), with the former better capturing the extratropical N2O background measured during the HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO) airborne campaigns. We find that the tropics provide a greater contribution to the global N2O flux than is predicted by the prior bottom-up inventories, likely due to underestimated agricultural and oceanic emissions. We infer an overestimate of natural soil emissions in the extratropics and find that predicted emissions are seasonally biased in northern midlatitudes. Here, optimized fluxes exhibit a springtime peak consistent with the timing of spring fertilizer and manure application, soil thawing, and elevated soil moisture. Finally, the inversions reveal a major emission underestimate in the US Corn Belt in the bottom-up inventory used here. We extensively test the impact of initial conditions on the analysis and recommend formally optimizing the initial N2O distribution to avoid biasing the inferred fluxes. We find that the SVD-based approach provides a powerful framework for deriving emission information from N2O observations: by defining the optimal resolution of the solution based on the information content of the inversion, it provides spatial information that is lost when

  3. Nitrogen-rich organic soils under warm well-drained conditions are global nitrous oxide emission hotspots.

    PubMed

    Pärn, Jaan; Verhoeven, Jos T A; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus; Dise, Nancy B; Ullah, Sami; Aasa, Anto; Egorov, Sergey; Espenberg, Mikk; Järveoja, Järvi; Jauhiainen, Jyrki; Kasak, Kuno; Klemedtsson, Leif; Kull, Ain; Laggoun-Défarge, Fatima; Lapshina, Elena D; Lohila, Annalea; Lõhmus, Krista; Maddison, Martin; Mitsch, William J; Müller, Christoph; Niinemets, Ülo; Osborne, Bruce; Pae, Taavi; Salm, Jüri-Ott; Sgouridis, Fotis; Sohar, Kristina; Soosaar, Kaido; Storey, Kathryn; Teemusk, Alar; Tenywa, Moses M; Tournebize, Julien; Truu, Jaak; Veber, Gert; Villa, Jorge A; Zaw, Seint Sann; Mander, Ülo

    2018-03-19

    Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is a powerful greenhouse gas and the main driver of stratospheric ozone depletion. Since soils are the largest source of N 2 O, predicting soil response to changes in climate or land use is central to understanding and managing N 2 O. Here we find that N 2 O flux can be predicted by models incorporating soil nitrate concentration (NO 3 - ), water content and temperature using a global field survey of N 2 O emissions and potential driving factors across a wide range of organic soils. N 2 O emissions increase with NO 3 - and follow a bell-shaped distribution with water content. Combining the two functions explains 72% of N 2 O emission from all organic soils. Above 5 mg NO 3 - -N kg -1 , either draining wet soils or irrigating well-drained soils increases N 2 O emission by orders of magnitude. As soil temperature together with NO 3 - explains 69% of N 2 O emission, tropical wetlands should be a priority for N 2 O management.

  4. Development of an Open-Path N2O Flux Measurement System for Understanding Agricultural and Soil Emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gomez, A.; Silver, J.; Massick, S.; Ochoa, E.; Stanton, A. C.

    2015-12-01

    Nitrous oxide is the third most important greenhouse gas, with an atmospheric lifetime of ~114 years and a global warming impact ~300 times greater than that of CO2. The main cause of nitrous oxide's atmospheric increase is anthropogenic emissions, and over 80% of the current global anthropogenic flux is related to agriculture, including associated land-use change. An accurate assessment of N2O emissions from agriculture is vital not only for understanding the global N2O balance and its impact on climate and also for designing crop systems with lower GHG emissions. This work focuses on the early development of an open path N2O instrument for field deployment, based on quantum cascade laser absorption. With a targeted precision of 0.1 ppb at 10 Hz, this instrument will enable eddy covariance measurements to determine vertical fluxes of N2O. Details of the instrument design, which emphasizes ruggedness and high thermal stability, will be presented along with initial results from outdoor testing of the instrument.

  5. Annual N2O emissions from conventionally grazed typical alpine grass meadows in the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Han; Yao, Zhisheng; Wang, Kai; Zheng, Xunhua; Ma, Lei; Wang, Rui; Liu, Chunyan; Zhang, Wei; Zhu, Bo; Tang, Xiangyu; Hu, Zhenghua; Han, Shenghui

    2018-06-01

    Annual nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions from high-altitude alpine meadow grasslands have not been effectively characterized because of the scarcity of whole-year measurements. The authors performed a year-round measurement of N 2 O fluxes from three conventionally grazed alpine meadows that represent the typical meadow landscape in the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). The results showed that annual N 2 O emissions averaged 0.123±0.053 (2SD, i.e., the double standard deviation indicating the 95% confidence interval) kgNha -1 yr -1 across the three meadow sites. N 2 O flux pulses during the spring freezing-thawing period (FTP) were observed at only one site, indicating a large spatial variability in association with soil moisture differences. Approximately 34-57% (mean: 46%) of the annual N 2 O emissions occurred in the non-growing season, highlighting the substantial importance of accurate flux observations during this period. The simultaneous observations showed conservative, marginal nitric oxide (NO) fluxes of 0.058±0.032 (2SD) kgNha -1 yr -1 . The N 2 O fluxes across the three field sites correlated negatively with the soil nitrate concentrations during the entire year-round period (P<0.05). Furthermore, a significant joint regulatory effect of topsoil temperature and moisture on the N 2 O and NO fluxes was observed during the relatively warm periods. Based on the results of the present and previous studies, a simple extrapolation roughly estimated the annual total N 2 O emission from Chinese grasslands to be 73±15 (2SD) GgNyr -1 (1Gg=10 9 g). A linear dependence of the annual N 2 O fluxes on the aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) was also found. This result may provide a simple approach for estimating the N 2 O emission inventories of frigid alpine or temperate grasslands that are ungrazed either in the summer or year round. However, further confirmation of this relationship with a wider ANPP range is still needed in the future studies

  6. Effects of Climate Change and Organic Matter Amendments on the Fate of Soil Carbon and the Global Warming Potential of CO2, CH4, and N2O Emissions in an Upland Soil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Simmonds, M.; Muehe, E. M.; Fendorf, S. E.

    2017-12-01

    Our current understanding of the mechanisms driving carbon stabilization in soil organic matter (SOM) and its release to the atmosphere is insufficient for predicting the response of soil carbon dynamics to future climatic conditions. The persistence of SOM has been studied primarily within the context of biochemical, physical, and geochemical protection from decomposition. More recently, bioenergetic constraints on SOM decomposition due to oxygen limitations have been demonstrated in submerged soils. However, the relevance of anaerobic domains in upland soils is uncertain. To better understand how upland soils will respond to climate change, we conducted a 52-day incubation of an upland soil at constant soil moisture (field capacity) under varying air temperatures (32°C and 37°C), CO2 concentrations (398 and 850 ppmv), and soil organic carbon contents (1.3%, 2.4%). Overall, we observed a stimulatory effect of future climate (elevated temperature and CO2) and higher carbon inputs on net SOM mineralization rates (higher CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions). Importantly, CH4 emissions were observed in the soils with added plant residue, indicating anaerobic microsites are relevant in upland soils, and significantly impact microbial respiration pathways, rates of SOM mineralization, and the global warming potential of trace gas emissions. These findings have important implications for positive soil carbon-climate feedbacks, and warrant further investigation into representing anaerobic soil domains of upland soils in biogeochemical models.

  7. The effect of nitrification inhibitors on NH3 and N2O emissions in highly N fertilized irrigated Mediterranean cropping systems.

    PubMed

    Recio, Jaime; Vallejo, Antonio; Le-Noë, Julia; Garnier, Josette; García-Marco, Sonia; Álvarez, José Manuel; Sanz-Cobena, Alberto

    2018-09-15

    There is an increasing concern about the negative impacts associated to the release of reactive nitrogen (N) from highly fertilized agro-ecosystems. Ammonia (NH 3 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) are harmful N pollutants that may contribute both directly and indirectly to global warming. Surface applied manure, urea and ammonium (NH 4 + ) based fertilizers are important anthropogenic sources of these emissions. Nitrification inhibitors (NIs) have been proposed as a useful technological approach to reduce N 2 O emission although they can lead to large NH 3 losses due to increasing NH 4 + pool in soils. In this context, a field experiment was carried out in a maize field with aiming to simultaneously quantify NH 3 volatilization and N 2 O emission, assessing the effect of two NIs 3,4‑dimethilpyrazol phosphate (DMPP) and 3,4‑dimethylpyrazole succinic acid (DMPSA). The first treatment was pig slurry (PS) before seeding (50 kg N ha -1 ) and calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) at top-dressing (150 kg N ha -1 ), and the second was DMPP diluted in PS (PS + DMPP) (50 kg N ha -1 ) and CAN + DMPSA (150 kg N ha -1 ) also before seeding and at top-dressing, respectively. Ammonia emissions were quantified by a micrometeorological method during 20 days after fertilization and N 2 O emissions were assessed using manual static chambers during all crop period. The treatment with NIs was effective in reducing c. 30% cumulative N 2 O losses. However, considering only direct N 2 O emissions after second fertilization event, a significant reduction was not observed using CAN+DMPSA, probably because high WFPS of soil, driven by irrigation, favored denitrification. Cumulative NH 3 losses were not significantly affected by NIs. Indeed, NH 3 volatilization accounted 14% and 10% of N applied in PS + DMPP and PS plots, respectively and c. 2% of total N applied in CAN+DMPSA and CAN plots. Since important NH 3 losses still exist even although abating strategies

  8. Nitrous oxide emission reduction in temperate biochar-amended soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Felber, R.; Hüppi, R.; Leifeld, J.; Neftel, A.

    2012-01-01

    Biochar, a pyrolysis product of organic residues, is an amendment for agricultural soils to improve soil fertility, sequester CO2 and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In highly weathered tropical soils laboratory incubations of soil-biochar mixtures revealed substantial reductions for nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). In contrast, evidence is scarce for temperate soils. In a three-factorial laboratory incubation experiment two different temperate agricultural soils were amended with green waste and coffee grounds biochar. N2O and CO2 emissions were measured at the beginning and end of a three month incubation. The experiments were conducted under three different conditions (no additional nutrients, glucose addition, and nitrate and glucose addition) representing different field conditions. We found mean N2O emission reductions of 60 % compared to soils without addition of biochar. The reduction depended on biochar type and soil type as well as on the age of the samples. CO2 emissions were slightly reduced, too. NO3- but not NH4+ concentrations were significantly reduced shortly after biochar incorporation. Despite the highly significant suppression of N2O emissions biochar effects should not be transferred one-to-one to field conditions but need to be tested accordingly.

  9. Seasonal and soil-type dependent emissions of nitrous oxide from irrigated desert soils amended with digested poultry manures.

    PubMed

    Posmanik, Roy; Nejidat, Ali; Dahan, Ofer; Gross, Amit

    2017-09-01

    Expansion of dryland agriculture requires intensive supplement of organic fertilizers to improve the fertility of nutrient-poor desert soils. The environmental impact of organic supplements in hot desert climates is not well understood. We report on seasonal emissions of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) from sand and loess soils, amended with limed and non-limed anaerobic digestate of poultry manure in the Israeli Negev desert. All amended soils had substantially higher N 2 O emissions, particularly during winter applications, compared to unammended soils. Winter emissions from amended loess (10-175mgN 2 Om -2 day -1 ) were markedly higher than winter emissions from amended sand (2-7mgN 2 Om -2 day -1 ). Enumeration of marker genes for nitrification and denitrification suggested that both have contributed to N 2 O emissions according to prevailing environmental conditions. Lime treatment of digested manure inhibited N 2 O emissions regardless of season or soil type, thus reducing the environmental impact of amending desert soils with manure digestate. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Enhanced plant growth at reduced N2O emissions: 15N dynamics confirm nitrate capture and release of co-composted biochar

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kammann, Claudia; Schmidt, Hans-Peter; Williams, Anne; Hagemann, Nikolas; Marhan, Sven; Clough, Tim; Mueller, Christoph

    2017-04-01

    Pyrogenic carbon (biochar) produced from biomass may be used as a soil amendment to sequester biomass-C and to mitigate climate change. Moreover, biochar may increase soil fertility and optimize nutrient cycling in agro-ecosystems. However, according to meta-studies large additions (>10 t ha-1) of pure biochar, may only lead to moderate yield increases. Thus, there are no economic benefits for farmers to use biochar. Recently, it has been suggested that biochar may be used as an on-farm nutrient management tool (feed additive, liquid manure treatment, composting) to deliver small doses of nutrients and biochar to the soil each year. It may also be used as a carrier for (organic) nutrients in small doses (0.5 - 2 t ha-1) in the root zone; recent studies reported considerably increased yields. The mechanisms, however, are not well understood. Co-composted biochar was recently shown to promote plant growth due to its nutrient delivery and release capabilities, particularly nitrate (NO3-). To gain further insights into biochar-nitrogen (N) interactions, we conducted a 15N labelling-tracing study under controlled conditions with treatments consisting of a non-biochar amended control, 2% (wt/wt) of untreated biochar particles (BCpure ,no intrinsic content of nitrate) and a 2% co-composted biochar (BCcomp, 5.3 g NO3-N kg-1 as a result of composting), replicated thrice. Biochars were added to a sandy loam soil in jars (200 g) planted with barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) seedlings. Fertilizer (NH4NO3) was homogenously added with either the ammonium (NH4+) or the nitrate (NO3-) pools 15N labelled (60 atom% 15N) hours before planting the seedlings. Sets of 18 jars were harvested on days 1, 3, 8, 15 and 29 and nitrogen pools were analysed to trace 15N fertilizer fate (soil mineral N, plant biomass, biochar particles, nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions). Interestingly, both BCpure and BCcomp captured fertilizer 15N from the soil matrix within hours of addition, with higher capture of 15

  11. Dicyandiamide and 3,4-dimethyl pyrazole phosphate decrease N2O emissions from grassland but dicyandiamide produces deleterious effects in clover.

    PubMed

    Macadam, Xana Melissa Belastegui; del Prado, Agustin; Merino, Pilar; Estavillo, José María; Pinto, Miriam; González-Murua, Carmen

    2003-12-01

    The application of nitrogen fertilisers leads to different ecological problems such as nitrate leaching and the release of nitrogenous gases. N2O is a gas involved in global warming, therefore, agricultural soils can be regarded as a source of global warming. Soil N2O production comes from both the nitrification and denitrification processes. From an ecological viewpoint, using nitrification inhibitors with ammonium based fertilisers may be a potential management strategy to lower the fluxes of N2O, thus decreasing its undesirable effect. In this study, the nitrification inhibitors (NIs) dicyandiamide (DCD) and 3,4-dimethyl pyrazole phosphate (DMPP) have been evaluated as management tools to mitigate N2O emissions from mineral fertilisation and slurry application in grassland systems (experiments 1 and 2), and to assess the phytotoxic effect of these inhibitors per se on clover (experiment 3). Both nitrification inhibitors acted in maintaining soil nitrogen (N) in ammonium form, decreasing cumulative N2O emissions. DCD, but not DMPP, produced phytotoxic effects and yield reduction in white clover. A nutrient imbalance, which led to a senescence process visually observed as chlorosis and necrosis at the border of the leaves, was noted.

  12. Potential for biological nitrification inhibition to reduce nitrification and N2O emissions in pasture crop-livestock systems.

    PubMed

    Subbarao, G V; Rao, I M; Nakahara, K; Sahrawat, K L; Ando, Y; Kawashima, T

    2013-06-01

    Agriculture and livestock production systems are two major emitters of greenhouse gases. Methane with a GWP (global warming potential) of 21, and nitrous oxide (N2O) with a GWP of 300, are largely emitted from animal production agriculture, where livestock production is based on pasture and feed grains. The principal biological processes involved in N2O emissions are nitrification and denitrification. Biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) is the natural ability of certain plant species to release nitrification inhibitors from their roots that suppress nitrifier activity, thus reducing soil nitrification and N2O emission. Recent methodological developments (e.g. bioluminescence assay to detect BNIs in plant root systems) have led to significant advances in our ability to quantify and characterize the BNI function. Synthesis and release of BNIs from plants is a highly regulated process triggered by the presence of NH4 + in the rhizosphere, which results in the inhibitor being released precisely where the majority of the soil-nitrifier population resides. Among the tropical pasture grasses, the BNI function is strongest (i.e. BNI capacity) in Brachiaria sp. Some feed-grain crops such as sorghum also have significant BNI capacity present in their root systems. The chemical identity of some of these BNIs has now been established, and their mode of inhibitory action on Nitrosomonas has been characterized. The ability of the BNI function in Brachiaria pastures to suppress N2O emissions and soil nitrification potential has been demonstrated; however, its potential role in controlling N2O emissions in agro-pastoral systems is under investigation. Here we present the current status of our understanding on how the BNI functions in Brachiaria pastures and feed-grain crops such as sorghum can be exploited both genetically and, from a production system's perspective, to develop low-nitrifying and low N2O-emitting production systems that would be economically profitable and

  13. Distinct N2O yields of AOB and AOA driven ammonia oxidation across a range of Oregon forest soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tzanakakis, Vasileios; Dörsch, Peter; Taylor, Anne E.; Giguere, Andrew T.; Bakken, Lars R.; Bottomley, Peter J.; Myrold, David D.

    2017-04-01

    Ammonia oxidation, as the first and limiting step of nitrification, is a critical process in global N cycling and an important source of nitrous oxide (N2O). Previous studies reported strong contrasts in potential nitrification rates and niche separation of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) in three acid Oregon forest soils depending on tree stands. In the present study we were interested in the potential contribution of AOB and AOA to nitrification-derived N2O in these soils. We performed soil slurry incubations amended with NH4+ and determined the specific N2O yields of AOB and AOA using inhibitor techniques. Despite large differences in edaphic factors, potential nitrification rates, and niche partitioning, AOB- and AOA-mediated nitrification displayed fairly stable and distinct N2O yields. The N2O yields ranged from 0.11 to 0.17% for AOB and from 0.03 to 0.08% for AOA, which is in agreement with findings of previous pure culture and soil studies. Nitrite accumulation was observed in only one soil, upon NH4+ stimulation of AOB growth, without showing any effect on the apparent N2O yield. The partitioning between AOB and AOA activity was strongly affected by soil pH and nitrogen status, but there was no effect of these variables on the group-specific N2O yield. Together, this suggests that N2O yields of different ammonia oxidizing microorganisms are under tight biochemical control and that the potential contribution of nitrification to N2O emission in acid forest soils can be predicted from AOB - AOA partitioning.

  14. HONO (nitrous acid) emissions from acidic northern soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maljanen, Marja; Yli-Pirilä, Pasi; Joutsensaari, Jorma; Martikainen, Pertti J.

    2015-04-01

    The photolysis of HONO (nitrous acid) is an important source of OH radical, the key oxidizing agent in the atmosphere, contributing also to removal of atmospheric methane (CH4), the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide (CO2). The emissions of HONO from soils have been recently reported in few studies. Soil HONO emissions are regarded as missing sources of HONO when considering the chemical reactions in the atmosphere. The soil-derived HONO has been connected to soil nitrite (NO2-) and also directly to the activity of ammonia oxidizing bacteria, which has been studied with one pure culture. Our hypothesis was that boreal acidic soils with high nitrification activity could be also sources of HONO and the emissions of HONO are connected with nitrification. We selected a range of dominant northern acidic soils and showed in microcosm experiments that soils which have the highest nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO) emissions (drained peatlands) also have the highest HONO production rates. The emissions of HONO are thus linked to nitrogen cycle and also NO and N2O emissions. Natural peatlands and boreal coniferous forests on mineral soils had the lowest HONO emissions. It is known that in natural peatlands with high water table and in boreal coniferous forest soils, low nitrification activity (microbial production of nitrite and nitrate) limits their N2O production. Low availability of nitrite in these soils is the likely reason also for their low HONO production rates. We also studied the origin of HONO in one peat soil with acetylene and other nitrification inhibitors and we found that HONO production is not closely connected to ammonium oxidation (nitrification). Acetylene blocked NO emissions but did not affect HONO or N2O emissions, thus there is another source behind HONO emission from these soils than ammonium oxidation. It is still an open question if this process is microbial or chemical origin.

  15. Development of a model to simulate the impact of atmospheric stability on N2O-fluxes from soil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thieme, Christoph; Klein, Christian; Biernath, Christian; Heinlein, Florian; Priesack, Eckart

    2014-05-01

    The trace gas N2O, mainly produced by microorganisms in agricultural soils, is a very stable and thus potent greenhouse gas and is the main contributor for the recent depletion of ozone in the stratosphere. Therefore N2O-emissions need to be mitigated and thus much effort has been made to reveal the causes of N2O-formation in soils. At present some crucial drivers for N2O-fluxes are known, but underlying processes of N2O-fluxes are not yet understood or described adequately. An important shortcoming is the description of the upper boundary layer at the soil-atmosphere interface. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a mechanistic simulation model, which considers both the formation of N2O in agricultural soils, and the impact of the atmospheric conditions on the transport of soil-born N2O into the atmosphere. The new model simulates N2O-flux as a function of meteorological values instead of a model that just releases the whole amount of N2O into the atmosphere. For this purpose the modular ecosystem model framework Expert-N, which allows to simulate the formation of N2O in the soils will be extended to a model with a more detailed description of the upper boundary condition at the soil-atmosphere interface. In detail, this is realized in the form of a resistance approach, where N2O-fluxes are constrained by a land-air resistance that depends on a Bulk-Exchange Coefficient, wind speed and a gradient of N2O concentrations in the lower atmosphere. Descriptions of atmospheric stability follow the Monin-Obhukov Similarity Theory. The newly developed model will be validated using Eddy Covariance measurements of N2O-fluxes. Measurement device for the N2O concentrations is a Quantum-Cascade-Dual-Laser produced by Aerodyne Research Inc. (Billerca, Mass., USA). The measurements were conducted on an intensively managed field at the TERENO research farm Scheyern (Germany), which is part of the TERENO Bavarian Alps / Pre-Alps observatory.

  16. Urea deep placement reduces yield-scaled greenhouse gas (CH4 and N2O) and NO emissions from a ground cover rice production system.

    PubMed

    Yao, Zhisheng; Zheng, Xunhua; Zhang, Yanan; Liu, Chunyan; Wang, Rui; Lin, Shan; Zuo, Qiang; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus

    2017-09-12

    Ground cover rice production system (GCRPS), i.e., paddy soils being covered by thin plastic films with soil moisture being maintained nearly saturated status, is a promising technology as increased yields are achieved with less irrigation water. However, increased soil aeration and temperature under GCRPS may cause pollution swapping in greenhouse gas (GHG) from CH 4 to N 2 O emissions. A 2-year experiment was performed, taking traditional rice cultivation as a reference, to assess the impacts of N-fertilizer placement methods on CH 4 , N 2 O and NO emissions and rice yields under GCRPS. Averaging across all rice seasons and N-fertilizer treatments, the GHG emissions for GCRPS were 1973 kg CO 2 -eq ha -1 (or 256 kg CO 2 -eq Mg -1 ), which is significantly lower than that of traditional cultivation (4186 kg CO 2 -eq ha -1 or 646 kg CO 2 -eq Mg -1 ). Furthermore, if urea was placed at a 10-15 cm soil depth instead of broadcasting, the yield-scaled GHG emissions from GCRPS were further reduced from 377 to 222 kg CO 2 -eq Mg -1 , as N 2 O emissions greatly decreased while yields increased. Urea deep placement also reduced yield-scaled NO emissions by 54%. Therefore, GCRPS with urea deep placement is a climate- and environment-smart management, which allows for maximal rice yields at minimal GHG and NO emissions.

  17. Fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O at two European beech forests: linking soil gas production profiles with soil and stem fluxes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maier, Martin; Machacova, Katerina; Halaburt, Ellen; Haddad, Sally; Urban, Otmar; Lang, Friederike

    2016-04-01

    consumption sites of soil gases in the adjacent soil. Soils at both sites took up CH4 and N2O and emitted CO2. Soil gas profiles at the Black Forest showed only CH4 and N2O consumption. CH4 uptake was much larger by the well aerated Black Forest soil than by the loamy-clay soil in the White Carpathians. Here, it was possible to stratify the apparently homogenous site into two plots, one having redoximorphic features in the soil profiles, the other plot without. It seemed that CH4 and N2O were mainly produced in the deeper soil at the plot with temporarily reducing conditions. Beech stems mostly took up N2O from the atmosphere at both sites, whereas CH4 was emitted. The stem CH4 flux was higher for the White Carpathians than for the Black Forest site. Thus, the tree and soil flux of CH4 seems to be affected by soil structure, soil water content and the redox potential in the rooting space. We conclude from our results that trees might provide preferential pathways for greenhouse gases produced in the subsoil thereby enhancing the release of greenhouse gases. Acknowledgement This research was financially supported by the Czech Academy of Sciences and the German Academic Exchange Service within the project "Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Fagus sylvatica trees" (DAAD-15-03), National Programme for Sustainability I (LO1415) and project DFG (MA 5826/2-1). We would like to thank Marek Jakubik for technical support and Sinikka Paulus for help by field measurements.

  18. N2O and NO2 Emissions from Heavy-Duty Diesel Trucks with Advanced Emission Controls

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Preble, C.; Harley, R.; Kirchstetter, T.

    2014-12-01

    Diesel engines are the largest source of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions nationally, and also a major contributor to the black carbon (BC) fraction of fine particulate matter (PM). Recently, diesel particle filter (DPF) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) emission control systems that target exhaust PM and NOx have become standard equipment on new heavy-duty diesel trucks. However, the deliberate catalytic oxidation of engine-out nitric oxide (NO) to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in continuously regenerating DPFs leads to increased tailpipe emission of NO2. This is of potential concern due to the toxicity of NO2 and the resulting increases in atmospheric formation of other air pollutants such as ozone, nitric acid, and fine PM. While use of SCR reduces emissions of both NO and NO2, it may lead to increased emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas. Here we report results from on-road measurements of heavy-duty diesel truck emissions conducted at the Port of Oakland and the Caldecott Tunnel in the San Francisco Bay Area. Emission factors (g pollutant per kg of diesel) were linked via recorded license plates to individual truck attributes, including engine model year and installed emission control equipment. Between 2009 and 2013, the fraction of DPF-equipped trucks at the Port of Oakland increased from 2 to 99%, and median engine age decreased from 11 to 6 years. Over the same period, fleet-average emission factors for black carbon and NOx decreased by 76 ± 22% and 53 ± 8%, respectively. However, direct emissions of NO2 increased, and consequently the NO2/NOx emission ratio increased from 0.03 ± 0.02 to 0.18 ± 0.03. Older trucks retrofitted with DPFs emitted approximately 3.5 times more NO2 than newer trucks equipped with both DPF and SCR. Preliminary data from summer 2014 measurements at the Caldecott Tunnel suggest that some older trucks have negative emission factors for N2O, and that for newer trucks, N2O emission factors have changed sign and

  19. Effects of Different Vegetation Zones on CH4 and N2O Emissions in Coastal Wetlands: A Model Case Study

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Yuhong; Wang, Lixin; Bao, Shumei; Liu, Huamin; Yu, Junbao; Wang, Yu; Shao, Hongbo; Ouyang, Yan; An, Shuqing

    2014-01-01

    The coastal wetland ecosystems are important in the global carbon and nitrogen cycle and global climate change. For higher fragility of coastal wetlands induced by human activities, the roles of coastal wetland ecosystems in CH4 and N2O emissions are becoming more important. This study used a DNDC model to simulate current and future CH4 and N2O emissions of coastal wetlands in four sites along the latitude in China. The simulation results showed that different vegetation zones, including bare beach, Spartina beach, and Phragmites beach, produced different emissions of CH4 and N2O in the same latitude region. Correlation analysis indicated that vegetation types, water level, temperature, and soil organic carbon content are the main factors affecting emissions of CH4 and N2O in coastal wetlands. PMID:24892044

  20. Global and regional emissions estimates for N2O

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saikawa, E.; Prinn, R. G.; Dlugokencky, E.; Ishijima, K.; Dutton, G. S.; Hall, B. D.; Langenfelds, R.; Tohjima, Y.; Machida, T.; Manizza, M.; Rigby, M.; O'Doherty, S.; Patra, P. K.; Harth, C. M.; Weiss, R. F.; Krummel, P. B.; van der Schoot, M.; Fraser, P. J.; Steele, L. P.; Aoki, S.; Nakazawa, T.; Elkins, J. W.

    2014-05-01

    We present a comprehensive estimate of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions using observations and models from 1995 to 2008. High-frequency records of tropospheric N2O are available from measurements at Cape Grim, Tasmania; Cape Matatula, American Samoa; Ragged Point, Barbados; Mace Head, Ireland; and at Trinidad Head, California using the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) instrumentation and calibrations. The Global Monitoring Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Earth System Research Laboratory (NOAA/ESRL) has also collected discrete air samples in flasks and in situ measurements from remote sites across the globe and analyzed them for a suite of species including N2O. In addition to these major networks, we include in situ and aircraft measurements from the National Institute of Environmental Studies (NIES) and flask measurements from the Tohoku University and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) networks. All measurements show increasing atmospheric mole fractions of N2O, with a varying growth rate of 0.1-0.7% per year, resulting in a 7.4% increase in the background atmospheric mole fraction between 1979 and 2011. Using existing emission inventories as well as bottom-up process modeling results, we first create globally gridded a priori N2O emissions over the 37 years since 1975. We then use the three-dimensional chemical transport model, Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers version 4 (MOZART v4), and a Bayesian inverse method to estimate global as well as regional annual emissions for five source sectors from 13 regions in the world. This is the first time that all of these measurements from multiple networks have been combined to determine emissions. Our inversion indicates that global and regional N2O emissions have an increasing trend between 1995 and 2008. Despite large uncertainties, a significant increase is seen from the Asian agricultural sector in recent years, most likely

  1. Parameter-induced uncertainty quantification of crop yields, soil N2O and CO2 emission for 8 arable sites across Europe using the LandscapeDNDC model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Santabarbara, Ignacio; Haas, Edwin; Kraus, David; Herrera, Saul; Klatt, Steffen; Kiese, Ralf

    2014-05-01

    When using biogeochemical models to estimate greenhouse gas emissions at site to regional/national levels, the assessment and quantification of the uncertainties of simulation results are of significant importance. The uncertainties in simulation results of process-based ecosystem models may result from uncertainties of the process parameters that describe the processes of the model, model structure inadequacy as well as uncertainties in the observations. Data for development and testing of uncertainty analisys were corp yield observations, measurements of soil fluxes of nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from 8 arable sites across Europe. Using the process-based biogeochemical model LandscapeDNDC for simulating crop yields, N2O and CO2 emissions, our aim is to assess the simulation uncertainty by setting up a Bayesian framework based on Metropolis-Hastings algorithm. Using Gelman statistics convergence criteria and parallel computing techniques, enable multi Markov Chains to run independently in parallel and create a random walk to estimate the joint model parameter distribution. Through means distribution we limit the parameter space, get probabilities of parameter values and find the complex dependencies among them. With this parameter distribution that determines soil-atmosphere C and N exchange, we are able to obtain the parameter-induced uncertainty of simulation results and compare them with the measurements data.

  2. Isotope signatures of N2O emitted from vegetable soil: Ammonia oxidation drives N2O production in NH4(+)-fertilized soil of North China.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Wei; Li, Yuzhong; Xu, Chunying; Li, Qiaozhen; Lin, Wei

    2016-07-08

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas. In North China, vegetable fields are amended with high levels of N fertilizer and irrigation water, which causes massive N2O flux. The aim of this study was to determine the contribution of microbial processes to N2O production and characterize isotopic signature effects on N2O source partitioning. We conducted a microcosm study that combined naturally abundant isotopologues and gas inhibitor techniques to analyze N2O flux and its isotopomer signatures [δ(15)N(bulk), δ(18)O, and SP (intramolecular (15)N site preference)] that emitted from vegetable soil after the addition of NH4(+) fertilizers. The results show that ammonia oxidation is the predominant process under high water content (70% water-filled pore space), and nitrifier denitrification contribution increases with increasing N content. δ(15)N(bulk) and δ(18)O of N2O may not provide information about microbial processes due to great shifts in precursor signatures and atom exchange, especially for soil treated with NH4(+) fertilizer. SP and associated two end-member mixing model are useful to distinguish N2O source and contribution. Further work is needed to explore isotopomer signature stability to improve N2O microbial process identification.

  3. Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Emissions in Wheat and Canola Crops under Fertigation Management in the Canadian Prairies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chai, L.; Hernandez Ramirez, G.; Dyck, M. F.; Pauly, D.; Kryzanowski, L.; Middleton, A.; Powers, L. A.; Lohstraeter, G.; Werk, D.

    2016-12-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils contribute significantly to the amount of greenhouse gases released to the atmosphere every year. Farming practices, such as fertigation in which nitrogen fertilizer is added to crops through irrigation water, could increase the risk for N2O losses. To assess the effect of N fertigation rates on N2O production, field chambers were used to collect weekly gas samples throughout the 2015 growing season in wheat (Triticum aestivum) and canola (Brassica Napus) plots in southern Alberta, Canada. Synthetic fertilizer was either added at seeding or both added at seeding and through irrigation water at one early crop growth stage. The 6 fertilizer treatments were: 60, 90 and 120 kg N ha-1 added at seeding in early May, and 30, 60 and 90 kg N ha-1 at seeding plus another 30 kg N ha-1 added through fertigation in mid-June. Controls with no fertilizer were also evaluated, and each treatment was replicated 4 times. In the wheat plots at a fertilization rate of 120 kg N ha-1, irrespective of single or split application, a larger N2O flux was produced compared to the control (P = 0.024). Similarly, in canola, a total N addition of 90 kg N ha-1 also led to larger N2O fluxes than the control (P = 0.035). The use of fertigation to split the N application had no effect on the N2O emissions in canola; however, in wheat, there was a statistical difference between emissions from 90 kg N ha-1 added all at seeding versus 90 kg N ha-1 split between seeding (60) and fertigation (30); splitting the fertilizer resulted in a 62% decrease in the overall N2O emissions (324 g vs. 524 g N2O-N ha-1; P = 0.039). No other N rates resulted in statistically different N2O emissions when N application was split. These results suggest that fertigation can reduce N2O emissions, but only at moderate N rates (90 kg ha-1 yr-1); conversely, when lower (60) or higher (120) rates are split, emissions remain unaffected.

  4. Isotope signatures of N2O emitted from vegetable soil: Ammonia oxidation drives N2O production in NH4+-fertilized soil of North China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Wei; Li, Yuzhong; Xu, Chunying; Li, Qiaozhen; Lin, Wei

    2016-07-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas. In North China, vegetable fields are amended with high levels of N fertilizer and irrigation water, which causes massive N2O flux. The aim of this study was to determine the contribution of microbial processes to N2O production and characterize isotopic signature effects on N2O source partitioning. We conducted a microcosm study that combined naturally abundant isotopologues and gas inhibitor techniques to analyze N2O flux and its isotopomer signatures [δ15Nbulk, δ18O, and SP (intramolecular 15N site preference)] that emitted from vegetable soil after the addition of NH4+ fertilizers. The results show that ammonia oxidation is the predominant process under high water content (70% water-filled pore space), and nitrifier denitrification contribution increases with increasing N content. δ15Nbulk and δ18O of N2O may not provide information about microbial processes due to great shifts in precursor signatures and atom exchange, especially for soil treated with NH4+ fertilizer. SP and associated two end-member mixing model are useful to distinguish N2O source and contribution. Further work is needed to explore isotopomer signature stability to improve N2O microbial process identification.

  5. Effects of elevated ozone concentration on CH4 and N2O emission from paddy soil under fully open-air field conditions.

    PubMed

    Tang, Haoye; Liu, Gang; Zhu, Jianguo; Kobayashi, Kazuhiko

    2015-04-01

    We investigated the effects of elevated ozone concentration (E-O3) on CH4 and N2O emission from paddies with two rice cultivars: an inbred Indica cultivar Yangdao 6 (YD6) and a hybrid one II-you 084 (IIY084), under fully open-air field conditions in China. A mean 26.7% enhancement of ozone concentration above the ambient level (A-O3) significantly reduced CH4 emission at tillering and flowering stages leading to a reduction of seasonal integral CH4 emission by 29.6% on average across the two cultivars. The reduced CH4 emission is associated with O3-induced reduction in the whole-plant biomass (-13.2%), root biomass (-34.7%), and maximum tiller number (-10.3%), all of which curbed the carbon supply for belowground CH4 production and its release from submerged soil to atmosphere. Although no significant difference was detected between the cultivars in the CH4 emission response to E-O3, a larger decrease in CH4 emission with IIY084 (-33.2%) than that with YD6 (-7.0%) was observed at tillering stage, which may be due to the larger reduction in tiller number in IIY084 by E-O3. Additionally, E-O3 reduced seasonal mean NOx flux by 5.7% and 11.8% with IIY084 and YD6, respectively, but the effects were not significant statistically. We found that the relative response of CH4 emission to E-O3 was not significantly different from those reported in open-top chamber experiments. This study has thus confirmed that increasing ozone concentration would mitigate the global warming potential of CH4 and suggested consideration of the feedback mechanism between ozone and its precursor emission into the projection of future ozone effects on terrestrial ecosystem. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. The partitioning of N2O emissions between denitrification and other sources in natural and semi-natural land use types in the UK.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sgouridis, Fotis; Ullah, Sami

    2017-04-01

    Natural and semi-natural terrestrial ecosystems (unmanaged peatlands and forests, extensive and intensive grasslands) have been under-represented in the UK greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, thus increasing the uncertainty of annual GHG emission estimates. This uncertainty is further exacerbated by the high spatio-temporal variability of the processes responsible for nitrous oxide (N2O) emission. The partitioning of N2O emission to its different sources can further improve our understanding of the controls on the different microbial processes responsible for N2O production and consumption and ultimately inform GHG mitigation strategies. We have measured in situ N2O fluxes from natural and semi-natural ecosystems in two replicated UK catchments monthly between April 2013 and October 2014. An adapted 15N-Gas Flux method1 for low level additions of 15N tracer (0.03 - 0.5 kg 15N ha-1) appropriate for natural (unfertilised) ecosystems was used to quantify denitrification2 and elucidate its relative contribution to net N2O production. Total N2O fluxes were 40 times higher in the intensive grasslands than in the peatlands and ranged between 0.05 and 1.98 kg N ha-1 y-1. The mean contribution of denitrification to the total N2O flux (DN2O/TN2O) ranged between 9 and 59 % and was lowest in a well-drained forest and highest in a poorly-drained forest soil, while in peatlands and grassland soils it was 48% and 41% on average, respectively. Soil moisture was shown as the key environmental driver regulating the partitioning of N2O between denitrification and other sources (r2=0.46) across land use types. Total N2O fluxes across land use types were explained by a simple regression model (r2=0.83) including parameters such as total dissolved nitrogen, organic carbon availability and volumetric water content. Nitrous oxide emission factors (EFs) calculated as a fraction of mineral N inputs averaged at 0.4 and 0.9% for the semi-improved and improved grasslands, respectively. Using

  7. Soil pH management without lime, a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cultivated soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nadeem, Shahid; Bakken, Lars; Reent Köster, Jan; Tore Mørkved, Pål; Simon, Nina; Dörsch, Peter

    2015-04-01

    For decades, agricultural scientists have searched for methods to reduce the climate forcing of food production by increasing carbon sequestration in the soil and reducing the emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O). The outcome of this research is depressingly meagre and the two targets appear incompatible: efforts to increase carbon sequestration appear to enhance the emissions of N2O. Currently there is a need to find alternative management strategies which may effectively reduce both the CO2 and N2O footprints of food production. Soil pH is a master variable in soil productivity and plays an important role in controlling the chemical and biological activity in soil. Recent investigations of the physiology of denitrification have provided compelling evidence that the emission of N2O declines with increasing pH within the range 5-7. Thus, by managing the soil pH at a near neutral level appears to be a feasible way to reduce N2O emissions. Such pH management has been a target in conventional agriculture for a long time, since a near-neutral pH is optimal for a majority of cultivated plants. The traditional way to counteract acidification of agricultural soils is to apply lime, which inevitably leads to emission of CO2. An alternative way to increase the soil pH is the use of mafic rock powders, which have been shown to counteract soil acidification, albeit with a slower reaction than lime. Here we report a newly established field trail in Norway, in which we compare the effects of lime and different mafic mineral and rock powders (olivine, different types of plagioclase) on CO2 and N2O emissions under natural agricultural conditions. Soil pH is measured on a monthly basis from all treatment plots. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission measurements are carried out on a weekly basis using static chambers and an autonomous robot using fast box technique. Field results from the first winter (fallow) show immediate effect of lime on soil pH, and slower effects of the mafic rocks. The

  8. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi reduce nitrous oxide emissions from N2 O hotspots.

    PubMed

    Storer, Kate; Coggan, Aisha; Ineson, Phil; Hodge, Angela

    2017-12-05

    Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is a potent, globally important, greenhouse gas, predominantly released from agricultural soils during nitrogen (N) cycling. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) form a mutualistic symbiosis with two-thirds of land plants, providing phosphorus and/or N in exchange for carbon. As AMF acquire N, it was hypothesized that AMF hyphae may reduce N 2 O production. AMF hyphae were either allowed (AMF) or prevented (nonAMF) access to a compartment containing an organic matter and soil patch in two independent microcosm experiments. Compartment and patch N 2 O production was measured both before and after addition of ammonium and nitrate. In both experiments, N 2 O production decreased when AMF hyphae were present before inorganic N addition. In the presence of AMF hyphae, N 2 O production remained low following ammonium application, but increased in the nonAMF controls. By contrast, negligible N 2 O was produced following nitrate application to either AMF treatment. Thus, the main N 2 O source in this system appeared to be via nitrification, and the production of N 2 O was reduced in the presence of AMF hyphae. It is hypothesized that AMF hyphae may be outcompeting slow-growing nitrifiers for ammonium. This has significant global implications for our understanding of soil N cycling pathways and N 2 O production. © 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

  9. Nitrous Oxide Emissions in a Managed Grassland are Strongly Influenced by CO2 Concentrations Across a Range of Soil Moisture Levels

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brown, Z. A.; Hovenden, M. J.; Hunt, M.

    2017-12-01

    Though the atmosphere contains less nitrous oxide (N2O, 324 ppb) than carbon dioxide (CO2, 400 ppm­), N2O has 298 times the global warming potential of CO2 on a 100-year horizon. Nitrous oxide emissions tend to be greater in moist soils because denitrification is an anaerobic process. The rising concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere reduces plant stomatal aperture, thereby slowing transpiration and water use and leading to higher soil moisture levels. Thus, the rising CO2 concentration could stimulate N2O emissions indirectly via increasing soil moisture. Further, results from field experiments in which CO2 is elevated have demonstrated nitrification is accelerated at elevated CO2 concentrations (eCO2). Hence, N2O emissions could be substantially increased by the impacts of rising CO2 concentrations on plant and ecosystem physiology. However, the scale of this impact could be influenced by the amount of water supplied through irrigation or rainfall since both nitrification and denitrification are sensitive to soil moisture. Here, we use measurements of CO2 and N2O emissions from the TasFACE2 experiment to explore the ways in which the impact of CO2 concentration on greenhouse gas emissions is influenced by water supply in a managed temperate pasture. TasFACE2 is the world's only experiment that explicitly controls soil water availability at three different CO2 concentrations. Application of chemical nitrification inhibitor severely reduces N2O flux from soils regardless of CO2 level, water treatment and time following urea application. This inhibitor reduced soil respiration in plots exposed to ambient CO2 plots but not in eCO2 plots. N2O flux is stimulated by eCO2 but not consistently among watering treatments or seasons. Soil respiration is strongly enhanced by CO2 effect regardless of watering treatment. The results demonstrate that CO2 concentration has a sustained impact on CO2 and N2O flux across a range of water availabilities in this fertilised, ryegrass

  10. Site-specific 15N isotopic signatures of abiotically produced N2O

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Heil, Jannis; Wolf, Benjamin; Brüggemann, Nicolas; Emmenegger, Lukas; Tuzson, Béla; Vereecken, Harry; Mohn, Joachim

    2014-08-01

    Efficient nitrous oxide (N2O) mitigation strategies require the identification of the main source and sink processes and their contribution to total soil N2O production. Several abiotic reactions of nitrification intermediates leading to N2O production are known, but their contribution to total N2O production in soils is uncertain. As the site preference (SP) of 15N in N2O is a promising tool to give more insight into N2O production processes, we investigated the SP of N2O produced by different abiotic reactions in a laboratory study. All reactions involved the nitrification intermediate hydroxylamine (NH2OH) in combination with nitrite (NO2-), Fe3+, Fe2+ and Cu2+, reactants commonly or potentially found in soils, at different concentrations and pH values. N2O production and its four main isotopic species (14N14N16O, 15N14N16O, 14N15N16O, and 14N14N18O) were quantified simultaneously and online at high temporal resolution using quantum cascade laser absorption spectroscopy. Thereby, our study presents the first continuous analysis of δ18O in N2O. The experiments revealed the possibility of purely abiotic reactions over a wide range of acidity (pH 3-8) by different mechanisms. All studied abiotic pathways produced N2O with a characteristic SP in the range of 34-35‰, unaffected by process conditions and remaining constant over the course of the experiments. These findings reflect the benefit of continuous N2O isotopic analysis by laser spectroscopy, contribute new information to the challenging source partitioning of N2O emissions from soils, and emphasize the potentially significant role of coupled biotic-abiotic reactions in soils.

  11. Global Change Could Amplify Fire Effects on Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions

    PubMed Central

    Niboyet, Audrey; Brown, Jamie R.; Dijkstra, Paul; Blankinship, Joseph C.; Leadley, Paul W.; Le Roux, Xavier; Barthes, Laure; Barnard, Romain L.; Field, Christopher B.; Hungate, Bruce A.

    2011-01-01

    Background Little is known about the combined impacts of global environmental changes and ecological disturbances on ecosystem functioning, even though such combined impacts might play critical roles in shaping ecosystem processes that can in turn feed back to climate change, such as soil emissions of greenhouse gases. Methodology/Principal Findings We took advantage of an accidental, low-severity wildfire that burned part of a long-term global change experiment to investigate the interactive effects of a fire disturbance and increases in CO2 concentration, precipitation and nitrogen supply on soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in a grassland ecosystem. We examined the responses of soil N2O emissions, as well as the responses of the two main microbial processes contributing to soil N2O production – nitrification and denitrification – and of their main drivers. We show that the fire disturbance greatly increased soil N2O emissions over a three-year period, and that elevated CO2 and enhanced nitrogen supply amplified fire effects on soil N2O emissions: emissions increased by a factor of two with fire alone and by a factor of six under the combined influence of fire, elevated CO2 and nitrogen. We also provide evidence that this response was caused by increased microbial denitrification, resulting from increased soil moisture and soil carbon and nitrogen availability in the burned and fertilized plots. Conclusions/Significance Our results indicate that the combined effects of fire and global environmental changes can exceed their effects in isolation, thereby creating unexpected feedbacks to soil greenhouse gas emissions. These findings highlight the need to further explore the impacts of ecological disturbances on ecosystem functioning in the context of global change if we wish to be able to model future soil greenhouse gas emissions with greater confidence. PMID:21687708

  12. Quantifying Uncertainties in N2O Emission Due to N Fertilizer Application in Cultivated Areas

    PubMed Central

    Philibert, Aurore; Loyce, Chantal; Makowski, David

    2012-01-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential approximately 298 times greater than that of CO2. In 2006, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated N2O emission due to synthetic and organic nitrogen (N) fertilization at 1% of applied N. We investigated the uncertainty on this estimated value, by fitting 13 different models to a published dataset including 985 N2O measurements. These models were characterized by (i) the presence or absence of the explanatory variable “applied N”, (ii) the function relating N2O emission to applied N (exponential or linear function), (iii) fixed or random background (i.e. in the absence of N application) N2O emission and (iv) fixed or random applied N effect. We calculated ranges of uncertainty on N2O emissions from a subset of these models, and compared them with the uncertainty ranges currently used in the IPCC-Tier 1 method. The exponential models outperformed the linear models, and models including one or two random effects outperformed those including fixed effects only. The use of an exponential function rather than a linear function has an important practical consequence: the emission factor is not constant and increases as a function of applied N. Emission factors estimated using the exponential function were lower than 1% when the amount of N applied was below 160 kg N ha−1. Our uncertainty analysis shows that the uncertainty range currently used by the IPCC-Tier 1 method could be reduced. PMID:23226430

  13. Investigation of the N2O emission strength in the U. S. Corn Belt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fu, Congsheng; Lee, Xuhui; Griffis, Timothy J.; Dlugokencky, Edward J.; Andrews, Arlyn E.

    2017-09-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) has a high global warming potential and depletes stratospheric ozone. The U. S. Corn Belt plays an important role in the global anthropogenic N2O budget. To date, studies on local surface N2O emissions and the atmospheric N2O budget have commonly used Lagrangian models. In the present study, we used an Eulerian model - Weather Research and Forecasting Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model to investigate the relationships between N2O emissions in the Corn Belt and observed atmospheric N2O mixing ratios. We derived a simple equation to relate the emission strengths to atmospheric N2O mixing ratios, and used the derived equation and hourly atmospheric N2O measurements at the KCMP tall tower in Minnesota to constrain agricultural N2O emissions. The modeled spatial patterns of atmospheric N2O were evaluated against discrete observations at multiple tall towers in the NOAA flask network. After optimization of the surface flux, the model reproduced reasonably well the hourly N2O mixing ratios monitored at the KCMP tower. Agricultural N2O emissions in the EDGAR42 database needed to be scaled up by 19.0 to 28.1 fold to represent the true emissions in the Corn Belt for June 1-20, 2010 - a peak emission period. Optimized mean N2O emissions were 3.00-4.38, 1.52-2.08, 0.61-0.81 and 0.56-0.75 nmol m- 2 s- 1 for June 1-20, August 1-20, October 1-20 and December 1-20, 2010, respectively. The simulated spatial patterns of atmospheric N2O mixing ratios after optimization were in good agreement with the NOAA discrete observations during the strong emission peak in June. Such spatial patterns suggest that the underestimate of emissions using IPCC (Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change) inventory methodology is not dependent on tower measurement location.

  14. Soil-atmosphere fluxes of the greenhouse gases N2O, CO2 and CH4 from a long term compost experiment in Austria.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Spann, Caroline; Spiegel, Heide; Kitzler, Barbara

    2016-04-01

    The application of composts as fertilizers is becoming increasingly important to achieve a closed-loop economy. However, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially N2O, from agricultural fields may increase as well. In this study different compost types and N amounts were investigated, especially in terms of their GHG fluxes. We used the closed chamber method to estimate GHG flux rates over one vegetation period from an agricultural soil fertilized with different compost types. The study was conducted on a long term compost experiment site near Linz (Austria) with a crop rotation. The soil is a loamy silt and in 2015 maize was planted. Six different compost treatments were investigated. Organic waste compost (OWC) and farmyard manure compost (FMC) was applied with nitrogen concentrations of 175 (OWC1, FYC1) and 525 kg N ha-1 (OWC3, FYC3). Two compost treatments were fertilized additionally with 80 kg N ha.1 mineral fertilizer (OWC2, FYC2). One treatment (TN) was fertilized only with mineral fertilizer (120 kg N ha-1) and one treatment was not fertilized at all (C). Additionally to the GHG flux rates, ammonium and nitrate content, microbial biomass C and N and different enzyme activities were analysed in the top soil. Nitrous oxide (N2O) was emitted over the entire vegetation period with highest fluxes from April until June, until the plants have been established sufficiently. Overall, at the FMC treatments (FYC2, FYC3) highest fluxes were measured. Compared to FMC, lower N2O emissions were measured from the OWC treatments. The combination of compost and mineral N fertilization resulted in the highest N2O emissions, especially after precipitation events. The treatments OWC1 and FYC1 were not different from the control. Methane (CH4) was mainly taken up at all treatments, but uptake rates were lower at the high N input sites (OWC3, FYC3) with no differences between the compost types. No significant differences were found in the soil respiration rates.

  15. Soil Greenhouse Gas Fluxes, Environmental Controls, and the Partitioning of N2O Sources in UK Natural and Seminatural Land Use Types

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sgouridis, Fotis; Ullah, Sami

    2017-10-01

    Natural and seminatural terrestrial ecosystems (unmanaged peatlands and forests and extensive and intensive grasslands) have been under-represented in the UK greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. Mechanistic studies of GHG fluxes and their controls can improve the prediction of the currently uncertain GHG annual emission estimates. The source apportionment of N2O emissions can further inform management plans for GHG mitigation. We have measured in situ GHG fluxes monthly in two replicated UK catchments and evaluated their environmental controlling factors. An adapted 15N-gas flux method with low addition of 15N tracer (0.03-0.5 kg 15N ha-1) was used to quantify the relative contribution of denitrification to net N2O production. Total N2O fluxes were 40 times higher in the intensive grasslands than in the peatlands (range: -1.32 to 312.3 μg N m-2 h-1). The contribution of denitrification to net N2O emission varied across the land use types and ranged from 9 to 60%. Soil moisture was the key parameter regulating the partitioning of N2O sources (r2 = 0.46). Total N2O fluxes were explained by a simple model (r2 = 0.83) including parameters such as total dissolved nitrogen, organic carbon, and water content. A parsimonious model with the soil moisture content as a single scalar parameter explained 84% of methane flux variability across land uses. The assumption that 1% of the atmospherically deposited N on natural ecosystems is emitted as N2O could be overestimated or underestimated (0.3-1.6%). The use of land use-specific N2O emission factors and further information on N2O source partitioning should help constrain this uncertainty.

  16. Continuous Eddy Covariance Measurements of N2O Emissions and Controls from an Intensively Grazed Dairy Farm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schipper, L. A.; Liang, L. L.; Wall, A.; Campbell, D.

    2017-12-01

    New Zealand's greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory is disproportionally dominated by methane and nitrous oxide which account for 54% of emissions. These GHGs are derived from pastoral agriculture that supports dairying and meat production. To date, most studies on quantifying or mitigating agricultural N2O emissions have used flux chamber measurements. Recent advances in detector technology now means that routine field-to-farm scale measurements of N2O emissions might be possible using the eddy covariance technique. In late 2016, we established an eddy covariance tower that measured N2O emissions from a dairy farm under year-round grazing. An Aerodyne quantum cascade laser (QCL) was used to measure N2O, CH4 and H2O concentration at 10 Hz and housed in a weatherproof and insulated enclosure (0.9 m ´ 1.2 m) and powered by mains power (240 VAC). The enclosure maintained a stable setpoint temperature (30±0.2°C) by using underground cooling pipes, fans and recirculating instrument heat. QCL (true 10 Hz digital) and CSAT3B sonic anemometer high frequency data are aligned using Network Time Protocol and EddyPro covariance maximisation during flux processing. Fluxes generally integrated over about 6-8 ha. Stable summertime baseline N2O fluxes (FN2O) were around 12-24 g N2O-N ha-1 d-1 (0.5-1.0 nmol N2O m-2 s-1). Grazing by cows during dry summer resulted in only modest increases in FN2O to 24-48 g N2O-N ha-1 d-1 (1.0-2.0 nmol N2O m-2 s-1). However, the first rain events after grazing resulted in large, short-lived (1-3 days) FN2O pulses reaching peaks of 144-192 g N2O-N ha-1 d-1 (6-8 nmol N2O m-2 s-1). During these elevated N2O emissions, FN2O displayed a significant diurnal signal, with peak fluxes mid-afternoon which was best explained by variation in shallow soil temperature in summer. In winter (both cooler and wetter) FN2O were not as easily explained on a daily basis but were generally greater than summer. Throughout the year, FN2O was strongly dependent on water filled

  17. Effects of temperature on nitrous oxide (N2O) emission from intensive aquaculture system.

    PubMed

    Paudel, Shukra Raj; Choi, Ohkyung; Khanal, Samir Kumar; Chandran, Kartik; Kim, Sungpyo; Lee, Jae Woo

    2015-06-15

    This study examines the effects of temperature on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in a bench-scale intensive aquaculture system rearing Koi fish. The water temperature varied from 15 to 24 °C at interval of 3 °C. Both volumetric and specific rate for nitrification and denitrification declined as the temperature decreased. The concentrations of ammonia and nitrite, however, were lower than the inhibitory level for Koi fish regardless of temperature. The effects of temperature on N2O emissions were significant, with the emission rate and emission factor increasing from 1.11 to 1.82 mg N2O-N/d and 0.49 to 0.94 mg N2O-N/kg fish as the temperature decreased from 24 to 15 °C. A global map of N2O emission from aquaculture was established by using the N2O emission factor depending on temperature. This study demonstrates that N2O emission from aquaculture is strongly dependent on regional water temperatures as well as on fish production. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Corn Yield and Soil Nitrous Oxide Emission under Different Fertilizer and Soil Management: A Three-Year Field Experiment in Middle Tennessee.

    PubMed

    Deng, Qi; Hui, Dafeng; Wang, Junming; Iwuozo, Stephen; Yu, Chih-Li; Jima, Tigist; Smart, David; Reddy, Chandra; Dennis, Sam

    2015-01-01

    A three-year field experiment was conducted to examine the responses of corn yield and soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emission to various management practices in middle Tennessee. The management practices include no-tillage + regular applications of urea ammonium nitrate (NT-URAN); no-tillage + regular applications of URAN + denitrification inhibitor (NT-inhibitor); no-tillage + regular applications of URAN + biochar (NT-biochar); no-tillage + 20% applications of URAN + chicken litter (NT-litter), no-tillage + split applications of URAN (NT-split); and conventional tillage + regular applications of URAN as a control (CT-URAN). Fertilizer equivalent to 217 kg N ha(-1) was applied to each of the experimental plots. Results showed that no-tillage (NT-URAN) significantly increased corn yield by 28% over the conventional tillage (CT-URAN) due to soil water conservation. The management practices significantly altered soil N2O emission, with the highest in the CT-URAN (0.48 mg N2O m(-2) h(-1)) and the lowest in the NT-inhibitor (0.20 mg N2O m(-2) h(-1)) and NT-biochar (0.16 mg N2O m(-2) h(-1)) treatments. Significant exponential relationships between soil N2O emission and water filled pore space were revealed in all treatments. However, variations in soil N2O emission among the treatments were positively correlated with the moisture sensitivity of soil N2O emission that likely reflects an interactive effect between soil properties and WFPS. Our results indicated that improved fertilizer and soil management have the potential to maintain highly productive corn yield while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

  19. Corn Yield and Soil Nitrous Oxide Emission under Different Fertilizer and Soil Management: A Three-Year Field Experiment in Middle Tennessee

    PubMed Central

    Deng, Qi; Hui, Dafeng; Wang, Junming; Iwuozo, Stephen; Yu, Chih-Li; Jima, Tigist; Smart, David; Reddy, Chandra; Dennis, Sam

    2015-01-01

    Background A three-year field experiment was conducted to examine the responses of corn yield and soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emission to various management practices in middle Tennessee. Methodology/Principal Findings The management practices include no-tillage + regular applications of urea ammonium nitrate (NT-URAN); no-tillage + regular applications of URAN + denitrification inhibitor (NT-inhibitor); no-tillage + regular applications of URAN + biochar (NT-biochar); no-tillage + 20% applications of URAN + chicken litter (NT-litter), no-tillage + split applications of URAN (NT-split); and conventional tillage + regular applications of URAN as a control (CT-URAN). Fertilizer equivalent to 217 kg N ha-1 was applied to each of the experimental plots. Results showed that no-tillage (NT-URAN) significantly increased corn yield by 28% over the conventional tillage (CT-URAN) due to soil water conservation. The management practices significantly altered soil N2O emission, with the highest in the CT-URAN (0.48 mg N2O m-2 h-1) and the lowest in the NT-inhibitor (0.20 mg N2O m-2 h-1) and NT-biochar (0.16 mg N2O m-2 h-1) treatments. Significant exponential relationships between soil N2O emission and water filled pore space were revealed in all treatments. However, variations in soil N2O emission among the treatments were positively correlated with the moisture sensitivity of soil N2O emission that likely reflects an interactive effect between soil properties and WFPS. Conclusion/Significance Our results indicated that improved fertilizer and soil management have the potential to maintain highly productive corn yield while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. PMID:25923716

  20. Factors Related with CH4 and N2O Emissions from a Paddy Field: Clues for Management implications

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Chun; Lai, Derrick Y. F.; Sardans, Jordi; Wang, Weiqi; Zeng, Congsheng; Peñuelas, Josep

    2017-01-01

    Paddy fields are major sources of global atmospheric greenhouse gases, including methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). The different phases previous to emission (production, transport, diffusion, dissolution in pore water and ebullition) despite well-established have rarely been measured in field conditions. We examined them and their relationships with temperature, soil traits and plant biomass in a paddy field in Fujian, southeastern China. CH4 emission was positively correlated with CH4 production, plant-mediated transport, ebullition, diffusion, and concentration of dissolved CH4 in porewater and negatively correlated with sulfate concentration, suggesting the potential use of sulfate fertilizers to mitigate CH4 release. Air temperature and humidity, plant stem biomass, and concentrations of soil sulfate, available N, and DOC together accounted for 92% of the variance in CH4 emission, and Eh, pH, and the concentrations of available N and Fe3+, leaf biomass, and air temperature 95% of the N2O emission. Given the positive correlations between CH4 emission and DOC content and plant biomass, reduce the addition of a carbon substrate such as straw and the development of smaller but higher yielding rice genotypes could be viable options for reducing the release of greenhouse gases from paddy fields to the atmosphere. PMID:28081161

  1. Synthetic fertilizer management for China's cereal crops has reduced N2O emissions since the early 2000s.

    PubMed

    Sun, Wenjuan; Huang, Yao

    2012-01-01

    China has implemented a soil testing and fertilizer recommendation (STFR) program to reduce the over-usage of synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizer on cereal crops since the late 1990 s. Using province scale datasets, we estimated an annual reduction rate of 2.5-5.1 kg N ha(-1) from 1998 to 2008 and improving grain yields, which were attributed to the balanced application of phosphate and potassium fertilization. Relative to the means for 1998-2000, the synthetic N fertilizer input and the corresponding N-induced N(2)O production in cereal crops were reduced by 22 ± 0.7 Tg N and 241 ± 4 Gg N(2)O-N in 2001-2008. Further investigation suggested that the N(2)O emission related to wheat and maize cultivation could be reduced by 32-43 Gg N(2)O-N per year in China (26%-41% of the emissions in 2008) if the STFR practice is implemented universally in the future. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Using the N2/Ar-Method to check modelled diffuse NO3¯ emissions from soils into the groundwater of Lower Saxony (Germany)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Krienen, Lisa; Höper, Heinrich; Eschenbach, Wolfram; Well, Reinhard; Elbracht, Jörg

    2013-04-01

    Diffuse NO3 emissions derived from agricultural N surpluses are the main cause of NO3 pollution of aquifers and open water bodies. Denitrification is the key process for the attenuation of these anthropogenic NO3 concentrations in soils and groundwater. Since the greenhouse gas N2O is an obligate intermediate of denitrification this process is also a major regulator of N2O emissions from soils and indirect N2O fluxes from aquifers and open water bodies which result from NO3-leaching. Up to now the denitrification potential of soils and the potential NO3 concentration in the groundwater recharge are modelled from agricultural N-surpluses, water balances (GROWA) and soil properties (DENUZ) (Wendland et al. 2009) (LBEG 2008). In this study we compare modelled NO3 emissions (pot-NO3) (DENUZ) to the groundwater recharge with the calculated initial NO3 concentrations in the groundwater at time of groundwater recharge (NO3t0) (N2/Ar-method (Weymann et al. 2008)). NO3t0 can be calculated from the measurement of dissolved gases N2, N2O, Ar and NO3 concentrations in groundwater samples. We analysed groundwater samples from 534 groundwater monitoring wells throughout Lower-Saxony (Germany). Median NO3 and NO3t0 concentrations were 0,4 and 29 mg NO3 l1 respectively, showing that considerable proportions of the anthropogenic N-surplus is denitrified within the saturated zone. `First results showed a good agreement between measure and modelled NO3 emissions for areas of coastal marshes in the North of Lower-Saxony (predominantly Fluvisols). Medians of measured and modelled NO3 emissions are 12,5 mg NO3t0 l1 and 0,3 mg pot-NO3#713; l1 (mean values 20 mg l1 NO3 pot and 9,3 mg l1 NO3t0), respectively. Compared to the coastal marshes and in accordance with modelled pot-NO3 concentrations our measurements show small-scale spatial heterogeneities of NO3t0 concentrations in soil regions where the dominant parent material of soils are glacio fluviatile and moraine deposits

  3. Measurement of N2O and CH4 soil fluxes from garden, agricultural and natural soils using both closed and open chamber systems coupled with high-precision CRDS analyzer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    He, Yonggang; Jacobson, Gloria; Alexander, Chris; Fleck, Derek; Hoffnagel, John; Del Campo, Bernardo; Rella, Chris

    2013-04-01

    Studying the emission and uptake of greenhouse gases from soil is essential for understanding, adapting to and ultimately mitigating the effects of climate change. To-date, majority of such studies have been focused on carbon dioxide (CO2 ) , however, in 2006 the EPA estimated that "Agricultural activities currently generate the largest share, 63 percent, of the world's anthropogenic non-carbon dioxide (non-CO2) emissions (84 percent of nitrous oxide [N2O] and 52 percent of methane[CH4]), and make up roughly 15 percent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions" (Prentice et al., 2001). Therefore, enabling accurate N2O and CH4 flux measurements in the field are clearly critical to our ability to better constrain carbon and nitrogen budgets, characterize soil sensitivities, agricultural practices, and microbial processes like denitrification and nitrification. To aide in these studies, Picarro has developed a new analyzer based on its proven, NIR technology platform, which is capable of measuring both N2O and CH4 down to ppb levels in a single, field-deployable analyzer. This analyzer measures N2O with a 1-sigma, precision of 3.5 ppb and CH4 with a 1-sigma precision of 3ppb on a 5 minute average. The instrument also has extremely low drift to enable accurate measurements with infrequent calibrations. The data rate of the analyzer is on the order of 5 seconds in order to capture fast, episodic emission events. One of the keys to making accurate CRDS measurements is to thoroughly characterize and correct for spectral interfering species. This is especially important for closed system soil chambers used on agricultural soils where a variety of soil amendments may be applied and gases not usually present in ambient air could concentrate to high levels. In this work, we present the results of analyzer interference testing and corrections completed for the interference of carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, and water on N2O. In addition, we

  4. [County-scale N2O emission inventory of China's manure management system].

    PubMed

    Wang, Chuan; Gao, Wei; Zhou, Feng; Chen, Qing; Ying, Na; Xu, Peng; Hou, Xi-Kang

    2013-10-01

    Manure is one of the two largest contributors to China's N2O emission. By using the county-scale activity data and the regional emission factors and related parameters with spatial differentiation in China in 2008, this paper assessed the N2O emission loading, sources profile, spatial pattern, and uncertainty, aimed to establish a high-resolution N2O emission inventory of China's manure management system in 2008. As compared with the research results based on the IPCC, EDGAR, and other works, the proposed emission inventory was more reliable and comprehensive. The total China' s N2O emission from manure in 2008 was estimated as 572 Gg, among which, the emission from the manure except pasture/range/paddock was 322 Gg (56.3%), from the manure in pasture/range/paddock was 180 Gg (31.5%), and the indirect emission from atmospheric volatilized N deposition and leaching/runoff was 45.8 Gg (8.0%) and 1.23 Gg (0.2%), respectively. The spatial pattern of China's N2O emission from manure was more centralized, and mainly concentrated in Jilin, Shandong, Sichuan, Hunan, Henan, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning provinces, contributing 52.4% of the total emission, and more than 25% being from 84 counties (only < 3% of the whole counties). The proposed emission inventory had a higher spatial resolution and accuracy. Different with this inventory, the IPCC underestimated the direct emission while overestimated the indirect emission, with the regions of higher emission rate being underestimated by -1.5%-6.0% and those of lower emission rate being overestimated by 1.6%-13%. As for the EDGAR, the regions of higher emission rate were underestimated by -18. 8--50.0%, and those of lower emission rate were mostly overestimated by 25%-54.1%.

  5. Uncertainties in United States agricultural N2O emissions: comparing forward model simulations to atmospheric N2O data.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nevison, C. D.; Saikawa, E.; Dlugokencky, E. J.; Andrews, A. E.; Sweeney, C.

    2014-12-01

    Atmospheric N2O concentrations have increased from 275 ppb in the preindustrial to about 325 ppb in recent years, a ~20% increase with important implications for both anthropogenic greenhouse forcing and stratospheric ozone recovery. This increase has been driven largely by synthetic fertilizer production and other perturbations to the global nitrogen cycle associated with human agriculture. Several recent regional atmospheric inversion studies have quantified North American agricultural N2O emissions using top-down constraints based on atmospheric N2O data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network, including surface, aircraft and tall tower platforms. These studies have concluded that global N2O inventories such as EDGAR may be underestimating the true U.S. anthropogenic N2O source by a factor of 3 or more. However, simple back-of-the-envelope calculations show that emissions of this magnitude are difficult to reconcile with the basic constraints of the global N2O budget. Here, we explore some possible reasons why regional atmospheric inversions might overestimate the U.S. agricultural N2O source. First, the seasonality of N2O agricultural sources is not well known, but can have an important influence on inversion results, particularly when the inversions are based on data that are concentrated in the spring/summer growing season. Second, boundary conditions can strongly influence regional inversions but the boundary conditions used may not adequately account for remote influences on surface data such as the seasonal stratospheric influx of N2O-depleted air. We will present a set of forward model simulations, using the Community Land Model (CLM) and two atmospheric chemistry tracer transport models, MOZART and the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM), that examine the influence of terrestrial emissions and atmospheric chemistry and dynamics on atmospheric variability in N2O at U.S. and

  6. Estimating N2O processes during grassland renewal and grassland conversion to maize cropping using N2O isotopocules

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buchen, Caroline; Well, Reinhard; Flessa, Heinz; Fuß, Roland; Helfrich, Mirjam; Lewicka-Szczebak, Dominika

    2017-04-01

    Grassland break-up due to grassland renewal and grassland conversion to cropland can lead to a flush of mineral nitrogen from decomposition of the old grass sward and the decomposition of soil organic matter. Moreover, increased carbon and nitrogen mineralisation can result in enhanced nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. As N2O is known to be an important greenhouse gas and a major precursor for ozone depletion, its emissions need to be mitigated by adjusting agricultural management practices. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the N2O processes involved, as well as the contribution of N2O reduction to N2. Apart from the widely used 15N gas flux method, natural abundance isotopic analysis of the four most abundant isotopocules of N2O species is a promising alternative to assess N2O production pathways. We used stable isotope analyses of soil-emitted N2O (δ18ON2O, δ15NN2Obulk and δ15NN2OSP= intramolecular distribution of 15N within the linear N2O molecule) with an isotopocule mapping approach to simultaneously estimate the magnitude of N2O reduction to N2 and the fraction of N2O originating from the bacterial denitrification pathway or fungal denitrification and/or nitrification. This approach is based on endmember areas of isotopic values for the N2O produced from different sources reported in the literature. For this purpose, we calculated two main scenarios with different assumptions for N2O produced: N2O is reduced to N2 before residual N2O is mixed with N2O of various sources (Scenario a) and vice versa (Scenario b). Based on this, we applied seven different scenario variations, where we evaluated the range of possible values for the potential N2O production pathways (heterotrophic bacterial denitrification and/or nitrifier denitrification and fungal denitrification and/or nitrification). This was done by using a range of isotopic endmember values and assuming different fractionation factors of N2O reduction in order to find the most reliable scenario

  7. Fluxes of N2O and CH4 from forest and grassland lysimeter soils in response to simulated climate change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weymann, Daniel; Brueggemann, Nicolas; Puetz, Thomas; Vereecken, Harry

    2015-04-01

    Central Europe is expected to be exposed to altered temperature and hydrological conditions, which will affect the vulnerability of nitrogen and carbon cycling in soils and thus production and fluxes of climate relevant trace gases. However, knowledge of the response of greenhouse gas fluxes to climate change is limited so far, but will be an important basis for future climate projections. Here we present preliminary results of an ongoing lysimeter field study which aims to assess the impact of simulated climate change on N2O and CH4 fluxes from a forest and a fertilized grassland soil. The lysimeters are part of the Germany-wide research infrastructure TERENO, which investigates feedbacks of climate change to the pedosphere on a long-term scale. Lysimeters (A = 1m2) were established in 2010 at high elevated sites (HE, 500 and 600 m.a.s.l.) and subsequently transferred along an altitudinal gradient to a low elevated site (LE, 100 m.a.s.l.) within the Eifel / Lower Rhine Valley Observatory in Western Germany, thereby resulting in a temperature increase of 2.3 K whereas precipitation decreased by 160 mm during the present study period. Systematic monitoring of soil-atmosphere exchange of N2O and CH4 based on weekly manual closed chamber measurements at HE and LE sites has started in August 2013. Furthermore, we routinely determine dissolved N2O and CH4 concentrations in the seepage water using a headspace equilibration technique and record water discharge in order to quantify leaching losses of both greenhouse gases. Cumulative N2O fluxes clearly responded to simulated climate change conditions and increased by 250 % and 600 % for the forest and the grassland soil, respectively. This difference between the HE and LE sites was mainly caused by an exceptionally heavy precipitation event in July 2014 which turned the LE site sustainably to a consistently higher emission level. Nonetheless, emissions remained rather small and ranged between 20 and 40 μg m-2 h-1. In

  8. N2O emissions from secondary clarifiers and their contribution to the total emissions of the WWTP.

    PubMed

    Mikola, Anna; Heinonen, Mari; Kosonen, Heta; Leppänen, Maarit; Rantanen, Pirjo; Vahala, Riku

    2014-01-01

    Recent studies have indicated that the emissions of nitrous oxide, N2O, constitute a major part of the carbon footprint of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Denitrification occurring in the secondary clarifier basins has been observed by many researchers, but until now N2O emissions from secondary clarifiers have not been widely reported. The objective of this study was to measure the N2O emissions from secondary clarifiers and weigh the portion they could represent of the overall emissions at WWTPs. Online measurements over several days were carried out at four different municipal WWTPs in Finland in cold weather conditions (March) and in warm weather conditions (June-July). An attempt was made to define the conditions in which N2O emissions from secondary clarifiers may occur. It was evidenced that large amounts of N2O can be emitted from the secondary clarifiers, and that the emissions have long-term variation. It was assumed that part of the N2O released in secondary clarification was originally formed in the activated sludge basin. The emissions from secondary clarification thus seem to be dependent on conditions of the nitrification and denitrification accomplished in the denitrification-nitrification process and on the amount of sludge stored in the secondary clarifiers.

  9. Substantial N2O emission during the initial period of the wheat season due to the conversion of winter-flooded paddy to rice-wheat rotation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Wei; Lin, Shan; Wu, Lei; Zhao, Jingsong; Wang, Milan; Zhu, Bo; Mo, Yongliang; Hu, Ronggui; Chadwick, Dave; Shaaban, Muhammad

    2017-12-01

    Winter-flooded paddy is a typical rice-based cropping system to conserve water for the next rice growing season. Conversion of winter-flooded paddy to rice-wheat rotation has been widely adopted with the development of the water conservation infrastructure and the government's encouragement of winter agriculture in China in recent decades. However, the effects of this conversion on N2O emission are still not clear. Three winter-flooded paddy fields were studied in a split-plot design. One-half of each field was converted to rice-wheat rotation (RW), and the other half remained winter-flooded as rice-fallow (RF). Each plot of RW and RF was further divided into four subplots: three subplots for conventional N fertilizer application (RW-NC and RF-NC) and one for unfertilized treatment (RW-N0 and RF-N0). Conversion of RF-NC to RW-NC increased the N2O emission up to 6.6-fold in the first year and 4.4-fold in the second year. Moreover, N2O emissions for the entire wheat season were 1.74-3.74 kg N ha-1 and 0.24-0.31 kg N ha-1 from RW-NC and RW-N0, respectively, and accounted for 78%-94% and 78%-97% of the total annual amount. N2O emitted during the first 11-21 days of the wheat season from RW-NC was 1.48-3.28 kg N ha-1 and that from RW-N0 was 0.14-0.17 kg N ha-1, which contributed to 66%-82% and 45%-71% of the total annual amount, respectively. High N2O fluxes occurred when the soil water-filled pore space (WFPS) was in the range of 68%-72% and the ratio of available carbon to nitrogen in the soil was <1.42. The contribution of WFPS and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) explained most of the variation of the N2O fluxes compared with the other measured environmental and soil factors. These findings suggest that the conversion of winter-flooded paddy to rice-wheat rotation increased N2O emissions that could be mitigated by controlling the soil moisture and ratio of available soil carbon to nitrogen.

  10. Predicting Coupled Emissions of N2O, CO2 and CH4 from Arable Fields in Ireland Using the ECOSSE Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khalil, M. I.; Smith, J.; Abdalla, M.; O'Brien, P.; Smith, P.; Müller, C.

    2011-12-01

    Agriculture and associated land-use changes contribute a significant portion to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; mainly as N2O, CO2 and CH4. Improved modelling of soil processes will greatly enhance the value of national inventories, both in terms of more accurate reporting and better mitigation policy options. In Ireland, Agriculture and Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry, is currently a priority research focus, aimed at reducing uncertainty in estimates of GHG emissions and sinks. The ECOSSE model has several advantages, including limited meteorological and soil data requirements, compared to other models. It can simulate the impacts of land-use, management and climate change on C and N emissions and stocks for both mineral and organic soils at field and national scales. In this study, ECOSSE has been used to predict GHG emissions and SOC changes in arable lands cropped with spring barley receiving different rates of N application. The simulated outputs are evaluated against measured data available from a two-year field study. The modelled responses of N2O fluxes are found to be consistent with the measured values. The bias in the total difference between measured values and the corresponding modelled N2O fluxes was large due to the impact of a few unexpected measurements. In the fertilized fields, significant correlation between modelled and measured N2O fluxes was observed, with correlation coefficients of 0.54-0.60 and root mean square errors of 18.6-20.8 g N ha-1 d-1. The measured seasonal (crop growth period) N2O losses (integrated) were 0.41 and 0.50% of the N applied at rates of 70-79 and 140-159 kg ha-1, respectively. As a further comparison, the simulated values for the dates when measurements were taken were similarly integrated. The corresponding simulated seasonal N2O losses were 0.69 and 1.11% of the added N, suggesting an overestimation by 70-123% of the measured values. However, this could be due to missed emissions associated with the

  11. Using the Triple Labelling Technique to apportion N2O Emissions to Nitrification and Denitrification from different Nitrogen Sources at different Water-Filled-Pore-Spaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Loick, Nadine; Dixon, Elizabeth R.; Repullo Ruibérriz de Torres, Miguel A.; Ciganda, Veronica; Lopez-Aizpun, Maria A.; Matthews, G. Peter; Müller, Christoph; Cardenas, Laura M.

    2017-04-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is considered to be an important greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for approximately 6% of the current global warming. The atmospheric N2O concentration has been increasing since the Industrial Revolution, with soils representing its major source, making the understanding of its sources and removal processes very important for the development of mitigation strategies. In soils N gases are mainly produced via nitrification and denitrification. It is assumed that under dry/aerobic conditions nitrification is the dominant N consuming process, while denitrification becomes dominant under wetter conditions promoting anaerobicity. Nitrification and denitrification may occur simultaneously in different microsites of the same soil but there is often uncertainty associated with which process dominates in a particular soil under specific conditions. N2O predominantly derives from incomplete denitrification of nitrate (NO3-). The existence of different pools of NO3- in soils, namely the native soil pool, and the fertiliser-added one, has been suggested through a series of laboratory incubation experiments (Meijide et al., 2010; Bergstermann et al., 2011) using the denitrification incubation system, DENIS (Cardenas et al., 2003), in which soil cores are incubated under an N-free atmosphere, allowing direct measurements of all emitted N gases (NO, N2O and N2) as well as CO2. A third pool, NO3- produced from nitrification of applied NH4+, can also be a source of N2O via denitrification and also from nitrification. In this study labelling of substrate-N with 15N is used to quantify the underlying gross N transformation rates and link them to N-emissions to identify the production and consumption pathways and temporal dynamics of N2O. In three experiments twelve soil cores each were incubated in the DENIS to measure gaseous emissions, while parallel incubations under the same conditions were set up for destructive soil sampling at 7 time points. Using the triple

  12. In-Situ Denitrification and N2O Emission from Natural and Semi-natural Land Use Types in two UK Catchments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sgouridis, F.; Ullah, S.

    2014-12-01

    Whilst data and understanding of the controls of denitrification process and the subsequent emission of N2O at microbial and plot scale exist, quantification of in situ annual denitrification rates at catchment scales is scarce due to methodological constraints in measuring in situ denitrification in large temporal and spatial scales. In situ denitrification (DNT) was measured monthly (April 2013 - October 2014) in organic (peat bog, heathland, acid grassland), forest (mixed and deciduous), and grassland (improved and semi-improved) land use types in the Ribble-Wyre and Conwy River catchments in the UK. A static chamber technique according to the 15N-Gas Flux method1 was employed for quantifying the fluxes of 15N-N2 and 15N-N2O gases after labelling the soil with 98 at% K15NO3- at tracer level amounts (10% of the ambient nitrate concentration) and sampling the chamber headspace at 0, 1, 2 and 20 hour intervals. The DNT rates ranged between 0 and 2.3 mg N m-2 h-1 and were significantly influenced by land use type (p<0.05). The annual denitrification rate of organic and forest soils (4 kg N ha-1 y-1) was 3 and 6 times less than that of semi-improved (12 kg N ha-1 y-1) and improved (23 kg N ha-1 y-1) grassland soils, respectively. The N2O emission, due to denitrification, followed a similar trend with lower fluxes from organic and higher from improved grassland soils (range: 0 - 0.04 mg N m-2 h-1), whilst the N2O:N2 ratio ranged between 0.2 and 4%. The relative contribution of denitrification to net N2O flux varied temporally and across the different land use types and ranged from 0.2 to 75%. The 15N-Gas Flux method can be successfully applied in a variety of land use types for relatively high temporal and spatial resolution measurement of in situ denitrification and the simultaneous quantification of N2 and N2O fluxes due to denitrification. Therefore the ratio of N2O:N2 and also the source apportionment for N2O can be estimated more accurately. The results suggested

  13. Role of surface and subsurface processes in scaling N2O emissions along riverine networks

    PubMed Central

    Marzadri, Alessandra; Dee, Martha M.; Tonina, Daniele; Bellin, Alberto; Tank, Jennifer L.

    2017-01-01

    Riverine environments, such as streams and rivers, have been reported as sources of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere mainly via microbially mediated denitrification. Our limited understanding of the relative roles of the near-surface streambed sediment (hyporheic zone), benthic, and water column zones in controlling N2O production precludes predictions of N2O emissions along riverine networks. Here, we analyze N2O emissions from streams and rivers worldwide of different sizes, morphology, land cover, biomes, and climatic conditions. We show that the primary source of N2O emissions varies with stream and river size and shifts from the hyporheic–benthic zone in headwater streams to the benthic–water column zone in rivers. This analysis reveals that N2O production is bounded between two N2O emission potentials: the upper N2O emission potential results from production within the benthic–hyporheic zone, and the lower N2O emission potential reflects the production within the benthic–water column zone. By understanding the scaling nature of N2O production along riverine networks, our framework facilitates predictions of riverine N2O emissions globally using widely accessible chemical and hydromorphological datasets and thus, quantifies the effect of human activity and natural processes on N2O production. PMID:28400514

  14. Multi-Scale Approach for Measuring N2O and CH4 Emissions in Drainage Water Managed Corn-Soybean System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hagedorn, J.; Zhu, Q.; Davidson, E. A.; Castro, M.

    2017-12-01

    Managing resources wisely while reducing environmental impact is the backbone of agricultural sustainability. Agricultural practices must develop strategies to effectively reduce nutrient runoff from farmed lands. Preliminary research suggests that one such strategy is drainage water management by which water levels are intentionally elevated following fertilization to favor subsoil denitrification and thereby reduce nitrogen leaching into groundwater and streams. Despite documented success in nitrate reduction, this best management practice (BMP) has not been widely adopted in part because users are not aware of the potential. But before extension agencies begin promoting this practice, evaluation of unintentional consequences must be studied. There is a risk that by elevating water levels for the purpose of creating suitable conditions for denitrification, more potent greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) could be produced, in which case the practice would be swapping one form of pollution for another. A multi-scale experimental design, using soil chambers and a tower-based gradient method, was implemented in a drainage water managed corn-soybean system on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Emissions, soil moisture content, and soil nitrate measurements have been collected and analyzed to evaluate for differences between treatment and control plots as standard farm management practices, such as fertilization, occur. Preliminary results based on monthly sampling of transects of stationary soil chambers characterize the spatial heterogeneity of the fields and reveal that there are detectable differences in N2O and CH4 emissions between fields. There are also significant relationships between soil moisture, soil nitrate content and N2O emissions. The tower-based gradient method with micrometerological measurements provides high temporal resolution at the full field scale that complements the soil chamber work. This multi-scale resolution balance

  15. Unintended consequences of carbon enhancement in agricultural soils: The N2O problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Venterea, R. T.; Breuillin-Sessoms, F.; Baker, J. M.; Griffis, T. J.; Spokas, K.; Turner, P. A.

    2016-12-01

    The potential of agricultural soils to accumulate C as a means of removing greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the atmosphere is complicated by the inherent coupling of the C and N cycles in soil. Practices that increase soil C content can have the unintended consequence of stimulating N mineralization, nitrification and/or denitrification; which can in turn promote production of N2O as well as other forms of reactive N that can be later transformed to N2O. These effects, combined with the large global warming potential of N2O, may partially or completely offset any gains in soil C from a GHG accounting perspective. Thus, ideally, management of soil C and N must be considered together in attempts to reduce net GHG budgets. However, the knowledge base for defining practices that optimize management of soil C and N together is still quite limited. In this presentation, we will illustrate these challenges with results from several recent studies examining effects of tillage, cover crops, biochar and other practices which aim to enhance soil C. Interactions of these practices with N management, climate, and other factors and their effects on N2O will be discussed with implications for improved management and future research.

  16. Influence of ameliorating soil acidity with dolomite on the priming of soil C content and CO2 emission.

    PubMed

    Shaaban, Muhammad; Wu, Lei; Peng, Qi-An; van Zwieten, Lukas; Chhajro, Muhammad Afzal; Wu, Yupeng; Lin, Shan; Ahmed, Muhammad Mahmood; Khalid, Muhammad Salman; Abid, Muhammad; Hu, Ronggui

    2017-04-01

    Lime or dolomite is commonly implemented to ameliorate soil acidity. However, the impact of dolomite on CO 2 emissions from acidic soils is largely unknown. A 53-day laboratory study was carried out to investigate CO 2 emissions by applying dolomite to an acidic Acrisol (rice-rapeseed rotation [RR soil]) and a Ferralsol (rice-fallow/flooded rotation [RF soil]). Dolomite was dosed at 0, 0.5, and 1.5 g 100 g -1 soil, herein referred to as CK, L, and H, respectively. The soil pH (H2O) increased from 5.25 to 7.03 and 7.62 in L and H treatments of the RR soil and from 5.52 to 7.27 and 7.77 in L and H treatments of the RF soil, respectively. Dolomite application significantly (p ≤ 0.001) increased CO 2 emissions in both RR and RF soils, with higher emissions in H as compared to L dose of dolomite. The cumulative CO 2 emissions with H dose of dolomite were greater 136% in the RR soil and 149% in the RF soil as compared to CK, respectively. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) increased and reached at 193 and 431 mg kg -1 in the RR soil and 244 and 481 mg kg -1 in the RF soil by H treatments. The NH 4 - -N and NO 3 - -N were also increased by dolomite application. The increase in C and N contents stimulated microbial activities and therefore higher respiration in dolomite-treated soil as compared to untreated. The results suggest that CO 2 release in dolomite-treated soils was due to the priming of soil C content rather than chemical reactions.

  17. Strategies to mitigate N2O emissions from biological nitrogen removal systems.

    PubMed

    Desloover, Joachim; Vlaeminck, Siegfried E; Clauwaert, Peter; Verstraete, Willy; Boon, Nico

    2012-06-01

    N2O emissions from the biological treatment of sewage, manure, landfill leachates and industrial effluents have gained considerable interest among policy makers and environmental scientists. Estimated global emission rates from these sources can contribute up to 10% of the anthropogenic N2O emissions. Particularly at the level of a treatment plant, the N2O impact can be very significant and reach up to 80% of the operational CO2 footprint. Imperfect nitritation by an imbalance in the two-step nitritation metabolism of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria is considered as the main contributor to N2O production with hydroxylamine and particularly nitrite as key precursors. Monitoring of these compounds is warranted to understand and abate N2O emissions. Mitigation strategies should also comprise optimizations of the process parameters as well as bio-augmentative approaches empowered to restore the functional capacity and to deal with unwanted accumulation of intermediates. These strategies require validation for their effectiveness and costs at full-scale. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Scheduling fertilizer applications as a simple mitigation option for reducing N2O emission in intensively managed mown grassland systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Neftel, Albrecht; Calanca, Pierluigi; Felber, Raphael; Grant, Robert; Conen, Franz

    2014-05-01

    A general principle in all proposed N2O mitigation options is the fertilization according to plants' requirements. Meanwhile the amount of N fertilization allowed is regulated in many countries. Due to the high pressure from food security and the need for economic efficiency the given limits are generally used up. In mown grassland systems a simple mitigation option is to optimize the timing of the fertilizer applications. Application of fertilizer, both organic manure and mineral fertilizer, is generally scheduled after each cut in a narrow time window. In practice, the delay between cut and fertilizer application is determined by weather conditions, management conditions and most important by the planning and experience of the individual farmer. Many field experiments have shown that enhanced N2O emissions tend to occur after cuts but before the application of fertilizer, especially when soils are characterized by a high WFPS. These findings suggest that the time of fertilizer application has an important implications for the N2O emission rate and that scheduling fertilization according to soil conditions might be a simple, cheap and efficient measure to mitigate N2O emissions. In this paper we report on results from a sensitivity analysis aiming at quantifying the effects of the timing of the fertilizer applications on N2O emissions from intensively managed, mown grasslands. Simulations for different time schedules were carried out with the comprehensive ecosystem model "ECOSYS" . To our knowledge this aspect has not been systematically investigated from a scientific point of view, but might have been always there within the experiences of attentive environmentally concerned farmers.

  19. [Effects of understory removal on soil greenhouse gas emissions in Carya cathayensis stands].

    PubMed

    Liu, Juan; Chen, Xue-shuang; Wu, Jia-sen; Jiang, Pei-kun; Zhou, Guo-mo; Li, Yong-fu

    2015-03-01

    CO2, N2O and CH4 are important greenhouse gases, and soils in forest ecosystems are their important sources. Carya cathayensis is a unique tree species with seeds used for high-grade dry fruit and oil production. Understory vegetation management plays an important role in soil greenhouse gases emission of Carya cathayensis stands. A one-year in situ experiment was conducted to study the effects of understory removal on soil CO2, N2O and CH4 emissions in C. cathayensis plantation by closed static chamber technique and gas chromatography method. Soil CO2 flux had a similar seasonal trend in the understory removal and preservation treatments, which was high in summer and autumn, and low in winter and spring. N2O emission occurred mainly in summer, while CH4 emission showed no seasonal trend. Understory removal significantly decreased soil CO, emission, increased N2O emission and CH4 uptake, but had no significant effect on soil water soluble organic carbon and microbial biomass carbon. The global warming potential of soil greenhouse gases emitted in the understory removal. treatment was 15.12 t CO2-e . hm-2 a-1, which was significantly lower than that in understory preservation treatment (17.04 t CO2-e . hm-2 . a-1).

  20. Effect of biochar and liming on soil nitrous oxide emissions from a temperate maize cropping system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hüppi, R.; Felber, R.; Neftel, A.; Six, J.; Leifeld, J.

    2015-12-01

    Biochar, a carbon-rich, porous pyrolysis product of organic residues may positively affect plant yield and can, owing to its inherent stability, promote soil carbon sequestration when amended to agricultural soils. Another possible effect of biochar is the reduction in emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O). A number of laboratory incubations have shown significantly reduced N2O emissions from soil when mixed with biochar. Emission measurements under field conditions however are more scarce and show weaker or no reductions, or even increases in N2O emissions. One of the hypothesised mechanisms for reduced N2O emissions from soil is owing to the increase in soil pH following the application of alkaline biochar. To test the effect of biochar on N2O emissions in a temperate maize cropping system, we set up a field trial with a 20t ha-1 biochar treatment, a limestone treatment adjusted to the same pH as the biochar treatment (pH 6.5), and a control treatment without any addition (pH 6.1). An automated static chamber system measured N2O emissions for each replicate plot (n = 3) every 3.6 h over the course of 8 months. The field was conventionally fertilised at a rate of 160 kg N ha-1 in three applications of 40, 80 and 40 kg N ha-1 as ammonium nitrate. Cumulative N2O emissions were 52 % smaller in the biochar compared to the control treatment. However, the effect of the treatments overall was not statistically significant (p = 0.27) because of the large variability in the data set. Limed soils emitted similar mean cumulative amounts of N2O as the control. There is no evidence that reduced N2O emissions with biochar relative to the control is solely caused by a higher soil pH.

  1. N2O emission from plant surfaces - light stimulated and a global phenomenon.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mikkelsen, Teis; Bruhn, Dan; Ambus, Per

    2017-04-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important long-lived greenhouse gas and precursor of stratospheric ozone depleting mono-nitrogen oxides. The atmospheric concentration of N2O is persistently increasing; however, large uncertainties are associated with the distinct source strengths. Here we investigate for the first time N2O emission from terrestrial vegetation in response to natural solar ultra violet radiation. We conducted field site measurements to investigate N2O atmosphere exchange from grass vegetation exposed to solar irradiance with and without UV-screening. Further laboratory tests were conducted with a range of species to study the controls and possible loci of UV-induced N2O emission from plants. Plants released N2O in response to natural sunlight at rates of c. 20-50 nmol m-2 h-1, mostly due to the UV component. The emission rate is temperature dependent with a rather high activation energy indicative for an abiotic process. The prevailing zone for the N2O formation appears to be at the very surface of leaves. However, only c. 26% of the UV-induced N2O appears to originate from plant-N. Further, the process is dependent on atmospheric oxygen concentration. Our work demonstrates that ecosystem emission of the important greenhouse gas, N2O, may be up to c. 30% higher than hitherto assumed. Literature: Mikkelsen TN, Bruhn D & Ambus P. (2016). Solar UV Irradiation-Induced Production of Greenhouse Gases from Plant Surfaces: From Leaf to Earth. Progress in Botany, DOI 10.1007/124_2016_10. Bruhn D, Albert KR, Mikkelsen TN & Ambus P. (2014). UV-induced N2O emission from plants. Atmospheric Environment 99, 206-214.

  2. Glacial-Interglacial and Holocene N2O Stable Isotope Changes Constrain Terrestrial N Cycling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schmitt, J.; Spahni, R.; Bock, M.; Seth, B.; Stocker, B. D.; Ri, X.; Schilt, A.; Brook, E.; Otto-Bliesner, B. L.; Liu, Z.; Prentice, I. C.; Fischer, H.; Joos, F.

    2015-12-01

    The land biosphere contributes most to the natural source of the long-lived greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O), with N2O emissions being dependent on the turnover rate of both the terrestrial nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) cycle. The C:N stoichiometry of vegetation and soil organic matter links the cycles intimately. Sustained plant productivity increase must be supported by biological N fixation. Intensified N cycling in turn enhances N loss and thereby N2O emissions. The temporal and spatial dynamics of terrestrial N and C cycles and related terrestrial N2O emissions are poorly constrained over the glacial-interglacial transition and the Holocene. Here we reconstruct increased terrestrial N2O emissions since the Last Glacial Maximum based on N2O concentration and isotope measurements on several ice cores and show that this N2O increase can be explained by N cycle modelling - provided N fixation is allowed to respond dynamically to increasing N demand and turnover. The Ice core reconstructions suggest a deglacial increase of 1.1 ± 0.4 Tg N/yr in terrestrial and 0.6 ± 0.4 Tg/yr in oceanic N2O emissions, but relatively constant terrestrial emissions over the Holocene. Transient simulations with a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model are shown to represent the climate and CO2 induced changes in terrestrial N2O emission, and suggest a deglacial increase in biological N fixation by 20%, independently of its absolute magnitude. Deciphering the response of biological N fixation during climatic changes is an important factor for our understanding of plant growth and the land carbon sink, alongside anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.

  3. Identification and isolation of active N2O reducers in rice paddy soil

    PubMed Central

    Ishii, Satoshi; Ohno, Hiroki; Tsuboi, Masahiro; Otsuka, Shigeto; Senoo, Keishi

    2011-01-01

    Dissolved N2O is occasionally detected in surface and ground water in rice paddy fields, whereas little or no N2O is emitted to the atmosphere above these fields. This indicates the occurrence of N2O reduction in rice paddy fields; however, identity of the N2O reducers is largely unknown. In this study, we employed both culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches to identify N2O reducers in rice paddy soil. In a soil microcosm, N2O and succinate were added as the electron acceptor and donor, respectively, for N2O reduction. For the stable isotope probing (SIP) experiment, 13C-labeled succinate was used to identify succinate-assimilating microbes under N2O-reducing conditions. DNA was extracted 24 h after incubation, and heavy and light DNA fractions were separated by density gradient ultracentrifugation. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and clone library analysis targeting the 16S rRNA and the N2O reductase gene were performed. For culture-dependent analysis, the microbes that elongated under N2O-reducing conditions in the presence of cell-division inhibitors were individually captured by a micromanipulator and transferred to a low-nutrient medium. The N2O-reducing ability of these strains was examined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Results of the SIP analysis suggested that Burkholderiales and Rhodospirillales bacteria dominated the population under N2O-reducing conditions, in contrast to the control sample (soil incubated with only 13C-succinate). Results of the single-cell isolation technique also indicated that the majority of the N2O-reducing strains belonged to the genera Herbaspirillum (Burkholderiales) and Azospirillum (Rhodospirillales). In addition, Herbaspirillum strains reduced N2O faster than Azospirillum strains. These results suggest that Herbaspirillum spp. may have an important role in N2O reduction in rice paddy soils. PMID:21677691

  4. The diversity of the N2O reducers matters for the N2O:N2 denitrification end-product ratio across an annual and a perennial cropping system.

    PubMed

    Domeignoz-Horta, Luiz A; Spor, Aymé; Bru, David; Breuil, Marie-Christine; Bizouard, Florian; Léonard, Joël; Philippot, Laurent

    2015-01-01

    Agriculture is the main source of terrestrial emissions of N2O, a potent greenhouse gas and the main cause of ozone layer depletion. The reduction of N2O into N2 by microorganisms carrying the nitrous oxide reductase gene (nosZ) is the only biological process known to eliminate this greenhouse gas. Recent studies showed that a previously unknown clade of N2O-reducers was related to the capacity of the soil to act as an N2O sink, opening the way for new strategies to mitigate emissions. Here, we investigated whether the agricultural practices could differently influence the two N2O reducer clades with consequences for denitrification end-products. The abundance of N2O-reducers and producers was quantified by real-time PCR, and the diversity of both nosZ clades was determined by 454 pyrosequencing. Potential N2O production and potential denitrification activity were used to calculate the denitrification gaseous end-product ratio. Overall, the results showed limited differences between management practices but there were significant differences between cropping systems in both the abundance and structure of the nosZII community, as well as in the [rN2O/r(N2O+N2)] ratio. More limited differences were observed in the nosZI community, suggesting that the newly identified nosZII clade is more sensitive than nosZI to environmental changes. Potential denitrification activity and potential N2O production were explained mainly by the soil properties while the diversity of the nosZII clade on its own explained 26% of the denitrification end-product ratio, which highlights the importance of understanding the ecology of this newly identified clade of N2O reducers for mitigation strategies.

  5. The regulatory role of endogenous iron on greenhouse gas emissions under intensive nitrogen fertilization in subtropical soils of China.

    PubMed

    Han, Jiangpei; Shi, Liangsheng; Wang, Yakun; Chen, Zhuowei; Wu, Laosheng

    2018-05-01

    Anaerobic batch experiments were conducted to study the regulatory role of endogenous iron in greenhouse gas emissions under intensive nitrogen fertilization in subtropical soils of China. Fe 2+ , Fe 3+ , and NO 3 - -N dynamics and N 2 O, CH 4 , and CO 2 emissions, as well as the relationships between N fertilizer, endogenous iron, and greenhouse gas emissions were investigated. The emissions of N 2 O increased to different extents from all the test soils by N1 (260 mg N kg -1 ) application compared with N0. After 24 days of anaerobic incubation, the cumulative emissions of N 2 O from red soils in De'an (DR) were significantly higher than that from paddy soils in De'an (DP) and Qujialing (QP) under N1. However, N application enhanced CH 4 and CO 2 emissions from the red soils slightly but inhibited the emissions from paddy soils. The maximal CH 4 and CO 2 emission fluxes occurred in DP soil without N input. Pearson's correlation analysis showed that there were significant correlations (P < 0.01) between Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ , NO 3 - -N, (N 2 O + N 2 )-N concentrations in DP soil, implying that Fe 2+ oxidation was coupled with nitrate reduction accompanied by (N 2 O + N 2 )-N emissions and the endogenous iron played a regulatory role in greenhouse gas emissions mainly through the involvement in denitrification. The proportion of the electrons donated by Fe 2+ used for N 2 O production in denitrification in DP soil was approximately 37.53%. Moreover, positive correlations between Fe 2+ and CH 4 , CO 2 were found in both DR and QP soils, suggesting that endogenous iron might regulate the anaerobic decomposition of organic carbon to CH 4 and CO 2 in the two soils. Soil pH was also an important factor controlling greenhouse gas emissions by affecting endogenous iron availability and C and N transformation processes.

  6. A novel fuzzy-logic control strategy minimizing N2O emissions.

    PubMed

    Boiocchi, Riccardo; Gernaey, Krist V; Sin, Gürkan

    2017-10-15

    A novel control strategy for achieving low N 2 O emissions and low effluent NH 4 + concentration is here proposed. The control strategy uses the measurements of ammonium and nitrate concentrations in inlet and outlet of the aerobic zone of a wastewater treatment plant to calculate a ratio indicating the balance among the microbial groups. More specifically, the ratio will indicate if there is a complete nitrification. In case nitrification is not complete, the controller will adjust the aeration level of the plant in order to inhibit the production of N 2 O from AOB and HB denitrification. The controller was implemented using the fuzzy logic approach. It was comprehensively tested for different model structures and different sets of model parameters with regards to its ability of mitigating N 2 O emissions for future applications in real wastewater treatment plants. It is concluded that the control strategy is useful for those plants having AOB denitrification as the main N 2 O producing process. However, in treatment plants having incomplete NH 2 OH oxidation as the main N 2 O producing pathway, a cascade controller configuration adapting the oxygen supply to respect only the effluent ammonium concentration limits was found to be more effective to ensure low N 2 O emissions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Episodic nitrous oxide soil emissions in Brazilian savanna (cerrado) fire-scars

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nobre, A. D.; Crill, P. M.; Harriss, R. C.

    1994-01-01

    The seasonally burned cerrados of Brazil are the largest savanna-type ecosystem of South America and their contribution to the global atmospheric nitrous oxide (N20) budget is unknown. Four types of fire-scarred cerrado along a vegetation gradient from grassland to forest were investigated during the wet season of 1992/93. The effect of fire and subsequent water additions on epiodic emissions of N2O and the associated profile dynamic of soil/gas phase N2O concentrations were studied for several months. Additionally, the effect on episodic emissions of N2O of nitrate and glucose additions to a cerrado soil after fire and the associated profile dynamic of soil/gas phase N2O mixing ratios were determined. Finally, N2O episodic emissions in cerrado converted to corn, soybean, and pasture fields were investigated during one growing/wet season. Results showed N2O consumption/emission for the four fire-scared savanna ecosystems, for nitrogen and carbon fertilization, and for agriculture/pasture ranging from -0.3 to +0.7, 1.8 to 9.1, and 0.5 to 3.7 g N2O-N ha(exp -1) d(exp -1), respectively. During the wet season the cerrado biome does not appear to be a major source of N2O to the troposphere, even following fire events. However, the results of this study suggest that conversion of the cerrado to high input agriculture, with liming and fertilization, can increase N2O emissions more than ten fold.

  8. Mitigation of nitrous oxide emissions from soils by Bradyrhizobium japonicum inoculation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Itakura, Manabu; Uchida, Yoshitaka; Akiyama, Hiroko; Hoshino, Yuko Takada; Shimomura, Yumi; Morimoto, Sho; Tago, Kanako; Wang, Yong; Hayakawa, Chihiro; Uetake, Yusuke; Sánchez, Cristina; Eda, Shima; Hayatsu, Masahito; Minamisawa, Kiwamu

    2013-03-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a greenhouse gas that is also capable of destroying the ozone layer. Agricultural soil is the largest source of N2O (ref. ). Soybean is a globally important leguminous crop, and hosts symbiotic nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria (rhizobia) that can also produce N2O (ref. ). In agricultural soil, N2O is emitted from fertilizer and soil nitrogen. In soybean ecosystems, N2O is also emitted from the degradation of the root nodules. Organic nitrogen inside the nodules is mineralized to NH4+, followed by nitrification and denitrification that produce N2O. N2O is then emitted into the atmosphere or is further reduced to N2 by N2O reductase (N2OR), which is encoded by the nosZ gene. Pure culture and vermiculite pot experiments showed lower N2O emission by nosZ+ strains and nosZ++ strains (mutants with increased N2OR activity) of Bradyrhizobium japonicum than by nosZ- strains. A pot experiment using soil confirmed these results. Although enhancing N2OR activity has been suggested as a N2O mitigation option, this has never been tested in the field. Here, we show that post-harvest N2O emission from soybean ecosystems due to degradation of nodules can be mitigated by inoculation of nosZ+ and non-genetically modified organism nosZ++ strains of B. japonicum at a field scale.

  9. Sub-arctic Wetland Greenhouse Gases (CO2, CH4 & N2O) Emissions are Driven by Interactions of Environmental Controls and Herbivore Grazers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kelsey, K.; Leffler, A. J.; Beard, K. H.; Choi, R. T.; Welker, J. M.

    2015-12-01

    Climate change is increasing temperatures, altering precipitation regimes and causing earlier growing seasons, particularly at northern latitudes. Such changes in local environmental conditions have the potential to affect biogeochemical cycling including the exchange of greenhouses gases between the atmosphere and the terrestrial biosphere. In addition to the effects of these environmental controls, animals such as migratory geese also influence biogeochemical cycles through grazing, trampling and delivering nutrient-rich fecal matter. In this work we aimed to quantify how local environmental conditions and the presence of grazing interact as drivers of emissions of three key greenhouse gases, CO2, CH4 and N2O, in coastal wetlands of the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta. We explored the magnitude of emissions across gradients of soil temperature and water table depth, and across vegetation types related to the presence of grazing, ranging from no vegetation through grazed and ungrazed vegetation. We also investigated emissions from grazed areas using experimental manipulations of the timing of grazing and advancement of the growing season. We found that local environmental conditions and use by grazers exert interacting controls on emissions of CO2, CH4 and N2O. Emissions of CO2 and CH4 were positively related to soil temperature and CH4 emissions were inversely related to water table depth, but the relationship varied by vegetation type. Net emissions of CO2 were greatest in ungrazed vegetation types (6.62 umols CO2 m-2 sec-1; p=0.0007) whereas CH4 emissions were greatest in the grazed vegetation (122.56 nmols CH4 m-2 sec-1; p=0.037). Flux of N2O was less than 1 nmol N2O m-2 sec-1 across all landscape positions under typical grazing and temperature conditions, but emissions were stimulated to over 10 nmols m-2 sec-1 when grazing occurred early relative to a typical season. Our results indicate that environmental conditions and the presence of migratory herbivores are both

  10. HONO (nitrous acid) emissions from acidic northern soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maljanen, Marja; Yli-Pirilä, Pasi; Joutsensaari, Jorma; Sulassaari, Sirkka; Martikainen, Pertti J.

    2014-05-01

    The photolysis of HONO (nitrous acid) is an important source of OH radical, the key oxidizing agent in the atmosphere, contributing also to removal of atmospheric methane (CH4), the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide (CO2). There are missing sources of HONO when considering the chemical reactions in the atmosphere. Soil could be such a missing source. Emissions of HONO from soils studied in laboratory incubations have been recently reported. The soil-derived HONO has been connected to soil nitrite (NO2-) and a study with an ammonium oxidizing bacterium has shown that HONO could be produced in ammonium oxidation. Our hypothesis was that boreal acidic soils with high nitrification activity could be important sources of HONO. We selected a range of dominant northern acidic soils and showed in microcosm experiments that soils which have the highest nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO) emissions (drained peatlands) also have the highest HONO production rates. The emissions of HONO are thus linked to nitrogen cycle processes. In contrast to drained peatlands, natural peatlands with high water table and boreal coniferous forests on mineral soils with low nitrification capacity had low HONO emissions. It is known that in natural peatlands with high water table and in boreal coniferous forest soils, low nitrification activity (microbial production of nitrite and nitrate) limits their N2O production. Low nitrification rate and low availability of nitrite in these soils are the likely reasons for their low HONO production rates. We studied the origin of HONO in one drained peat soil by inhibiting nitrification with acetylene. Acetylene blocked NO emissions but did not affect HONO or N2O emissions, thus ammonium oxidation is not the direct mechanism for the HONO emission in this soil. It is still an open question if HONO originates directly from some microbial process like ammonium oxidation or chemically from nitrite produced in microbial processes.

  11. Biologically produced volatile compounds: N2O emissions from soils

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Banin, A.

    1985-01-01

    Tropospheric nitrous concentration has increased by 0.2 0.4% per year over the period 1975 to 1982, amounting to net addition to the atmosphere of 2.8 - 5.6 Tg N2O-N per year. This perturbation, if continued into the future, will affect stratospheric chemical cycles, and the thermal balance of the Earth. In turn it will have direct and indirect global effects on the biosphere. Though the budget and cycles of N2O on Earth are not yet fully resolved, accumulating information and recent modelling efforts permit a more complete evaluation and better definition of gaps in our knowledge.

  12. BOREAS TGB-5 Biogenic Soil Emissions of NO and N2O

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Levine, J. S.; Winstead, E. L.; Parsons, D. A. B.; Scholes, M. C.; Cofer, W. R.; Cahoon, D. R.; Sebacher, D. I.; Scholes, R. J.; Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Conrad, Sara K. (Editor)

    2000-01-01

    The BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study Trace Gas Biogeochemistry (BOREAS TGB)-5 team made several measurements of trace gas concentrations and fluxes at various NSA sites. This data set contains biogenic soil emissions of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide that were measured over a wide range of spatial and temporal site parameters. Since very little is known about biogenic soil emissions of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide from the boreal forest, the goal of the measurements was to characterize the biogenic soil fluxes of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide from black spruce and jack pine areas in the boreal forest. The diurnal variation and monthly variation of the emissions was examined as well as the impact of wetting through natural or artificial means. Temporally, the data cover mid-August 1993, June to August 1994, and mid-July 1995. The data are provided in tabular ASCII files. The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884).

  13. Upscaling NZ-DNDC using a regression based meta-model to estimate direct N2O emissions from New Zealand grazed pastures.

    PubMed

    Giltrap, Donna L; Ausseil, Anne-Gaëlle E

    2016-01-01

    The availability of detailed input data frequently limits the application of process-based models at large scale. In this study, we produced simplified meta-models of the simulated nitrous oxide (N2O) emission factors (EF) using NZ-DNDC. Monte Carlo simulations were performed and the results investigated using multiple regression analysis to produce simplified meta-models of EF. These meta-models were then used to estimate direct N2O emissions from grazed pastures in New Zealand. New Zealand EF maps were generated using the meta-models with data from national scale soil maps. Direct emissions of N2O from grazed pasture were calculated by multiplying the EF map with a nitrogen (N) input map. Three meta-models were considered. Model 1 included only the soil organic carbon in the top 30cm (SOC30), Model 2 also included a clay content factor, and Model 3 added the interaction between SOC30 and clay. The median annual national direct N2O emissions from grazed pastures estimated using each model (assuming model errors were purely random) were: 9.6GgN (Model 1), 13.6GgN (Model 2), and 11.9GgN (Model 3). These values corresponded to an average EF of 0.53%, 0.75% and 0.63% respectively, while the corresponding average EF using New Zealand national inventory values was 0.67%. If the model error can be assumed to be independent for each pixel then the 95% confidence interval for the N2O emissions was of the order of ±0.4-0.7%, which is much lower than existing methods. However, spatial correlations in the model errors could invalidate this assumption. Under the extreme assumption that the model error for each pixel was identical the 95% confidence interval was approximately ±100-200%. Therefore further work is needed to assess the degree of spatial correlation in the model errors. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Influences of Root Hydraulic Redistribution on N2O Emissions at AmeriFlux Sites

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fu, Congsheng; Lee, Xuhui; Griffis, Timothy J.; Wang, Guiling; Wei, Zhongwang

    2018-05-01

    It has long been suspected that root hydraulic redistribution (HR) affects the carbon and nitrogen cycles. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important greenhouse gas and is the primary stratospheric ozone-depleting substance. To our knowledge, the influences of HR on N2O emissions have not been investigated. Here we use the HR schemes of Ryel et al. and Amenu and Kumar incorporated into CLM4.5 to examine N2O emissions at five AmeriFlux sites. The results show that HR reduced N2O emissions by 28-92% in the four natural ecosystems experiencing a dry season, whereas it had a very limited effect on the Corn Belt site that has strong emissions but with no distinct dry season. We hypothesize that N2O emissions in ecosystems with a distinct dry season are likely overestimated by CENTURY-based Earth system models.

  15. Soil CO2 CH4 and N2O fluxes from an afforested lowland raised peatbog in Scotland: implications for drainage and restoration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yamulki, S.; Anderson, R.; Peace, A.; Morison, J. I. L.

    2013-02-01

    The effect of tree (lodgepole pine) planting with and without intensive drainage on soil greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes was assessed after 45 yr at a raised peatbog in West Flanders Moss, central Scotland. Fluxes of CO2 CH4 and N2O from the soil were monitored over a 2-yr period every 2 to 4 weeks using the static opaque chamber method in a randomised experimental block trial with the following treatments: drained and planted (DP), undrained and planted (uDP), undrained and unplanted (uDuP) and for reference also from an adjoining near-pristine area of bog at East Flanders Moss (n-pris). There was a strong seasonal pattern in both CO2 and CH4 effluxes which were significantly higher in late spring and summer months because of warmer temperatures. Effluxes of N2O were low and no significant differences were observed between the treatments. Annual CH4 emissions increased with the proximity of the water table to the soil surface across treatments in the order: DP < uDP < uDuP < n-pris with mean annual effluxes over the 2-yr monitoring period of 0.15, 0.64, 7.70 and 22.63 g CH4 m-2 yr-1, respectively. For CO2, effluxes increased in the order uDP < DP< n-pris < uDuP, with mean annual effluxes of 1.23, 1.66, 1.82 and 2.55 kg CO2 m-2 yr-1, respectively. CO2 effluxes dominated the total net GHG emission, calculated using the global warming potential (GWP) of the three GHGs for each treatment (76-98%), and only in the n-pris site was CH4 a substantial contribution (23%). Based on soil effluxes only, the near pristine (n-pris) peatbog had 43% higher total net GHG emission compared with the DP treatment because of high CH4 effluxes and the DP treatment had 33% higher total net emission compared with the uDP because drainage increased CO2 effluxes. Restoration is likely to increase CH4 emissions, but reduce CO2 effluxes. Our study suggests that if estimates of CO2 uptake by vegetation from similar peatbog sites were included, the total net GHG emission of restored peatbog would

  16. Effect of N fertilization and tillage on nitrous oxide (N2O) loss from soil under wheat production

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Bansal, Sheel; Aberle, Ezra; Teboh, Jasper; Yuja, Szilvia; Liebig, Mark; Meier, Jacob; Boyd, Alec

    2017-01-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O-N) is one of the most important gases in the atmosphere because it is 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in its ability to trap heat, and is a key chemical agent of ozone depletion. The amount of N2O-N emitted from agricultural fields can be quite high, depending on the complex interplay between N fertility and residue management, plant N uptake, microbial processes, environmental conditions, and wet-up and dry-down events. High N fertilizer rates generally increase yields, but may disproportionately increase N2O-N losses due to prolonged residence time in soil when not used by the crop, and incomplete decomposition of excess N-compounds by microbes. Tillage could also affect N2O-N losses through changes in soil moisture content. Though nitrogen monoxide (NO) is one form of N lost from the soil, especially under conventional tillage, this study objective was to quantify N2O loss in wheat fields from applied urea on soil under no-till (NT) versus incorporated urea under conventional till (CT).

  17. Interactive effects of MnO2, organic matter and pH on abiotic formation of N2O from hydroxylamine in artificial soil mixtures.

    PubMed

    Liu, Shurong; Berns, Anne E; Vereecken, Harry; Wu, Di; Brüggemann, Nicolas

    2017-02-01

    Abiotic conversion of the reactive nitrification intermediate hydroxylamine (NH 2 OH) to nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is a possible mechanism of N 2 O formation during nitrification. Previous research has demonstrated that manganese dioxide (MnO 2 ) and organic matter (OM) content of soil as well as soil pH are important control variables of N 2 O formation in the soil. But until now, their combined effect on abiotic N 2 O formation from NH 2 OH has not been quantified. Here, we present results from a full-factorial experiment with artificial soil mixtures at five different levels of pH, MnO 2 and OM, respectively, and quantified the interactive effects of the three variables on the NH 2 OH-to-N 2 O conversion ratio (R NH2OH-to-N2O ). Furthermore, the effect of OM quality on R NH2OH-to-N2O was determined by the addition of four different organic materials with different C/N ratios to the artificial soil mixtures. The experiments revealed a strong interactive effect of soil pH, MnO 2 and OM on R NH2OH-to-N2O . In general, increasing MnO 2 and decreasing pH increased R NH2OH-to-N2O , while increasing OM content was associated with a decrease in R NH2OH-to-N2O . Organic matter quality also affected R NH2OH-to-N2O . However, this effect was not a function of C/N ratio, but was rather related to differences in the dominating functional groups between the different organic materials.

  18. Interactive effects of MnO2, organic matter and pH on abiotic formation of N2O from hydroxylamine in artificial soil mixtures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Shurong; Berns, Anne E.; Vereecken, Harry; Wu, Di; Brüggemann, Nicolas

    2017-02-01

    Abiotic conversion of the reactive nitrification intermediate hydroxylamine (NH2OH) to nitrous oxide (N2O) is a possible mechanism of N2O formation during nitrification. Previous research has demonstrated that manganese dioxide (MnO2) and organic matter (OM) content of soil as well as soil pH are important control variables of N2O formation in the soil. But until now, their combined effect on abiotic N2O formation from NH2OH has not been quantified. Here, we present results from a full-factorial experiment with artificial soil mixtures at five different levels of pH, MnO2 and OM, respectively, and quantified the interactive effects of the three variables on the NH2OH-to-N2O conversion ratio (RNH2OH-to-N2O). Furthermore, the effect of OM quality on RNH2OH-to-N2O was determined by the addition of four different organic materials with different C/N ratios to the artificial soil mixtures. The experiments revealed a strong interactive effect of soil pH, MnO2 and OM on RNH2OH-to-N2O. In general, increasing MnO2 and decreasing pH increased RNH2OH-to-N2O, while increasing OM content was associated with a decrease in RNH2OH-to-N2O. Organic matter quality also affected RNH2OH-to-N2O. However, this effect was not a function of C/N ratio, but was rather related to differences in the dominating functional groups between the different organic materials.

  19. Using stable isotopes to follow excreta N dynamics and N2O emissions in animal production systems.

    PubMed

    Clough, T J; Müller, C; Laughlin, R J

    2013-06-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas and the dominant anthropogenic stratospheric ozone-depleting emission. The tropospheric concentration of N2O continues to increase, with animal production systems constituting the largest anthropogenic source. Stable isotopes of nitrogen (N) provide tools for constraining emission sources and, following the temporal dynamics of N2O, providing additional insight and unequivocal proof of N2O source, production pathways and consumption. The potential for using stable isotopes of N is underutilised. The intent of this article is to provide an overview of what these tools are and demonstrate where and how these tools could be applied to advance the mitigation of N2O emissions from animal production systems. Nitrogen inputs and outputs are dominated by fertiliser and excreta, respectively, both of which are substrates for N2O production. These substrates can be labelled with 15N to enable the substrate-N to be traced and linked to N2O emissions. Thus, the effects of changes to animal production systems to reduce feed-N wastage by animals and fertiliser wastage, aimed at N2O mitigation and/or improved animal or economic performance, can be traced. Further 15N-tracer studies are required to fully understand the dynamics and N2O fluxes associated with excreta, and the biological contribution to these fluxes. These data are also essential for the new generation of 15N models. Recent technique developments in isotopomer science along with stable isotope probing using multiple isotopes also offer exciting capability for addressing the N2O mitigation quest.

  20. Biochar incorporation into pasture soil suppresses in situ nitrous oxide emissions from ruminant urine patches.

    PubMed

    Taghizadeh-Toosi, Arezoo; Clough, Tim J; Condron, Leo M; Sherlock, Robert R; Anderson, Craig R; Craigie, Robin A

    2011-01-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from grazing animal excreta are estimated to be responsible for 1.5 Tg of the total 6.7 Tg of anthropogenic N2O emissions. This study was conducted to determine the in situ effect of incorporating biochar, into soil, on N2O emissions from bovine urine patches and associated pasture uptake of N. The effects of biochar rate (0-30 t ha(-1)), following soil incorporation, were investigated on ruminant urine-derived N2O fluxes, N uptake by pasture, and pasture yield. During an 86-d spring-summer period, where irrigation and rainfall occurred, the N2O fluxes from 15N labeled ruminant urine patches were reduced by >50%, after incorporating 30 t ha(-1) of biochar. Taking into account the N2O emissions from the control plots, 30 t ha(-1) ofbiochar reduced the N2O emission factor from urine by 70%. The atom% 15N enrichment of the N2O emitted was lower in the 30 t ha(-1) biochar treatment, indicating less urine-N contributed to the N2O flux. Soil NO3- -N concentrations were lower with increasing biochar rate during the first 30 d following urine deposition. No differences occurred, due to biochar addition, with respect to dry matter yields, herbage N content, or recovery of 15N applied in herbage. Incorporating biochar into the soil can significantly diminish ruminant urine-derived N2O emissions. Further work is required to determine the persistence of the observed effect and to fully understand the mechanism(s) of the observed reduction in N2O fluxes.

  1. The impact of corn stover removal on N2O emission and soil respiration: An investigation with automated chambers

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Corn stover removal, whether for silage, bedding, or bioenergy production, could have a variety of environmental consequences through its effect on soil processes, particularly N2O production and soil respiration. Because these effects may be episodic in nature, weekly snapshots with static chambers...

  2. Closed-loop 15N measurement of N2O and its isotopomers for real-time greenhouse gas tracing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Slaets, Johanna; Mayr, Leopold; Heiling, Maria; Zaman, Mohammad; Resch, Christian; Weltin, Georg; Gruber, Roman; Dercon, Gerd

    2016-04-01

    Quantifying sources of nitrous oxide is essential to improve understanding of the global N cycle and to develop climate-smart agriculture, as N2O has a global warming potential 300 times higher than CO2. The isotopic signature and the intramolecular distribution (site preference) of 15N are powerful tools to trace N2O, but the application of these methods is limited as conventional methods cannot provide continuous and in situ data. Here we present a method for closed-loop, real time monitoring of the N2O flux, the isotopic signature and the intramolecular distribution of 15N by using off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy (ICOS, Los Gatos Research). The developed method was applied to a fertilizer inhibitor experiment, in which N2O emissions were measured on undisturbed soil cores for three weeks. The treatments consisted of enriched urea-N (100 kg urea-N/ha), the same fertilizer combined with the nitrification inhibitor nitrapyrin (375 g/100 kg urea), and control cores. Monitoring the isotopic signature makes it possible to distinguish emissions from soil and fertilizer. Characterization of site preference could additionally provide a tool to identify different microbial processes leading to N2O emissions. Furthermore, the closed-loop approach enables direct measurement on site and does not require removal of CO2 and H2O. Results showed that 75% of total N2O emissions (total=11 346 μg N2O-N/m2) in the fertilized cores originated from fertilizer, while only 55% of total emissions (total=2 450 μg N2ON/m2) stemmed from fertilizer for the cores treated with nitrapyrin. In the controls, N2O derived from soil was only 40% of the size of the corresponding pool from the fertilized cores, pointing towards a priming effect on the microbial community from the fertilizer and demonstrating the bias that could be introduced by relying on non-treated cores to estimate soil emission rates, rather than using the isotopic signature. The site preference increased linearly

  3. Isotopic Monitoring of N2O Emissions from Wastewater Treatment: Evidence for N2O Production Associated with Anammox Metabolism?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harris, E. J.; Wunderlin, P.; Joss, A.; Emmenegger, L.; Kipf, M.; Wolf, B.; Mohn, J.

    2015-12-01

    Microbial production is the major source of N2O, the strongest greenhouse gas produced within the nitrogen cycle, and the most important stratospheric ozone destructant released in the 21st century. Wastewater treatment is an important and growing source of N2O, with best estimates predicting N2O emissions from this sector will have increased by >25% by 2020. Novel treatment employing partial nitritation-anammox, rather than traditional nitrification-denitrification, has the potential to achieve a neutral carbon footprint due to increased biogas production - if N2O production accounts for <0.5-1% of total nitrogen turnover. As a further motivation for this research, microbial pathways identified from wastewater treatment can be applied to our understanding of N cycling in the natural environment. This study presents the first online isotopic measurements of offgas N2O from a partial-nitritation anammox reactor 1. The measured N2O isotopic composition - in particular the N2O isotopic site preference (SP = δ15Nα - δ15Nβ) - was used to understand N2O production pathways in the reactor. When N2O emissions peaked due to high dissolved oxygen concentrations, low SP showed that N2O was produced primarily via nitrifier denitrification by ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOBs). N2O production by AOBs via NH2OH oxidation, in contrast, did not appear to be important under any conditions. Over the majority of the one-month measurement period, the measured SP was much higher than expected following our current understanding of N2O production pathways 2. SP reached 41‰ during normal operating conditions and achieved a maximum of 45‰ when nitrite was added under anoxic conditions. These results could be explained by unexpectedly strong heterotrophic N2O reduction despite low dissolved organic matter concentrations, or by an incomplete understanding of isotopic fractionation during N2O production from NH2OH oxidation by AOBs - however the explanation most consistent with all

  4. Regional N2O fluxes in Amazonia derived from aircraft vertical profiles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    D'Amelio, M. T. S.; Gatti, L. V.; Miller, J. B.; Tans, P.

    2009-11-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is the third most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas. Globally, the main sources of N2O are nitrification and denitrification in soils. About two thirds of the soil emissions occur in the tropics and approximately 20% originate in wet rainforest ecosystems, like the Amazon forest. The work presented here involves aircraft vertical profiles of N2O from the surface to 4 km over two sites in the Eastern and Central Amazon: Tapajós National Forest (SAN) and Cuieiras Biologic Reserve (MAN), and the estimation of N2O fluxes for regions upwind of these sites. To our knowledge, these regional scale N2O measurements in Amazonia are unique and represent a new approach to looking regional scale emissions. The fluxes upwind of MAN exhibited little seasonality, and the annual mean was 2.1±1.0 mg N2O m-2 day-1, higher than that for fluxes upwind of SAN, which averaged 1.5±1.6 mg N2O m-2 day-1. The higher rainfall around the MAN site could explain the higher N2O emissions, as a result of increased soil moisture accelerating microbial nitrification and denitrification processes. For fluxes from the coast to SAN seasonality is present for all years, with high fluxes in the months of March through May, and in November through December. The first peak of N2O flux is strongly associated with the wet season. The second peak of high N2O flux recorded at SAN occurs during the dry season and can not be easily explained. However, about half of the dry season profiles exhibit significant correlations with CO, indicating a larger than expected source of N2O from biomass burning. The average CO:N2O ratio for all profiles sampled during the dry season is 94±77 mol CO:mol N2O and suggests a larger biomass burning contribution to the global N2O budget than previously reported.

  5. Emissions of CH4 and N2O under Different Tillage Systems from Double-Cropped Paddy Fields in Southern China

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Hai-Lin; Bai, Xiao-Lin; Xue, Jian-Fu; Chen, Zhong-Du; Tang, Hai-Ming; Chen, Fu

    2013-01-01

    Understanding greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions is becoming increasingly important with the climate change. Most previous studies have focused on the assessment of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration potential and GHG emissions from agriculture. However, specific experiments assessing tillage impacts on GHG emission from double-cropped paddy fields in Southern China are relatively scarce. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the effects of tillage systems on methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission in a double rice (Oryza sativa L.) cropping system. The experiment was established in 2005 in Hunan Province, China. Three tillage treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design: conventional tillage (CT), rotary tillage (RT) and no-till (NT). Fluxes of CH4 from different tillage treatments followed a similar trend during the two years, with a single peak emission for the early rice season and a double peak emission for the late rice season. Compared with other treatments, NT significantly reduced CH4 emission among the rice growing seasons (P<0.05). However, much higher variations in N2O emission were observed across the rice growing seasons due to the vulnerability of N2O to external influences. The amount of CH4 emission in paddy fields was much higher relative to N2O emission. Conversion of CT to NT significantly reduced the cumulative CH4 emission for both rice seasons compared with other treatments (P<0.05). The mean value of global warming potentials (GWPs) of CH4 and N2O emissions over 100 years was in the order of NT

  6. Emissions of CH4 and N2O under different tillage systems from double-cropped paddy fields in Southern China.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Hai-Lin; Bai, Xiao-Lin; Xue, Jian-Fu; Chen, Zhong-Du; Tang, Hai-Ming; Chen, Fu

    2013-01-01

    Understanding greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions is becoming increasingly important with the climate change. Most previous studies have focused on the assessment of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration potential and GHG emissions from agriculture. However, specific experiments assessing tillage impacts on GHG emission from double-cropped paddy fields in Southern China are relatively scarce. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the effects of tillage systems on methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission in a double rice (Oryza sativa L.) cropping system. The experiment was established in 2005 in Hunan Province, China. Three tillage treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design: conventional tillage (CT), rotary tillage (RT) and no-till (NT). Fluxes of CH4 from different tillage treatments followed a similar trend during the two years, with a single peak emission for the early rice season and a double peak emission for the late rice season. Compared with other treatments, NT significantly reduced CH4 emission among the rice growing seasons (P<0.05). However, much higher variations in N2O emission were observed across the rice growing seasons due to the vulnerability of N2O to external influences. The amount of CH4 emission in paddy fields was much higher relative to N2O emission. Conversion of CT to NT significantly reduced the cumulative CH4 emission for both rice seasons compared with other treatments (P<0.05). The mean value of global warming potentials (GWPs) of CH4 and N2O emissions over 100 years was in the order of NT

  7. Full uncertainty quantification of N2O and NO emissions using the biogeochemical model LandscapeDNDC on site and regional scale

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Haas, Edwin; Santabarbara, Ignacio; Kiese, Ralf; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus

    2017-04-01

    Numerical simulation models are increasingly used to estimate greenhouse gas emissions at site to regional / national scale and are outlined as the most advanced methodology (Tier 3) in the framework of UNFCCC reporting. Process-based models incorporate the major processes of the carbon and nitrogen cycle of terrestrial ecosystems and are thus thought to be widely applicable at various conditions and spatial scales. Process based modelling requires high spatial resolution input data on soil properties, climate drivers and management information. The acceptance of model based inventory calculations depends on the assessment of the inventory's uncertainty (model, input data and parameter induced uncertainties). In this study we fully quantify the uncertainty in modelling soil N2O and NO emissions from arable, grassland and forest soils using the biogeochemical model LandscapeDNDC. We address model induced uncertainty (MU) by contrasting two different soil biogeochemistry modules within LandscapeDNDC. The parameter induced uncertainty (PU) was assessed by using joint parameter distributions for key parameters describing microbial C and N turnover processes as obtained by different Bayesian calibration studies for each model configuration. Input data induced uncertainty (DU) was addressed by Bayesian calibration of soil properties, climate drivers and agricultural management practices data. For the MU, DU and PU we performed several hundred simulations each to contribute to the individual uncertainty assessment. For the overall uncertainty quantification we assessed the model prediction probability, followed by sampled sets of input datasets and parameter distributions. Statistical analysis of the simulation results have been used to quantify the overall full uncertainty of the modelling approach. With this study we can contrast the variation in model results to the different sources of uncertainties for each ecosystem. Further we have been able to perform a fully

  8. [Research advances in control of N2O emission from municipal solid waste landfill sites].

    PubMed

    Cai, Chuan-Yu; Li, Bo; Lü, Hao-Hao; Wu, Wei-Xiang

    2012-05-01

    Landfill is one of the main approaches for municipal solid waste treatment, and landfill site is a main emission source of greenhouse gases nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). As a high-efficient trace greenhouse gas, N2O has a very high warming potential, with a warming capacity 296 times of CO2, and has a long-term stability in atmosphere, giving greater damage to the ozone layer. Aiming at the researches in the control of N2O emission from municipal solid waste landfill sites, this paper summarized the characteristics and related affecting factors of the N2O emission from the landfill sites, and put forward a series of the measures adaptable to the N2O emission control of present municipal solid waste landfill sites in China. Some further research focuses on the control of N2O emission from the landfill sites were also presented.

  9. Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Subtropical Mangrove in Hong Kong

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lai, D. Y. F.; Xu, J.

    2014-12-01

    The concept of "blue carbon" has received increasing attention recently, which points to the potential role of vegetated coastal wetlands in carbon sequestration. Yet, the magnitude and controls of greenhouse gas emissions from coastal wetland ecosystems, especially mangroves in the subtropical regions, are still largely unknown. In this study, we conducted chamber measurements in the Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve of Hong Kong at monthly intervals to characterize the spatial and temporal variability of the emission of greenhouse gases, including CO2, CH4 and N2O from mangrove soils, and examine the influence of environmental and biotic variables on greenhouse gas fluxes. We found the highest mean CH4 and N2O emissions in autumn and the highest CO2 flux in summer. Along the tidal gradient, we observed significantly higher CH4 and N2O emissions from the middle zones and landward zones, respectively, while no clear spatial variation of CO2 emissions was observed. There were significantly higher soil greenhouse gas emissions from sites dominated by Avicennia marina than those dominated by Kandelia obovata, which might be due to the presence of pneumatophores which facilitated gas transport. We found a significant, negative correlation between CH4 flux and soil NO3-N concentration, while CO2 flux was positively correlation with total Kjeldahl nitrogen content. Soil temperature was positively correlated with the emissions of all three greenhouse gases, while water table depth was positively and negatively correlated with CH4 and N2O emissions, respectively. Our findings demonstrate the high spatial and temporal variability of greenhouse gas emissions from mangrove soils which could be attributed in part to the differences in environmental conditions and dominant plant species.

  10. Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions in mountain forest and meadow ecosystems in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Junjun; Peng, Changhui; Zhu, Qiuan; Xue, Wei; Shen, Yan; Yang, Yanzheng; Shi, Guohua; Shi, Shengwei; Wang, Meng

    2016-10-01

    An incubation experiment was conducted at three temperature levels (8, 18 and 28 °C) to quantify the response of soil CO2 and N2O emissions to temperature in three ecosystems (pine forest, oak forest, and meadow) located in the Qinling Mountains of China, which are considered to be susceptible to disturbance and climate changes, especially global warming. The soil CO2 emission rates increased with temperature and decreased with soil depth; they were the highest in the oak forest (broadleaf forest) and were lower in the pine forest (coniferous forest) and the meadow ecosystem. However, there was no significant difference in the soil N2O emission rates among the three ecosystems. The temperature sensitivity of CO2 and N2O was higher in the forest than in the meadow ecosystem. The Q10 values (temperature sensitivity coefficient) for CO2 and N2O were 1.07-2.25 and 0.82-1.22, respectively, for the three ecosystems. There was also evidence that the CO2 and N2O emission rates were positively correlated. The soil characteristics exhibited different effects on CO2 and N2O emissions among different ecosystems at the three temperature levels. Moreover, the soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC), specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA) and nitrate (NO3-) were important factors for CO2 emissions, whereas the soil ammonium (NH4+) and pH were the major controllers of N2O emissions. Unexpectedly, our results indicated that CO2 emissions are more sensitive to increasing temperature than N2O, noting the different feedback of CO2 and N2O emissions to global warming in this region. The different responses of greenhouse gas emissions in different forest types and a meadow ecosystem suggest that it is critical to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the complex mountain forest and meadow ecosystem in the transitional climate zone under global warming. Our research results provide new insight and advanced understanding of the variations in major greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 and N2O

  11. Relationships between soil organic matter pools and nitrous oxide emissions of agroecosystems in the Brazilian Cerrado.

    PubMed

    de Figueiredo, Cícero Célio; de Oliveira, Alexsandra Duarte; Dos Santos, Isis Lima; Ferreira, Eloisa Aparecida Belleza; Malaquias, Juaci Vitoria; de Sá, Marcos Aurélio Carolino; de Carvalho, Arminda Moreira; Dos Santos, João de Deus Gomes

    2018-03-15

    In the Brazilian Cerrado, despite the increasing adoption of no-till systems, there are still extended areas under conventional soil management systems that reduce soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks and increase the emissions of greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide (N 2 O). Conservation agroecosystems, such as no-till, have been proposed as a strategy to mitigate agriculture-induced climatic changes through reductions in N 2 O emissions. However, the relationship between organic matter and N 2 O emissions from soils under different agroecosystems is not yet clear. This study hypothesized that agroecosystems under no-till promote an accumulation of labile and stable SOM fractions along with a reduction of N 2 O emissions. This study evaluated the effects of crop-rotation agroecosystems: i) on C and N pools and labile and stable SOM fractions; ii) on cumulative N 2 O emissions; and iii) on the relationships between SOM fractions and N 2 O emissions. The agricultural systems consisted of: (I) soybean followed by sorghum under no-tillage (NT1); (II) maize followed by pigeon pea under no-tillage (NT2); (III) soybean under conventional tillage followed by fallow soil (CT); (IV) and native Cerrado (CER). After CT for 18years, following the replacement of CER, the soil C stock in the 0-20cm layer was reduced by 0.64tha -1 year -1 . The no-till systems were more efficient in accumulating labile and stable C fractions with values close to those observed under CER, and were directly related to lower soil N 2 O emissions. The cumulative pattern of N 2 O emissions was inverse to that of the following SOM fractions: microbial biomass carbon, permanganate-oxidizable carbon, particulate organic carbon, inert carbon, and humic substances. Based on principal component analysis, the CT was generally separated from the other land use systems. This separation was strongly influenced by the low C contents in the different SOM fractions and higher N 2 O emissions promoted by the

  12. Quantification of N2O and NO emissions from a small-scale pond-ditch circulation system for rural polluted water treatment.

    PubMed

    Ma, Lin; Tong, Weijun; Chen, Hongguang; Sun, Jian; Wu, Zhenbin; He, Feng

    2018-04-01

    The pond-ditch circulation system (PDCS) is an efficient and economical solution for the restoration of degraded rural water environments. However, little is known about nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and nitric oxide (NO) emissions in the microbial removal process of nitrogen in PDCSs, and their contribution to nitrogen removal. The aim of this study was to quantify N 2 O and NO emissions from the PDCS, evaluate their capacities, and elucidate the key environmental factors controlling them. The results showed that N 2 O and NO fluxes were in the ranges 1.1-2055.1μgNm -2 h -1 and 0.1-6.8μgNm -2 h -1 for the PDCS, respectively. Meanwhile, the N 2 O and NO fluxes from the two ponds in the PDCS were significantly higher than those in the static system. Moreover, the amount of N 2 O and NO emissions in the PDCS accounted for 0.17-4.32% of the total nitrogen (TN) removal. According to the partial least squares (PLS) approach and Pearson's correlation coefficients, nitrate nitrogen in water (W-NO 3 - -N), dissolved oxygen in water (W-DO), dissolved oxygen in sediment (DO), pH in water (W-pH), pH in sediment (pH), total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), and soil organic carbon (SOC) significantly affected the N 2 O flux (p<0.05), whereas W-NO 3 - -N, DO, and nitrite nitrogen in sediment (NO 2 - -N) significantly affected the NO emission (p<0.05). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Evaluation of emission of greenhouse gases from soils amended with sewage sludge.

    PubMed

    Paramasivam, S; Fortenberry, Gamola Z; Julius, Afolabi; Sajwan, Kenneth S; Alva, A K

    2008-02-01

    Increase in concentrations of various greenhouse gases and their possible contributions to the global warming are becoming a serious concern. Anthropogenic activities such as cultivation of flooded rice and application of waste materials, such as sewage sludge which are rich in C and N, as soil amendments could contribute to the increase in emission of greenhouse gases such as methane (CH(4)) and nitrous oxide (N(2)O) into the atmosphere. Therefore, evaluation of flux of various greenhouse gases from soils amended with sewage sludge is essential to quantify their release into the atmosphere. Two soils with contrasting properties (Candler fine sand [CFS] from Florida, and Ogeechee loamy sand [OLS] from Savannah, GA) were amended with varying rates (0, 24.7, 49.4, 98.8, and 148.3 Mg ha(-1)) of 2 types of sewage sludge (industrial [ISS] and domestic [DSS] origin. The amended soil samples were incubated in anaerobic condition at field capacity soil water content in static chamber (Qopak bottles). Gas samples were extracted immediately after amending soils and subsequently on a daily basis to evaluate the emission of CH(4), CO(2) and N(2)O. The results showed that emission rates and cumulative emission of all three gases increased with increasing rates of amendments. Cumulative emission of gases during 25-d incubation of soils amended with different types of sewage sludge decreased in the order: CO(2) > N(2)O > CH(4). The emission of gases was greater from the soils amended with DSS as compared to that with ISS. This may indicate the presence of either low C and N content or possible harmful chemicals in the ISS. The emission of gases was greater from the CFS as compared to that from the OLS. Furthermore, the results clearly depicted the inhibitory effect of acetylene in both soils by producing more N(2)O and CH(4) emission compared to the soils that did not receive acetylene at the rate of 1 mL g(-1) soil. Enumeration of microbial population by fluorescein diacetate

  14. The emission of nitrous oxide upon wetting a rice soil following a dry season fallow

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Byrnes, B. H.; Holt, L. S.; Austin, E. R.

    1993-12-01

    A greenhouse experiment was conducted to measure nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from a soil, which had been planted to flooded transplanted rice, as it was rewetted to simulate the end of a dry season fallow period. The pots of soil had been cropped to transplanted rice with two commonly used nitrogen (N) fertilizer treatments and a control, and the soil had been puddled before transplanting. Large amounts of nitrate N accumulated in the soils during the dry season fallow, and the N fertilizers applied to the previous crop had little effect on nitrate accumulation. There was little N2O emission during the nitrification period. With water additions meant to simulate rainfall events at the beginning of a wet season, the soil redox dropped slightly, and large amounts of N2O began to be emitted. Large emissions began 5 days after each of the two simulated rainy season watering events and stopped abruptly at soil saturation, even though considerable amounts of nitrate still remained in the soil after saturation. Total measured emissions amounted to 6 to 7 kg N2O-N ha-1 for the period. Although these measurements were made in a system which may have favored nitrate accumulation, they are the first known measurements of N2O made from a rice soil as it is wetted. Nitrous oxide emitted from the flooding of rice soils that have accumulated nitrate during a dry season fallow may be a major source of N2O additions to the atmosphere.

  15. Simulating CH4 and N2O emissions from direct-seeded rice systems using the DeNitrification DeComposition (DNDC) model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Simmonds, M.; Li, C.; Lee, J.; Six, J.; Van Kessel, C.; Linquist, B.

    2015-12-01

    Process-based modeling of CH4 and N2O emissions from rice fields is a practical tool for conducting greenhouse gas inventories and estimating mitigation potentials of alternative practices at the scales of management and policy-making. However, few studies have evaluated site-level model performance in side-by-side field trials of various management practices during both the growing season and fallow periods. We empirically evaluated the DeNitrification-DeComposition (DNDC) model for estimating CH4 and N2O fluxes in California rice systems under varying management (N fertilizer application rate, type of seeding system, fallow period straw and water management), soil environments, and weather conditions. Five and nine site-year combinations were used for calibration and validation, respectively. The model was parameterized for two cultivars, M206 and Koshihikari, and able to simulate 30% and 78% of the measured variation in yields, respectively. A major strength of DNDC was in estimating general site-level seasonal CH4 emissions (R2 = 0.85). However, a major limitation was in simulating finer resolution of differences in CH4 emissions (or lack thereof) among side-by-side management treatments (range of 0.2-465% relative absolute deviation). Additionally, DNDC did not satisfactorily simulate fallow period CH4 emissions, or seasonal and fallow period N2O emissions across all sites with the exception of a few cases. Specifically, simulated CH4 emissions were oversensitive to fertilizer N rates, but lacked sensitivity to the type of seeding system and prior fallow period straw management. Additionally, N2O emissions were oversensitive to fertilizer N rates and field drainage. Sensitivity analysis showed that CH4 emissions were highly sensitive to changes in the root to total plant biomass ratio. Overall, uncertainty in model predictions was attributed to uncertainty in both the input parameters due to in-field spatiotemporal variability of soil properties, and in the

  16. Constraining a complex biogeochemical model for CO2 and N2O emission simulations from various land uses by model-data fusion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Houska, Tobias; Kraus, David; Kiese, Ralf; Breuer, Lutz

    2017-07-01

    This study presents the results of a combined measurement and modelling strategy to analyse N2O and CO2 emissions from adjacent arable land, forest and grassland sites in Hesse, Germany. The measured emissions reveal seasonal patterns and management effects, including fertilizer application, tillage, harvest and grazing. The measured annual N2O fluxes are 4.5, 0.4 and 0.1 kg N ha-1 a-1, and the CO2 fluxes are 20.0, 12.2 and 3.0 t C ha-1 a-1 for the arable land, grassland and forest sites, respectively. An innovative model-data fusion concept based on a multicriteria evaluation (soil moisture at different depths, yield, CO2 and N2O emissions) is used to rigorously test the LandscapeDNDC biogeochemical model. The model is run in a Latin-hypercube-based uncertainty analysis framework to constrain model parameter uncertainty and derive behavioural model runs. The results indicate that the model is generally capable of predicting trace gas emissions, as evaluated with RMSE as the objective function. The model shows a reasonable performance in simulating the ecosystem C and N balances. The model-data fusion concept helps to detect remaining model errors, such as missing (e.g. freeze-thaw cycling) or incomplete model processes (e.g. respiration rates after harvest). This concept further elucidates the identification of missing model input sources (e.g. the uptake of N through shallow groundwater on grassland during the vegetation period) and uncertainty in the measured validation data (e.g. forest N2O emissions in winter months). Guidance is provided to improve the model structure and field measurements to further advance landscape-scale model predictions.

  17. Relating N2O emissions during biological nitrogen removal with operating conditions using multivariate statistical techniques.

    PubMed

    Vasilaki, V; Volcke, E I P; Nandi, A K; van Loosdrecht, M C M; Katsou, E

    2018-04-26

    Multivariate statistical analysis was applied to investigate the dependencies and underlying patterns between N 2 O emissions and online operational variables (dissolved oxygen and nitrogen component concentrations, temperature and influent flow-rate) during biological nitrogen removal from wastewater. The system under study was a full-scale reactor, for which hourly sensor data were available. The 15-month long monitoring campaign was divided into 10 sub-periods based on the profile of N 2 O emissions, using Binary Segmentation. The dependencies between operating variables and N 2 O emissions fluctuated according to Spearman's rank correlation. The correlation between N 2 O emissions and nitrite concentrations ranged between 0.51 and 0.78. Correlation >0.7 between N 2 O emissions and nitrate concentrations was observed at sub-periods with average temperature lower than 12 °C. Hierarchical k-means clustering and principal component analysis linked N 2 O emission peaks with precipitation events and ammonium concentrations higher than 2 mg/L, especially in sub-periods characterized by low N 2 O fluxes. Additionally, the highest ranges of measured N 2 O fluxes belonged to clusters corresponding with NO 3 -N concentration less than 1 mg/L in the upstream plug-flow reactor (middle of oxic zone), indicating slow nitrification rates. The results showed that the range of N 2 O emissions partially depends on the prior behavior of the system. The principal component analysis validated the findings from the clustering analysis and showed that ammonium, nitrate, nitrite and temperature explained a considerable percentage of the variance in the system for the majority of the sub-periods. The applied statistical methods, linked the different ranges of emissions with the system variables, provided insights on the effect of operating conditions on N 2 O emissions in each sub-period and can be integrated into N 2 O emissions data processing at wastewater treatment plants

  18. [Key microbial processes in nitrous oxide emissions of agricultural soil and mitigation strategies].

    PubMed

    Zhu, Yong-Guan; Wang, Xiao-Hui; Yang, Xiao-Ru; Xu, Hui-Juan; Jia, Yan

    2014-02-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a powerful atmospheric greenhouse gas, which does not only have a strong influence on the global climate change but also depletes the ozone layer and induces the enhancement of ultraviolet radiation to ground surface, so numerous researches have been focused on global climate change and ecological environmental change. Soil is the foremost source of N2O emissions to the atmosphere, and approximately two-thirds of these emissions are generally attributed to microbiological processes including bacterial and fungal denitrification and nitrification processes, largely as a result of the application of nitrogenous fertilizers. Here the available knowledge concerning the research progress in N2O production in agricultural soils was reviewed, including denitrification, nitrification, nitrifier denitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium, and the abiotic (including soil pH, organic and inorganic nitrogen, organic matter, soil humidity and temperature) and biotic factors that have direct and indirect effects on N2O fluxes from agricultural soils were also summarized. In addition, the strategies for mitigating N2O emissions and the future research direction were proposed. Therefore, these studies are expected to provide valuable and scientific evidence for the study on mitigation strategies for the emission of greenhouse gases, adjustment of nitrogen transformation processes and enhancement of nitrogen use efficiency.

  19. Production of NO and N2O by soil nitrifying bacteria

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lipschultz, F.; Wofsy, S. C.; Mcelroy, M. B.; Zafiriou, O. C.; Valois, F. W.; Watson, S. W.

    1981-01-01

    The composition of the atmosphere is influenced both directly and indirectly by biological activity. Evidence is presented here to suggest that nitrification in soil is a potentially significant source of both NO and N2O. Between 0.3 and 10% of the ammonium oxidized by cultures of the soil bacterium Nitrosomonas europaea is converted to these gases. The global source for NO associated with nitrification could be as large as 15,000,000 tonnes N/yr, with a source for N2O of 5,000,000-10,000,000 tonnes N/yr. Nitric oxide has a key role in tropospheric chemistry, participating in a complex set of reactions regulating OH and O3. Nitrous oxide is a dominant source of stratospheric NO and has a significant influence on climate.

  20. The effects of fire on biogenic soil emissions of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Levine, Joel S.; Cofer, Wesley R., III; Sebacher, Daniel I.; Boston, Penelope J.; Winstead, Edward L.; Sebacher, Shirley

    1988-01-01

    Measurements of biogenic soil emissions of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (N2O) before and after a controlled burn conducted in a chaparral ecosystem on June 22, 1987, showed significantly enhanced emissions of both gases after the burn. Mean NO emissions from heavily burned and wetted (to simulate rainfall) sites exceeded 40 ng N/sq m s, and increase of 2 to 3 compared to preburn wetted site measurements. N2O emissions from burned and wetted sites ranged from 9 to 22 ng N/sq m s. Preburn N2O emissions from these wetted sites were all below the detection level of the instrumentation, indicating a flux below 2 ng N/sq m s. The flux of NO exceeded the N2O flux from burned wetted sites by factors ranging from 2.7 to 3.4. These measurements, coupled with preburn and postburn measurements of ammonium and nitrate in the soil of this chaparral ecosystem and measurements of NO and N2O emissions obtained under controlled laboratory conditions, suggest that the postfire enhancement of NO and N2O emissions is due to production of these gases by nitrifying bacteria.

  1. Aircraft Observations of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) in the San Joaquin Valley of California

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Muto, S.; Herrera, S.; Pusede, S.

    2017-12-01

    Agriculture is the largest source of anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) in the U.S. While it is generally known which processes produce N2O, there is considerable uncertainty in controls over N2O emissions. Factors that determine N2O fluxes, such as soil properties and manure management, are highly variable in space and time, and, as a result, it has proven difficult to upscale chamber-derived soil flux measurements to regional spatial scales. Aircraft observations provide a regional picture of the N2O spatial distribution, but, because N2O is very long-lived, it is challenging to attribute measured concentrations of N2O to distinct local sources, especially over areas with complex and integrated land use. This study takes advantage of a novel aircraft N2O dataset collected onboard the low-flying, slow-moving NASA C-23 Sherpa in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) of California, a region with a variety of N2O sources, including dairies, feedlots, fertilized cropland, and industrial facilities. With these measurements, we link observed N2O enhancements to specific sources at sub-inventory spatial scales. We compare our results with area-weighted emission profiles obtained by integrating detailed emission inventory data, agricultural statistics, and GIS source mapping.

  2. Dinitrogen emissions as an overlooked key component of the N balance of montane grasslands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zistl-Schlingmann, Marcus; Feng, Jinchao; Kiese, Ralf; Stephan, Ruth; Dannenmann, Michael

    2017-04-01

    Numerous studies have been conducted on the emission dynamics and annual budget of the atmospheric pollutants and primary or secondary greenhouse gases NOx, NH3 and N2O, i.e. gaseous N losses which can play an important role in the N budget of ecosystems. Due to still existing methodical problems in their quantification, considerably less is known on soil dinitrogen (N2) emissions, an inert gas with no hazardous effects on the environment. Understanding of soil N2 emissions however may be important to better understand and manage the N balance of ecosystems and also to mitigate the emissions of the precursor and potent greenhouse gas N2O. Here we quantified soil N2 emissions from montane grasslands used for dairy farming as affected by climate change simulation (reduced annual precipitation, increased temperature). For this purpose, plant-soil-mesocosms were brought from field sites of different elevation to the laboratory for direct simultaneous quantification of soil N2 and N2O emissions by use of the Helium soil core method. Immediately after the measurements, the plant-soil mesocosms were reburied at the sites. Using this approach we found that under current climate conditions, soil N2 emissions exceeded soil N2O emissions by several orders of magnitude and increased from 25 kg N ha-1 year-1 (present climate) to 50 kg N ha-1 year-1 (climate change treatment). Because this approach based on monthly sampling cannot accurately consider N gas emission peaks after manure fertilization, measurements were supplemented by a laboratory incubation approach. In this experiment, the response of all N gas emissions (NH3, NO, N2O, N2) to manure fertilization (50 kg N ha-1) was monitored with subdaily temporal resolution until emissions had diminished. Total N gas losses amounted to roughly half of the supplied N by manure application. Surprisingly, we found that N2 but not NH3 dominated fertilizer-derived gaseous N losses, accounting for 78 to 85 % of total gaseous N losses

  3. [Effect of Biochar on Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Semi-arid Region].

    PubMed

    Guo, Yan-liang; Wang, Dan-dan; Zheng, Ji-yong; Zhao, Shi-wei; Zhang, Xing-chang

    2015-09-01

    This study aimed to investigate the effects of biochar addition on the emission of greenhouse gases from farmland soil in semi-arid region. Through an in-situ experiments, the influence of sawdust biochar(J) and locust tree skin biochar (H) at three doses (1%, 3%, and 5% of quality percentage) on C2, CH4 and N2O emissions were studied within the six months in the south of Ningxiaprovince. The results indicated that soil CO2 emission flux was slightly increased with the addition doses for both biochars, and the averaged CO2 emission flux for sawdust and locust tree skin biochar was enhanced by 1. 89% and 3. 34% compared to the control, but the difference between treatments was not statistically significant. The soil CH4 emission was decreased with the increasing of biochar doses, by 1. 17%, 2. 55%, 4. 32% for J1, J3, J5 and 2. 35%, 5. 83%, 7. 32% for H1, H3, H5, respectively. However, the difference was statistically significant only for J5, H3 and H5 treatments (P <0. 05). Across addition doses, there was no apparent effect on soil N2O emission. Our study indicated that the biochar has no significant influence on soil CO2 and N2O emissions within six months in semi-arid region and can significantly influence soil CH4 emissions (P < 0. 05). As for biochar type, the locust tree skin biochar is significantly better than the sawdust biochar in terms of restraining CH4 emission(P = 0. 048).

  4. Effect of fertilizer application on NO and N2O fluxes from agricultural fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harrison, Roy M.; Yamulki, Sirwan; Goulding, K. W. T.; Webster, C. P.

    1995-12-01

    Losses of fertilizer as NO and N2O were studied at Broadbalk field, Rothamsted Experimental Station in England, on which subplots have been subject to differing constant levels of fertilizer application for many years. Fluxes of NO and N2O were measured using open- and closed-chamber techniques, respectively. Fluxes from unfertilized soil ranged from 0.3 to 4.8 ng N m-2 s-1 for NO and 0.23 to 3.0 ng N m-2 s-1 for N2O. The corresponding fluxes from the plot with the highest fertilizer application (92 kg N ha-1 yr-1 as NH4NO3) ranged from 0.5 to 64 ng N m-2 s-1 for NO and 0.4 to 240 ng N m-2 s-1 for N2O. Application of increasing amounts of fertilizer substantially enhanced emission rates of both NO and N2O. However, the amount of increase was controlled by competition between the crop and the microorganisms for the available soil nutrients, and loss of N2O to the atmosphere increased sharply at superoptimal levels of fertilizer application. The fertilizer-derived NO and N2O emissions represented approximately 90% of the total emission of these gases during the 25-day sampling period after fertilizer application. The results suggest that while increasing the amount of fertilizer increases both NO and N2O fluxes simultaneously, the NO/N2O emission ratio decreases. Results from laboratory experiments showed that the magnitude of the fertilizer loss as N2O was strongly affected by the form of the applied fertilizer.

  5. Climate change reduces the net sink of CH4 and N2O in a semiarid grassland.

    PubMed

    Dijkstra, Feike A; Morgan, Jack A; Follett, Ronald F; Lecain, Daniel R

    2013-06-01

    Atmospheric concentrations of methane (CH4 ) and nitrous oxide (N2 O) have increased over the last 150 years because of human activity. Soils are important sources and sinks of both potent greenhouse gases where their production and consumption are largely regulated by biological processes. Climate change could alter these processes thereby affecting both rate and direction of their exchange with the atmosphere. We examined how a rise in atmospheric CO2 and temperature affected CH4 and N2 O fluxes in a well-drained upland soil (volumetric water content ranging between 6% and 23%) in a semiarid grassland during five growing seasons. We hypothesized that responses of CH4 and N2 O fluxes to elevated CO2 and warming would be driven primarily by treatment effects on soil moisture. Previously we showed that elevated CO2 increased and warming decreased soil moisture in this grassland. We therefore expected that elevated CO2 and warming would have opposing effects on CH4 and N2 O fluxes. Methane was taken up throughout the growing season in all 5 years. A bell-shaped relationship was observed with soil moisture with highest CH4 uptake at intermediate soil moisture. Both N2 O emission and uptake occurred at our site with some years showing cumulative N2 O emission and other years showing cumulative N2 O uptake. Nitrous oxide exchange switched from net uptake to net emission with increasing soil moisture. In contrast to our hypothesis, both elevated CO2 and warming reduced the sink of CH4 and N2 O expressed in CO2 equivalents (across 5 years by 7% and 11% for elevated CO2 and warming respectively) suggesting that soil moisture changes were not solely responsible for this reduction. We conclude that in a future climate this semiarid grassland may become a smaller sink for atmospheric CH4 and N2 O expressed in CO2 -equivalents. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  6. Nitrous Oxide Emission and Denitrifier Abundance in Two Agricultural Soils Amended with Crop Residues and Urea in the North China Plain.

    PubMed

    Gao, Jianmin; Xie, Yingxin; Jin, Haiyang; Liu, Yuan; Bai, Xueying; Ma, Dongyun; Zhu, Yunji; Wang, Chenyang; Guo, Tiancai

    2016-01-01

    The application of crop residues combined with Nitrogen (N) fertilizer has been broadly adopted in China. Crop residue amendments can provide readily available C and N, as well as other nutrients to agricultural soils, but also intensify the N fixation, further affecting N2O emissions. N2O pulses are obviously driven by rainfall, irrigation and fertilization. Fertilization before rainfall or followed by flooding irrigation is a general management practice for a wheat-maize rotation in the North China Plain. Yet, little is known on the impacts of crop residues combined with N fertilizer application on N2O emission under high soil moisture content. A laboratory incubation experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of two crop residue amendments (maize and wheat), individually or in combination with N fertilizer, on N2O emissions and denitrifier abundance in two main agricultural soils (one is an alluvial soil, pH 8.55, belongs to Ochri-Aquic Cambosols, OAC, the other is a lime concretion black soil, pH 6.61, belongs to Hapli-Aquic Vertosols, HAV) under 80% WFPS (the water filled pore space) in the North China Plain. Each type soil contains seven treatments: a control with no N fertilizer application (CK, N0), 200 kg N ha-1 (N200), 250 kg N ha-1 (N250), maize residue plus N200 (MN200), maize residue plus N250 (MN250), wheat residue plus N200 (WN200) and wheat residue plus N250 (WN250). Results showed that, in the HAV soil, MN250 and WN250 increased the cumulative N2O emissions by 60% and 30% compared with N250 treatment, respectively, but MN200 and WN200 decreased the cumulative N2O emissions by 20% and 50% compared with N200. In the OAC soil, compared with N200 or N250, WN200 and WN250 increased the cumulative N2O emission by 40%-50%, but MN200 and MN250 decreased the cumulative N2O emission by 10%-20%. Compared with CK, addition of crop residue or N fertilizer resulted in significant increases in N2O emissions in both soils. The cumulative N2O emissions

  7. Emissions of NO and N2O in wetland microcosms for swine wastewater treatment.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Shunan; Liu, Feng; Xiao, Runlin; Li, Yong; Zhou, Juan; Wu, Jinshui

    2015-12-01

    Nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emitted from wetland systems contribute an important proportion to the global warming effect. In this study, four wetland microcosms vegetated with Myriophyllum elatinoides (WM), Alternanthera philoxeroides (WA), Eichhornia crassipes (WE), or without vegetation (NW) were compared to investigate the emissions of NO and N2O during nitrogen (N) removal process when treating swine wastewater. After 30-day incubation, TN removal rates of 96.4, 74.2, 97.2, and 47.3 % were observed for the WM, WA, WE, and NW microcosms, respectively. Yet, no significant difference was observed in WM and WE (p > 0.05). The average NO and N2O emissions in WE was significantly higher than those in WM, WA, and NW (p < 0.05). In addition, the emission of N2O in WE accounted for 2.10 % of initial TN load and 2.17 % of the total amount of TN removal, compared with less than 1 % in the other microcosms. These findings indicate that wetland vegetated with M. elatinoides may be an optimal system for swine wastewater treatment, based on its higher removal of N and lower emissions of NO and N2O.

  8. Overlap corrections for emissivity calculations of H2O-CO2-CO-N2 mixtures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alberti, Michael; Weber, Roman; Mancini, Marco

    2018-01-01

    Calculations of total gas emissivities of gas mixtures containing several radiatively active species require corrections for band overlapping. In this paper, we generate such overlap correction charts for H2O-CO2-N2, H2O-CO-N2, and CO2-CO-N2 mixtures. These charts are applicable in the 0.1-40 bar total pressure range and in the 500 K-2500 K temperature range. For H2O-CO2-N2 mixtures, differences between our charts and Hottel's graphs as well as models of Leckner and Modak are highlighted and analyzed.

  9. Greenhouse gas emissions from penguin guanos and ornithogenic soils in coastal Antarctica: Effects of freezing-thawing cycles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Renbin; Liu, Yashu; Ma, Erdeng; Sun, Jianjun; Xu, Hua; Sun, Liguang

    In coastal Antarctica, freezing and thawing influence many physical, chemical and biological processes for ice-free tundra ecosystems, including the production of greenhouse gases (GHGs). In this study, penguin guanos and ornithogenic soil cores were collected from four penguin colonies and one seal colony in coastal Antarctica, and experimentally subjected to three freezing-thawing cycles (FTCs) under ambient air and under N 2. We investigated the effects of FTCs on the emissions of three GHGs including nitrous oxide (N 2O), carbon dioxide (CO 2) and methane (CH 4). The GHG emission rates were extremely low in frozen penguin guanos or ornithogenic soils. However, there was a fast increase in the emission rates of three GHGs following thawing. During FTCs, cumulative N 2O emissions from ornithogenic soils were greatly higher than those from penguin guanos under ambient air or under N 2. The highest N 2O cumulative emission of 138.24 μg N 2O-N kg -1 was observed from seal colony soils. Cumulative CO 2 and CH 4 emissions from penguin guanos were one to three orders of magnitude higher than those from ornithogenic soils. The highest cumulative CO 2 (433.0 mgCO 2-C kg -1) and CH 4 (2.9 mgCH 4-C kg -1) emissions occurred in emperor penguin guanos. Penguin guano was a stronger emitter for CH 4 and CO 2 while ornithogenic soil was a stronger emitter for N 2O during FTCs. CO 2 and CH 4 fluxes had a correlation with total organic carbon (TOC) and soil/guano moisture (M c) in penguin guanos and ornithogenic soils. The specific CO 2-C production rate (CO 2-C/TOC) indicated that the bioavailability of TOC was markedly larger in penguin guanos than in ornithogenic soils during FTCs. This study showed that FTC-released organic C and N from sea animal excreta may play a significant role in FTC-related GHG emissions, which may account for a large proportion of annual fluxes from tundra ecosystems in coastal Antarctica.

  10. Constraining N2O emissions since 1940 by firn air isotope measurements in both hemispheres

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prokopiou, Markella; Martinerie, Patricia; Sapart, Celia; Witrant, Emmanuel; Monteil, Guillaume; Ishijima, Kentaro; Kaiser, Jan; Levin, Ingeborg; Sowers, Todd; Blunier, Thomas; Etheridge, David; Dlugokencky, Ed; van de Wal, Roderik; Röckmann, Thomas

    2017-04-01

    N2O is currently the 3rd most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas in terms of radiative forcing and its atmospheric mole fraction is rising steadily. To quantify the growth rate and its causes, we performed a multi-site reconstruction of the atmospheric N2O mole fraction and isotopic composition using firn air data collected from Greenland and Antarctica in combination with a firn diffusion and densification model. The multi-site reconstruction showed that while the global mean N2O mole fraction increased from (290±1) nmol mol-1 in 1940 to (322±1) nmol mol-1 in 2008 the isotopic δ values of atmospheric N2O decreased by (- 2.2±0.2) ‰ for δ15Nav, (- 1.0±0.3) ‰ for δ18O, (- 1.3±0.6) ‰ for δ15Nα, and (- 2.8±0.6) ‰ for δ15Nβover the same period. The detailed temporal evolution of the mole fraction and isotopic composition derived from the firn air model was then used in a two-box atmospheric model (comprising a stratospheric and a tropospheric box) to infer changes in the isotopic source signature over time. The precise value of the source strength depends on the choice of the N2O lifetime, which we choose to be 123 a. Adopting this lifetime results in total average source isotopic signatures of (- 7.6±0.8) ‰ (vs. Air-N2) for δ15Nav, (32.2±0.2) ‰ (vs. VSMOW) for δ18O, (- 3.0±1.9) ‰ (vs. Air-N2) for δ15Nα, and (- 11.7±2.3) ‰ (vs. Air-N2) for δ15Nβ over the investigated period. δ15Navand δ15Nβ show some temporal variability while the other source isotopic signatures remain unchanged. The 15N site-preference (= δ15Nα - δ15Nβ) can be used to reveal further information on the source emission origins. Based on the changes in the isotopes we conclude that the main contribution to N2O changes in the atmosphere since 1940 is from soils, with agricultural soils being the principal anthropogenic component, which is in line with previous studies.

  11. Evaluation of factors affecting nitrous oxide emission and N transformation in a sandy loam soil

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    A better understanding of the complex factors affecting nitrous oxide (N2O) emission and potential mitigation practices will assist in developing strategies to improve the sustainability of agricultural production systems. Using surface soil collected from a pomegranate orchard, a series of laborato...

  12. Forest and grassland cover types reduce net greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural soils.

    PubMed

    Baah-Acheamfour, Mark; Carlyle, Cameron N; Lim, Sang-Sun; Bork, Edward W; Chang, Scott X

    2016-11-15

    Western Canada's prairie region is extensively cultivated for agricultural production, which is a large source of greenhouse gas emissions. Agroforestry systems are common land uses across Canada, which integrate trees into the agricultural landscape and could play a substantial role in sequestering carbon and mitigating increases in atmospheric GHG concentrations. We measured soil CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes and the global warming potential of microbe-mediated net greenhouse gas emissions (GWPm) in forest and herbland (areas without trees) soils of three agroforestry systems (hedgerow, shelterbelt and silvopasture) over two growing seasons (May through September in 2013 and 2014). We measured greenhouse gas fluxes and environmental conditions at 36 agroforestry sites (12 sites for each system) located along a south-north oriented soil/climate gradient of increasing moisture availability in central Alberta, Canada. The temperature sensitivity of soil CO2 emissions was greater in herbland (4.4) than in forest (3.1), but was not different among agroforestry systems. Over the two seasons, forest soils had 3.4% greater CO2 emission, 36% higher CH4 uptake, and 66% lower N2O emission than adjacent herbland soils. Combining the CO2 equivalents of soil CH4 and N2O fluxes with the CO2 emitted via heterotrophic (microbial) respiration, forest soils had a smaller GWPm than herbland soils (68 and 89kgCO2ha(-1), respectively). While emissions of total CO2 were silvopasture>hedgerow>shelterbelt, soils under silvopasture had 5% lower heterotrophic respiration, 15% greater CH4 uptake, and 44% lower N2O emission as compared with the other two agroforestry systems. Overall, the GWPm of greenhouse gas emissions was greater in hedgerow (88) and shelterbelt (85) than in the silvopasture system (76kgCO2ha(-1)). High GWPm in the hedgerow and shelterbelt systems reflects the greater contribution from the monoculture annual crops within these systems. Opportunities exist for reducing soil

  13. Variations in soil N cycling and trace gas emissions in wet tropical forests.

    PubMed

    Holtgrieve, Gordon W; Jewett, Peter K; Matson, Pamela A

    2006-01-01

    We used a previously described precipitation gradient in a tropical montane ecosystem of Hawai'i to evaluate how changes in mean annual precipitation (MAP) affect the processes resulting in the loss of N via trace gases. We evaluated three Hawaiian forests ranging from 2200 to 4050 mm year-1 MAP with constant temperature, parent material, ecosystem age, and vegetation. In situ fluxes of N2O and NO, soil inorganic nitrogen pools (NH4+ and NO3-), net nitrification, and net mineralization were quantified four times over 2 years. In addition, we performed 15N-labeling experiments to partition sources of N2O between nitrification and denitrification, along with assays of nitrification potential and denitrification enzyme activity (DEA). Mean NO and N2O emissions were highest at the mesic end of the gradient (8.7+/-4.6 and 1.1+/-0.3 ng N cm-2 h-1, respectively) and total oxidized N emitted decreased with increased MAP. At the wettest site, mean trace gas fluxes were at or below detection limit (2 ng N cm-2 h-1). Isotopic labeling showed that with increasing MAP, the source of N2O changed from predominately nitrification to predominately denitrification. There was an increase in extractible NH4+ and decline in NO3- , while mean net mineralization and nitrification did not change from the mesic to intermediate sites but decreased dramatically at the wettest site. Nitrification potential and DEA were highest at the mesic site and lowest at the wet site. MAP exerts strong control N cycling processes and the magnitude and source of N trace gas flux from soil through soil redox conditions and the supply of electron donors and acceptors.

  14. Novel microelectrode-based online system for monitoring N2O gas emissions during wastewater treatment.

    PubMed

    Marques, Ricardo; Oehmen, Adrian; Pijuan, Maite

    2014-11-04

    Clark-type nitrous oxide (N2O) microelectrodes are commonly used for measuring dissolved N2O levels, but have not previously been tested for gas-phase applications, where the N2O emitted from wastewater systems can be directly quantified. In this study, N2O microelectrodes were tested and validated for online gas measurements, and assessed with respect to their temperature, gas flow, composition dependence, gas pressure, and humidity. An exponential correlation between temperature and sensor signal was found, whereas gas flow, composition, pressure, and humidity did not have any influence on the signal. Two of the sensors were tested at different N2O concentration ranges (0-422.3, 0-50, 0-10, and 0-2 ppmv N2O) and exhibited a linear response over each range. The N2O emission dynamics from two laboratory scale sequencing batch reactors performing ammonia or nitrite oxidation were also monitored using one of the microsensors and results were compared with two other analytical methods. Results show that N2O emissions were accurately described with these microelectrodes and support their application for assessing gaseous N2O emissions from wastewater treatment systems. Advantages of the sensors as compared to conventional measurement techniques include a wider quantification range of N2O fluxes, and a single measurement system that can assess both liquid and gas-phase N2O dynamics.

  15. Mathematical modeling of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from full-scale wastewater treatment plants.

    PubMed

    Ni, Bing-Jie; Ye, Liu; Law, Yingyu; Byers, Craig; Yuan, Zhiguo

    2013-07-16

    Mathematical modeling of N2O emissions is of great importance toward understanding the whole environmental impact of wastewater treatment systems. However, information on modeling of N2O emissions from full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is still sparse. In this work, a mathematical model based on currently known or hypothesized metabolic pathways for N2O productions by heterotrophic denitrifiers and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) is developed and calibrated to describe the N2O emissions from full-scale WWTPs. The model described well the dynamic ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, dissolved oxygen (DO) and N2O data collected from both an open oxidation ditch (OD) system with surface aerators and a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system with bubbling aeration. The obtained kinetic parameters for N2O production are found to be reasonable as the 95% confidence regions of the estimates are all small with mean values approximately at the center. The model is further validated with independent data sets collected from the same two WWTPs. This is the first time that mathematical modeling of N2O emissions is conducted successfully for full-scale WWTPs. While clearly showing that the NH2OH related pathways could well explain N2O production and emission in the two full-scale plants studied, the modeling results do not prove the dominance of the NH2OH pathways in these plants, nor rule out the possibility of AOB denitrification being a potentially dominating pathway in other WWTPs that are designed or operated differently.

  16. Effect of pest controlling neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) and mata-raton (Gliricidia sepium Jacquin) leaf extracts on emission of green house gases and inorganic-N content in urea-amended soil.

    PubMed

    Méndez-Bautista, Joaquín; Fernández-Luqueño, Fabián; López-Valdez, Fernando; Mendoza-Cristino, Reyna; Montes-Molina, Joaquín A; Gutierrez-Miceli, F A; Dendooven, L

    2009-07-01

    Extracts of neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss.) and Gliricidia sepium Jacquin, locally known as 'mata-raton', are used to control pests of maize. Their application, however, is known to affect soil microorganisms. We investigated if these extracts affected emissions of methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O), important greenhouse gases, and dynamics of soil inorganic N. Soil was treated with extracts of neem, mata-raton or lambda-cyhalothrin, used as chemical control. The soil was amended with or without urea and incubated at 40% and 100% water holding capacity (WHC). Concentrations of ammonium (NH4+), nitrite (NO2(-)) and nitrate (NO3(-)) and emissions of CH4, CO2 and N2O were monitored for 7d. Treating urea-amended soil with extracts of neem, mata-raton or lambda-cyhalothrin reduced the emission of CO2 significantly compared to the untreated soil with the largest decrease found in the latter. Oxidation of CH4 was inhibited by extracts of neem in the unamended soil, and by neem, mata-raton and lambda-cyhalothrin in the urea-amended soil compared to the untreated soil. Neem, mata-raton and lambda-cyhalothrin reduced the N2O emission from the unamended soil incubated at 40%WHC compared to the untreated soil. Extracts of neem, mata-raton and lambda-cyhalothrin had no significant effect on dynamics of NH4(+), NO2(-) and NO(3)(-). It was found that emission of CO2 and oxidation of CH4 was inhibited in the urea-amended soil treated with extracts of neem, mata-raton and lambda-cyhalothrin, but ammonification, N2O emission and nitrification were not affected.

  17. Nitrous oxide emissions from yellow brown soil as affected by incorporation of crop residues with different carbon-to-nitrogen ratios: a case study in central China.

    PubMed

    Lin, Shan; Iqbal, Javed; Hu, Ronggui; Shaaban, Muhammad; Cai, Jianbo; Chen, Xi

    2013-08-01

    To investigate the influence of crop residues decomposition on nitrous oxide (N2O) emission, a field study was performed with application of crop residues with different C:N ratios in a bare yellow brown soil at the experimental station of Zhangjiachong at Zigui, China. We set up six experimental treatments: no crop residue (CK), rapeseed cake (RC), potato stalk (PS), rice straw (RS), wheat straw (WS), and corn straw (CS). The carbon (C) to nitrogen (N) ratios of these crop residues were 7.5, 32.9, 40.4, 65.7, and 90.9, respectively. Nitrous oxide fluxes were measured using a static closed chamber method. N2O emissions were significantly enhanced by incorporation of crop residues. Cumulative N2O emissions negatively correlated with C:N ratio (R (2) = 0.9821) of the crop residue, but they were positively correlated with average concentrations of dissolved organic carbon and microbial biomass carbon. Nitrogen emission fraction, calculated as N2O-N emissions originated from the crop residues N, positively correlated with C:N ratio of the residues (P < 0.05). Soil temperature did, whereas soil moisture did not, control the residue's induced N2O emissions because a significant correlation (P < 0.01) existed between soil temperature and N2O emissions in all treatments except the control. In contrast, a significant relationship between soil moisture and N2O emissions was found in the control only. Furthermore, N2O emission significantly correlated (P < 0.05) with NO3 (-)-N, and NH4 (+)-N contents from all residue treatments. These results indicate that (1) crop residues with distinct carbon and nitrogen contents can significantly alter soil N2O flux rates; and (2) soil biotic as well as abiotic variables are critical in determining soil-atmospheric N2O emissions after crop residue incorporation into soil.

  18. Worldwide biogenic soil NOx emission estimates from OMI NO2 observations and the GEOS-Chem model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vinken, Geert; Boersma, Folkert; Maasakkers, Bram; Martin, Randall

    2014-05-01

    Bacteria in soils are an important source of biogenic nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2), which are important precursors for ozone (O3) formation. Furthermore NOx emissions contribute to increased nitrogen deposition and particulate matter formation. Bottom-up estimates of global soil NOx emissions range from 4 to 27 Tg N / yr, reflecting our incomplete knowledge of emission factors and processes driving these emissions. In this study we used, for the first time, OMI NO2 columns on all continents to reduce the uncertainty in soil NOx emissions. Regions and months dominated by soil NOx emissions were identified using a filtering scheme in the GEOS-Chem chemistry transport model. Consequently, we compared OMI observed NO2 observed columns to GEOS-Chem simulated columns and provide constraints for these months in 11 regions. This allows us to provide a top-down emission inventory for 2005 for soil NOx emissions from all continents. Our total global soil NOx emission inventory amounts to 10 Tg N / yr. Our estimate is 4% higher than the GEOS-Chem a priori (Hudman et al., 2012), but substantial regional differences exist (e.g. +20% for Sahel and India; and -40% for mid-USA). We furthermore observed a stronger seasonal cycle in the Sahel region, indicating directions for possible future improvements to the parameterization currently used in GEOS-Chem. We validated NO2 concentrations simulated with this new top-down inventory against surface NO2 measurements from monitoring stations in Africa, the USA and Europe. On the whole, we conclude that simulations with our new top-down inventory better agree with measurements. Our work shows that satellite retrieved NO2 columns can improve estimates of soil NOx emissions over sparsely monitored remote rural areas. We show that the range in previous estimates of soil NOx emissions is too large, and global emissions are most likely around 10 Tg N/yr, in agreement with the most recent parameterizations.

  19. Estimation and projection of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from anthropogenic sources in Taiwan.

    PubMed

    Tsai, Wen-Tien; Chyan, Jih-Ming

    2006-03-01

    Taiwan is a densely populated and developed country with more than 97% of energy consumption supplied by imported fuels. Greenhouse gas emissions are thus becoming significant environmental issues in the country. Using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommended methodologies, anthropogenic emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) in Taiwan during 2000-2003 were estimated to be around 41 thousand metric tons annually. About 87% of N2O emissions come from agriculture, 7% from the energy sector, 3% from industrial processes sector, 3% from waste sector. On the basis of N2O emissions in 2000, projections for the year 2010 show that emissions were estimated to decline by about 6% mainly due to agricultural changes in response to the entry of WTO in 2002. In contrast to projections for the year 2020, N2O emissions were projected to grow by about 17%. This is based on the reasonable scenario that a new adipic acid/nitric acid plant will be probably started after 2010.

  20. Soil pH as the chief modifier for regional nitrous oxide emissions: New evidence and implications for global estimates and mitigation.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yajing; Guo, Jingheng; Vogt, Rolf David; Mulder, Jan; Wang, Jingguo; Zhang, Xiaoshan

    2018-02-01

    Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is a greenhouse gas that also plays the primary role in stratospheric ozone depletion. The use of nitrogen fertilizers is known as the major reason for atmospheric N 2 O increase. Empirical bottom-up models therefore estimate agricultural N 2 O inventories using N loading as the sole predictor, disregarding the regional heterogeneities in soil inherent response to external N loading. Several environmental factors have been found to influence the response in soil N 2 O emission to N fertilization, but their interdependence and relative importance have not been addressed properly. Here, we show that soil pH is the chief factor explaining regional disparities in N 2 O emission, using a global meta-analysis of 1,104 field measurements. The emission factor (EF) of N 2 O increases significantly (p < .001) with soil pH decrease. The default EF value of 1.0%, according to IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) for agricultural soils, occurs at soil pH 6.76. Moreover, changes in EF with N fertilization (i.e. ΔEF) is also negatively correlated (p < .001) with soil pH. This indicates that N 2 O emission in acidic soils is more sensitive to changing N fertilization than that in alkaline soils. Incorporating our findings into bottom-up models has significant consequences for regional and global N 2 O emission inventories and reconciling them with those from top-down models. Moreover, our results allow region-specific development of tailor-made N 2 O mitigation measures in agriculture. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Regional N2O fluxes in Amazonia derived from aircraft vertical profiles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    D'Amelio, M. T. S.; Gatti, L. V.; Miller, J. B.; Tans, P.

    2009-08-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is the third most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas. Globally, the main sources of N2O are nitrification and denitrification in soils. About two thirds of the soil emissions occur in the tropics and approximately 20% originate in wet rainforest ecosystems, like the Amazon forest. The work presented here involves aircraft vertical profiles of N2O from the surface to 4 km over two sites in the Eastern and Central Amazon: Tapajós National Forest (SAN) and Cuieiras Biologic Reserve (MAN), and the estimation of N2O fluxes for regions upwind of these sites. To our knowledge, these regional scale N2O measurements in Amazonia are unique and represent a new approach to looking regional scale emissions. The fluxes upwind of MAN exhibited little seasonality, and the annual mean was 2.1±1.0 mg N2O m-2 day-1, higher than that for fluxes upwind of SAN, which averaged 1.5±1.6 mg N2O m-2 day-1. The higher rainfall around the MAN site could explain the higher N2O emissions. For fluxes from the coast to SAN seasonality is present for all years, with high fluxes in the months of March through May, and in November through December. The first peak of N2O flux is strongly associated with the wet season. The second peak of high N2O flux recorded at SAN occurs during the dry season and can not be easily explained. However, about half of the dry season profiles exhibit significant correlations with CO, indicating a larger than expected source of N2O from biomass burning. The average CO:N2O ratio for all profiles sampled during the dry season is 94±77 mol CO:mol N2O and suggests a larger biomass burning contribution to the global N2O budget than previously reported.

  2. Temperature dependence of greenhouse gas emissions from three hydromorphic soils at different groundwater levels.

    PubMed

    Vicca, S; Janssens, I A; Flessa, H; Fiedler, S; Jungkunst, H F

    2009-09-01

    Wetlands contribute considerably to the global greenhouse gas (GHG) balance. In these ecosystems, groundwater level (GWL) and temperature, two factors likely to be altered by climate change, exert important control over CO(2), CH(4) and N(2)O fluxes. However, little is known about the temperature sensitivity (Q(10)) of the combined GHG emissions from hydromorphic soils and how this Q(10) varies with GWL. We performed a greenhouse experiment in which three different (plant-free) hydromorphic soils from a temperate spruce forest were exposed to two GWLs (an intermediate GWL of -20 cm and a high GWL of -5 cm). Net CO(2), CH(4) and N(2)O fluxes were measured continuously. Here, we discuss how these fluxes responded to synoptic temperature fluctuations. Across all soils and GWLs, CO(2) emissions responded similarly to temperature and Q(10) was close to 2. The Q(10) of the CH(4) and N(2)O fluxes also was similar across soil types. GWL, on the other hand, significantly affected the Q(10) of both CH(4) and N(2)O emissions. The Q(10) of the net CH(4) fluxes increased from about 1 at GWL = -20 cm to 3 at GWL = -5 cm. For the N(2)O emissions, Q(10) varied around 2 for GWL = -20 cm and around 4 for GWL = -5 cm. This substantial GWL-effect on the Q(10) of CH(4) and N(2)O emissions was, however, hardly reflected in the Q(10) of the total GHG emissions (which varied around 2), because the contribution of these gases was relatively small compared to that of CO(2).

  3. Effects of the herbicides prosulfuron and metolachlor on fluxes of CO2, N2O, and CH4 in a fertilized Colorado grassland soil

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kinney, C.A.; Mosier, A.R.; Ferrer, I.; Furlong, E.T.; Mandernack, K.W.

    2004-01-01

    The effect that pesticides have on trace gas production and consumption in agricultural soils is often overlooked. Independent field and laboratory experiments were used to measure the effects that the commonly used herbicides prosulfuron and metolachlor have on trace gas fluxes (CO2, N2O, and CH4) from fertilized soil of the Colorado shortgrass steppe. Separate sample plots (1 m2) on tilled and no-till soil at the sites included the following treatments: 1) a control without fertilizer or herbicide, 2) a fertilized (NH4NO3 equivalent to 244 kg ha-1) control without herbicide, 3) and fertilized plots amended with an herbicide (prosulfuron equivalent to 0.46 kg ha-1 57% by weight active ingredient or metolachlor equivalent to 5.7 L ha-1, 82.4% by weight active ingredient). During an initial study of one year duration, measurement of gas exchange revealed that prosulfuron-amendment stimulated N2O emissions and CH4 consumption by as much as 1600% and 1300% during a single measurement, respectively. During a second set of flux measurements beginning in August 2001, more frequent weekly measurements were made during a twelve week period. From this second study an increased N2O efflux and CH4 uptake occurred after a 7-week lag period that persisted for about 5 weeks. These changes in gas flux amounted to an overall increase of 41% and 30% for N2O emission and CH4 consumption, respectively. The co-occurrence of stimulated N2O and CH4 fluxes suggests a similar cause that is related to prosulfuron degradation. Evidence suggested that prosulfuron degradation stimulated microbial activity responsible for trace gas flux. Ultimately, prosulfuron-amendment led to an ???50% reduction in the global warming potential from N2O and CH4 fluxes at this field site, which is equivalent to a reduction of the global warming potential of 0.18 mols CO2 m-2 d-1 from these gases. Metolachlor application did not significantly affect the trace gas fluxes measured. These results demonstrate the

  4. Amplified spontaneous emission from ZnO in n-ZnO/ZnO nanodots-SiO(2) composite/p-AlGaN heterojunction light-emitting diodes.

    PubMed

    Shih, Ying Tsang; Wu, Mong Kai; Li, Wei Chih; Kuan, Hon; Yang, Jer Ren; Shiojiri, Makoto; Chen, Miin Jang

    2009-04-22

    This study demonstrates amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) of the ultraviolet (UV) electroluminescence (EL) from ZnO at lambda~380 nm in the n-ZnO/ZnO nanodots-SiO(2) composite/p- Al(0.12)Ga(0.88)N heterojunction light-emitting diode. A SiO(2) layer embedded with ZnO nanodots was prepared on the p-type Al(0.12)Ga(0.88)N using spin-on coating of SiO(2) nanoparticles followed by atomic layer deposition (ALD) of ZnO. An n-type Al-doped ZnO layer was deposited upon the ZnO nanodots-SiO(2) composite layer also by the ALD technique. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveals that the ZnO nanodots embedded in the SiO(2) matrix have diameters of 3-8 nm and the wurtzite crystal structure, which allows the transport of carriers through the thick ZnO nanodots-SiO(2) composite layer. The high quality of the n-ZnO layer was manifested by the well crystallized lattice image in the HRTEM picture and the low-threshold optically pumped stimulated emission. The low refractive index of the ZnO nanodots-SiO(2) composite layer results in the increase in the light extraction efficiency from n-ZnO and the internal optical feedback of UV EL into n-ZnO layer. Consequently, significant enhancement of the UV EL intensity and super-linear increase in the EL intensity, as well as the spectral narrowing, with injection current were observed owing to ASE in the n-ZnO layer.

  5. Assessing uncertainties in crop and pasture ensemble model simulations of productivity and N2 O emissions.

    PubMed

    Ehrhardt, Fiona; Soussana, Jean-François; Bellocchi, Gianni; Grace, Peter; McAuliffe, Russel; Recous, Sylvie; Sándor, Renáta; Smith, Pete; Snow, Val; de Antoni Migliorati, Massimiliano; Basso, Bruno; Bhatia, Arti; Brilli, Lorenzo; Doltra, Jordi; Dorich, Christopher D; Doro, Luca; Fitton, Nuala; Giacomini, Sandro J; Grant, Brian; Harrison, Matthew T; Jones, Stephanie K; Kirschbaum, Miko U F; Klumpp, Katja; Laville, Patricia; Léonard, Joël; Liebig, Mark; Lieffering, Mark; Martin, Raphaël; Massad, Raia S; Meier, Elizabeth; Merbold, Lutz; Moore, Andrew D; Myrgiotis, Vasileios; Newton, Paul; Pattey, Elizabeth; Rolinski, Susanne; Sharp, Joanna; Smith, Ward N; Wu, Lianhai; Zhang, Qing

    2018-02-01

    Simulation models are extensively used to predict agricultural productivity and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the uncertainties of (reduced) model ensemble simulations have not been assessed systematically for variables affecting food security and climate change mitigation, within multi-species agricultural contexts. We report an international model comparison and benchmarking exercise, showing the potential of multi-model ensembles to predict productivity and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions for wheat, maize, rice and temperate grasslands. Using a multi-stage modelling protocol, from blind simulations (stage 1) to partial (stages 2-4) and full calibration (stage 5), 24 process-based biogeochemical models were assessed individually or as an ensemble against long-term experimental data from four temperate grassland and five arable crop rotation sites spanning four continents. Comparisons were performed by reference to the experimental uncertainties of observed yields and N 2 O emissions. Results showed that across sites and crop/grassland types, 23%-40% of the uncalibrated individual models were within two standard deviations (SD) of observed yields, while 42 (rice) to 96% (grasslands) of the models were within 1 SD of observed N 2 O emissions. At stage 1, ensembles formed by the three lowest prediction model errors predicted both yields and N 2 O emissions within experimental uncertainties for 44% and 33% of the crop and grassland growth cycles, respectively. Partial model calibration (stages 2-4) markedly reduced prediction errors of the full model ensemble E-median for crop grain yields (from 36% at stage 1 down to 4% on average) and grassland productivity (from 44% to 27%) and to a lesser and more variable extent for N 2 O emissions. Yield-scaled N 2 O emissions (N 2 O emissions divided by crop yields) were ranked accurately by three-model ensembles across crop species and field sites. The potential of using process-based model ensembles to predict jointly

  6. Short-term nitrous oxide profile dynamics and emissions response to water, nitrogen and carbon additions in two tropical soils

    Treesearch

    A. D. Nobre; M. Keller; P. M. Crill; R. C. Harriss

    2001-01-01

    Tropical soils are potentially the highest and least studied nitrous oxide (N2O) production areas in the world. The effect of water, nitrate and glucose additions on profile concentrations and episodic emissions of N2O for two volcanic soils in Costa Rica was examined. Magnitudes of episodic N2O pulses, as well as overall N2O emissions, varied considerably and...

  7. [Isolation of heterotrophic nitrifiers/aerobic denitrifiers and their roles in N2O production for different incubations].

    PubMed

    Jiang, Jing-Yan; Hu, Zheng-Hua; Huang, Yao

    2009-07-15

    Soil microorganisms are important sources of N2O for the atmosphere. Peak emissions of N2O are often observed after wetting of soil. The simultaneous heterotrophic nitrifying and aerobic denitrifying bacteria with respect to N2O emission were studied to obtain more information about the microbiologcal aspects of peak emissions. Using acetamide as the C and N source, two strains of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria were isolated, coded as XM1 and HX2,respectively. XM1 strain was Gram-negative chain-like bacilli, and the HX2 was Gram-negative cocci. In enrichment culture, N2O production of HX2 was 76 times more than XM1. Two strains could grow with glucose, mannitol or sodium tartrate as sole carbon source, respectively. They could nitrify with sodium nitrate or denitrify with ammonium sulfate as unique nitrogen source, and produce intermediate product nitrite. XM1 strain growth velocity and nitrite formation were obviously higher than HX2. The phylogentic analysis based on partial 16S rDNA showed that two isolated strains were the closest relative of Pseudomonas sp.99% sequence similarity. Under different WFPS (water-filled-pore-space) conditions, the aerobic autoclaved soil incubation trial showed that, HX2 strain was suitable for growing in 30% WFPS, and N2O production was (36.01 +/- 2.48) ng/g which was 1.9 times than that in 60% WFPS. But XM1 was suitable for growing in 60% WFPS and almost had no N2O production. To investigate the nitrifying and denitrifying mechanisms of heterotrophic nitrifiers/aerobic denitrifiers should be useful for mastering the mitigation way of soil N2O emission in future.

  8. Effect of watershed urbanization on N2O emissions from the Chongqing metropolitan river network, China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    He, Yixin; Wang, Xiaofeng; Chen, Huai; Yuan, Xingzhong; Wu, Ning; Zhang, Yuewei; Yue, Junsheng; Zhang, Qiaoyong; Diao, Yuanbin; Zhou, Lilei

    2017-12-01

    Watershed urbanization, an integrated anthropogenic perturbation, is another considerable global concern in addition to that of global warming and may significantly enrich the N loadings of watersheds, which then greatly influences the nitrous oxide (N2O) production and fluxes of these aquatic systems. However, little is known about the N2O dynamics in human-dominated metropolitan river networks. In this study, we present the temporal and spatial variations in N2O saturation and emission in the Chongqing metropolitan river network, which is undergoing intensified urbanization. The N2O saturation and fluxes at 84 sampling sites ranged from 126% to 10536% and from 4.5 to 1566.8 μmol N2O m-2 d-1, with means of 1780% and 261 μmol N2O m-2 d-1. The riverine N2O saturation and fluxes increased along with the urbanization gradient and urbanization rate, with disproportionately higher values in urban rivers due to the N2O-rich sewage inputs and enriched in situ N substrates. We found a clear seasonal pattern of N2O saturation, which was co-regulated by both water temperature and precipitation. Regression analysis indicated that the N substrates and dissolved oxygen (DO) that controlled nitrogen metabolism acted as good predictors of the N2O emissions of urban river networks. Particularly, phosphorus (P) and hydromorphological factors (water velocity, river size and bottom substrate) had stronger relationships with the N2O saturation and could also be used to predict the N2O emission hotspots in regions with rapid urbanization. In addition, the default emission factors (EF5-r) used in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methodology may need revision given the differences among the physical and chemical factors in different rivers, especially urban rivers.

  9. Testing the Hole-in-the-Pipe Model of nitric and nitrous oxide emissions from soils using the TRAGNET Database

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davidson, Eric A.; Verchot, Louis V.

    2000-12-01

    Because several soil properties and processes affect emissions of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from soils, it has been difficult to develop effective and robust algorithms to predict emissions of these gases in biogeochemical models. The conceptual "hole-in-the-pipe" (HIP) model has been used effectively to interpret results of numerous studies, but the ranges of climatic conditions and soil properties are often relatively narrow for each individual study. The Trace Gas Network (TRAGNET) database offers a unique opportunity to test the validity of one manifestation of the HIP model across a broad range of sites, including temperate and tropical climates, grasslands and forests, and native vegetation and agricultural crops. The logarithm of the sum of NO + N2O emissions was positively and significantly correlated with the logarithm of the sum of extractable soil NH4+ + NO3-. The logarithm of the ratio of NO:N2O emissions was negatively and significantly correlated with water-filled pore space (WFPS). These analyses confirm the applicability of the HIP model concept, that indices of soil N availability correlate with the sum of NO+N2O emissions, while soil water content is a strong and robust controller of the ratio of NO:N2O emissions. However, these parameterizations have only broad-brush accuracy because of unaccounted variation among studies in the soil depths where gas production occurs, where soil N and water are measured, and other factors. Although accurate predictions at individual sites may still require site-specific parameterization of these empirical functions, the parameterizations presented here, particularly the one for WFPS, may be appropriate for global biogeochemical modeling. Moreover, this integration of data sets demonstrates the broad ranging applicability of the HIP conceptual approach for understanding soil emissions of NO and N2O.

  10. Relationship Between Soil Type and N2O Reductase Genotype (nosZ) of Indigenous Soybean Bradyrhizobia: nosZ-minus Populations are Dominant in Andosols

    PubMed Central

    Shiina, Yoko; Itakura, Manabu; Choi, Hyunseok; Saeki, Yuichi; Hayatsu, Masahito; Minamisawa, Kiwamu

    2014-01-01

    Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains that have the nosZ gene, which encodes N2O reductase, are able to mitigate N2O emissions from soils (15). To examine the distribution of nosZ genotypes among Japanese indigenous soybean bradyrhizobia, we isolated bradyrhizobia from the root nodules of soybean plants inoculated with 32 different soils and analyzed their nosZ and nodC genotypes. The 1556 resultant isolates were classified into the nosZ+/nodC+ genotype (855 isolates) and nosZ−/nodC+ genotype (701 isolates). The 11 soil samples in which nosZ− isolates significantly dominated (P < 0.05; the χ2 test) were all Andosols (a volcanic ash soil prevalent in agricultural fields in Japan), whereas the 17 soil samples in which nosZ+ isolates significantly dominated were mainly alluvial soils (non-volcanic ash soils). This result was supported by a principal component analysis of environmental factors: the dominance of the nosZ− genotype was positively correlated with total N, total C, and the phosphate absorption coefficient in the soils, which are soil properties typical of Andosols. Internal transcribed spacer sequencing of representative isolates showed that the nosZ+ and nosZ− isolates of B. japonicum fell mainly into the USDA110 (BJ1) and USDA6 (BJ2) groups, respectively. These results demonstrated that the group lacking nosZ was dominant in Andosols, which can be a target soil type for an N2O mitigation strategy in soybean fields. We herein discussed how the nosZ genotypes of soybean bradyrhizobia depended on soil types in terms of N2O respiration selection and genomic determinants for soil adaptation. PMID:25476067

  11. [Nitrous oxide emission, nitrification, denitrification and nitrogen mineralization during rice growing season in 2 soils from Uruguay].

    PubMed

    Illarze, Gabriela; Del Pino, Amabelia; Riccetto, Sara; Irisarri, Pilar

    Microbial processes such as mineralization, nitrification and denitrification regulate nitrogen dynamics in the soil. The last two processes may produce nitrous oxide (N 2 O). In this work N 2 O fluxes were quantified at four moments of the rice cycle, sowing, tillering, panicle initiation and maturity, in two sites that differed mainly in their soil organic matter (OM) content, Salto (higher OM) and Treinta y Tres. Potential net N mineralization, ammonium oxidation and denitrification as well as the most probable numbers (MPN) of ammonia oxidizers and denitrifiers were determined. Potential N mineralization did not vary with the soil type and increased at rice maturity. Neither ammonia oxidation potential nor MPN were different among the soils. However, the soil with higher OM exhibited higher activity and MPN of denitrifiers, irrespective of the rice stage. In turn, at the latest phases of the crop, the MPN of denitrifiers increased coinciding with the highest mineralization potential and mineral N content of the soil. Significant differences in N 2 O flux were observed in Salto, where the highest emissions were detected at rice maturity, after the soil was drained (44.2 vs 20.8g N-N 2 O/ha d in Treinta y Tres). This work shows the importance of considering the soil type and end-of-season drainage of the rice field to elaborate GHGs (greenhouse gases) inventories. Copyright © 2017 Asociación Argentina de Microbiología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  12. Quantifying N2O reduction to N2 based on N2O isotopocules - validation with independent methods (helium incubation and 15N gas flux method)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lewicka-Szczebak, Dominika; Augustin, Jürgen; Giesemann, Anette; Well, Reinhard

    2017-02-01

    Stable isotopic analyses of soil-emitted N2O (δ15Nbulk, δ18O and δ15Nsp = 15N site preference within the linear N2O molecule) may help to quantify N2O reduction to N2, an important but rarely quantified process in the soil nitrogen cycle. The N2O residual fraction (remaining unreduced N2O, rN2O) can be theoretically calculated from the measured isotopic enrichment of the residual N2O. However, various N2O-producing pathways may also influence the N2O isotopic signatures, and hence complicate the application of this isotopic fractionation approach. Here this approach was tested based on laboratory soil incubations with two different soil types, applying two reference methods for quantification of rN2O: helium incubation with direct measurement of N2 flux and the 15N gas flux method. This allowed a comparison of the measured rN2O values with the ones calculated based on isotopic enrichment of residual N2O. The results indicate that the performance of the N2O isotopic fractionation approach is related to the accompanying N2O and N2 source processes and the most critical is the determination of the initial isotopic signature of N2O before reduction (δ0). We show that δ0 can be well determined experimentally if stable in time and then successfully applied for determination of rN2O based on δ15Nsp values. Much more problematic to deal with are temporal changes of δ0 values leading to failure of the approach based on δ15Nsp values only. For this case, we propose here a dual N2O isotopocule mapping approach, where calculations are based on the relation between δ18O and δ15Nsp values. This allows for the simultaneous estimation of the N2O-producing pathways' contribution and the rN2O value.

  13. [Contribution of fungi to soil nitrous oxide emission and their research methods: a review].

    PubMed

    Huang, Ying; Long, Xi-En

    2014-04-01

    Nitrous oxide is an important greenhouse gas. Soil is one major emission source of N2O, which is a by-product of microorganisms-driven nitrification and denitrification processes. Extensive research has demonstrated archaea and bacteria are the predominant contributors in nitrification and denitrification. However, fungi may play a predominant role in the N transformation in a certain soil ecosystem. The fungal contribution to N2O production has been rarely investigated. Here, we reviewed the mechanism of N2O production by soil fungi. The mechanisms of denitrification, autotrophic and heterotrophic nitrification and their key microbes and functional genes were described, respectively. We discriminated the differences in denitrification between bacteria and fungi and discussed the methods being used to determine the contribution of fungi to soil N2O emission, including selective inhibitors, 15N stable isotope probing, isolation and pure culturing and uncultured molecular detection methods. The existing problems and research prospects were also presented.

  14. Influences of Land Use/Cover Types on Nitrous Oxide Emissions during Freeze-Thaw Periods from Waterlogged Soils in Inner Mongolia.

    PubMed

    Lu, Zedong; Du, Rui; Du, Pengrui; Qin, Saisai; Liang, Zongmin; Li, Ziming; Wang, Yaling; Wang, Yanfen

    2015-01-01

    Nitrous oxide emissions during freeze/thaw periods contribute significantly to annual soil N2O emissions budgets in middle- and high-latitude areas; however, the freeze/thaw-related N2O emissions from waterlogged soils have hardly been studied in the Hulunber Grassland, Inner Mongolia. For this study, the effects of changes in land use/cover types on N2O emissions during freeze-thaw cycles were investigated to more accurately quantify the annual N2O emissions from grasslands. Soil cores from six sites were incubated at varying temperature (ranging from -15 to 10°C) to simulate freeze-thaw cycles. N2O production rates were low in all soil cores during freezing periods, but increased markedly after soil thawed. Mean rates of N2O production differed by vegetation type, and followed the sequence: Leymus chinensis (LC) and Artemisia tanacetifolia (AT) steppes > LC steppes ≥ Stipa baicalensis (SB) steppes. Land use types (mowing and grazing) had differing effects on freeze/thaw-related N2O production. Grazing significantly reduced N2O production by 36.8%, while mowing enhanced production. The production of N2O was related to the rate at which grassland was mowed, in the order: triennially (M3) > once annually (M1) ≥ unmown (UM). Compared with the UM control plot, the M3 and M1 mowing regimes enhanced N2O production by 57.9% and 13.0% respectively. The results of in situ year-round measurements showed that large amounts of N2O were emitted during the freeze-thaw period, and that annual mean fluxes of N2O were 9.21 μg N2O-N m-2 h-1 (ungrazed steppe) and 6.54 μg N2O-N m-2 h-1 (grazed steppe). Our results further the understanding of freeze/thaw events as enhancing N2O production, and confirm that different land use/cover types should be differentiated rather than presumed to be equivalent, regarding nitrous oxide emission. Even so, further research involving multi-year and intensive measurements of N2O emission is still needed.

  15. Insight into effects of mature compost recycling on N2O emission and denitrification genes in sludge composting.

    PubMed

    Wang, Ke; Wu, Yiqi; Li, Weiguang; Wu, Chuandong; Chen, Zhiqiang

    2018-03-01

    Mature compost recycling is widely used to reduce the dosage of organic bulking agent in actual composting process. In this study, the effects of mature compost amendment on N 2 O emission and denitrification genes were investigated in 47 days composting of sewage sludge and rice husks. The results showed that mature compost amendment dramatically augmented N 2 O emission rate in mesophilic phase and CO 2 emission rate in thermophilic phase of composting, respectively. The cumulative amount of N 2 O emission increased by more than 23 times compared to the control. Mature compost amendment not only reduced moisture and pH, but also significantly increased NO 3 - -N and NO 2 - -N concentrations. The correlation matrices indicated that NO 3 - -N, narG and norB were the main factors influencing N 2 O emission rate in sludge composting with mature compost recycling, but the N 2 O emission rate was significantly correlated to NO 2 - -N, nirK and norB in the control. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Integrated measurements and modeling of CO2, CH4, and N2O fluxes using soil microsite frequency distributions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davidson, Eric; Sihi, Debjani; Savage, Kathleen

    2017-04-01

    Soil fluxes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) play a significant role as biotic feedbacks to climate change. Production and consumption of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) are affected by complex interactions of temperature, moisture, and substrate supply, which are further complicated by spatial heterogeneity of the soil matrix. Models of belowground processes of these GHGs should be internally consistent with respect to the biophysical processes of gaseous production, consumption, and transport within the soil, including the contrasting effects of oxygen (O2) as either substrate or inhibitor. We installed automated chambers to simultaneously measure soil fluxes of CO2 (using LiCor-IRGA), CH4, and N2O (using Aerodyne quantum cascade laser) along soil moisture gradients at the Howland Forest in Maine, USA. Measured fluxes of these GHGs were used to develop and validate a merged model. While originally intended for aerobic respiration, the core structure of the Dual Arrhenius and Michaelis-Menten (DAMM) model was modified by adding M-M and Arrhenius functions for each GHG production and consumption process, and then using the same diffusion functions for each GHG and for O2. The area under a soil chamber was partitioned according to a log-normal probability distribution function, where only a small fraction of microsites had high available-C. The probability distribution of soil C leads to a simulated distribution of heterotrophic respiration, which translates to a distribution of O2 consumption among microsites. Linking microsite consumption of O2 with a diffusion model generates microsite concentrations of O2, which then determine the distribution of microsite production and consumption of CH4 and N2O, and subsequently their microsite concentrations using the same diffusion function. At many moisture values, there are some microsites of production and some of consumption for each gas, and the resulting simulated microsite concentrations of CH4

  17. Ocean N2O Emissions : Recent Global Estimates and Anthropogenically Influenced Changes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Suntharalingam, P.; Buithenuis, E.; Andrews, O.; Le Quere, C.

    2016-12-01

    Oceanic N2O is produced by microbial activity during organic matter cycling in the subsurface ocean; its production mechanisms display sensitivity to ambient oxygen level. In the oxic ocean, N2O is produced as a byproduct during the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate, mediated by ammonia oxidizing bacteria and archea. N2O is also produced and consumed in sub-oxic and anoxic waters through the action of marine denitrifiers during the multi-step reduction of nitrate to gaseous nitrogen. The oceanic N2O distribution therefore displays significant heterogeneity with background levels of 10-20 nmol/l in the well-oxygenated ocean basins, high concentrations (> 40 nmol/l) in hypoxic waters, and N2O depletion in the core of ocean oxygen minimum zones (OMZs). Oceanic N2O emissions are estimated to account for up to a third of the pre-industrial N2O fluxes to the atmosphere, however the natural cycle of ocean N2O has been perturbed in recent decades by inputs of anthropogenically derived nutrient, and by the impacts of climate change. Anthropogenic nitrogen inputs (e.g., NOx and NHy from fossil fuel combustion and agricultural fertilizer) enter the ocean via atmospheric deposition and riverine fluxes, influencing oceanic N2O production via their impact on the marine organic matter cycle. In addition, climate variations associated with surface ocean warming affect oceanic circulation and nutrient transport pathways, influencing marine productivity and the ventilation of oxygen minimum zones. Recent studies have suggested that possible expansion of oceanic OMZs in a warming climate could lead to significant changes in N2O production and fluxes from these regions. We will summarise the current state of knowledge on the ocean N2O budget and net flux to the atmosphere. Recently reported estimates have been based on (i) empirical relationships derived from ocean tracer data (e.g., involving excess N2O and Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU) correlations), (ii) ocean biogeochemical

  18. Carbon dioxide(CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes in an agro-ecosystems under changing physical and biological conditions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liang, L.; Eberwein, J.; Oikawa, P.; Jenerette, D.; Grantz, D. A.

    2013-12-01

    Liyin Liang1, Jennifer Eberwein1, Patty Oikawa1, Darrel Jenerette1, David Grantz1 1Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA Carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are the major greenhouse gases and together produce a strong positive radiative forcing in the atmosphere. The fluxes of CO2 and N2O from soil to atmosphere vary with physical and biological factors, e.g., temperature, soil moisture, pH value, soil organic carbon contents, microorganism communities and so on. Understanding the interactions among these factors is critical to estimation of CO2 and N2O emissions. We investigate these fluxes in an extreme production environment with very high maximum temperatures, at the agricultural experiment station of University of California-Desert Research Center in the Imperial Valley of southern California. In this research, we measured the CO2 and N2O fluxes from soil incubation under controlled laboratory conditions, in surface chambers under field conditions and by eddy covariance. We explore the variation of CO2 and N2O fluxes and relationship between them in this extreme biofuel production environment. The discrete chamber measurements showed that the N2O flux in our field sites is 2.39×0.70 μg N m-2 hr-1, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) from 0.86 to 3.92 μg N m-2 hr-1. Compared to the previous reported value (0.45~26.26 μg N m-2 hr-1) of N2O flux in California, the N2O flux from biofuel crop land is in the lower level, although more observations should be took to confirm it. The N2O flux also shows very high variability within a field of biomass Sorghum, ranging from 0.40 to 8.19 μg N m-2 hr-1 across 11 sites owning to the high variability of physical and biological factors. Soil incubation measurements will be conducted to identify the sources of this variability. The eddy covariance measurements will allow calculation of the CO2 and N2O emissions at the ecosystem level as a step in quantifying

  19. Effects of carbon sources and COD/N ratio on N2O emissions in subsurface flow constructed wetlands.

    PubMed

    Lyu, Wanlin; Huang, Lei; Xiao, Guangquan; Chen, Yucheng

    2017-12-01

    A set of constructed wetlands under two different carbon sources, namely, glucose (CW) and sodium acetate (YW), was established at a laboratory scale with influent COD/N ratios of 20:1, 10:1, 7:1, 4:1, and 0 to analyze the influence of carbon supply on nitrous oxide emissions. Results showed that the glucose systems generated higher N 2 O emissions than those of the sodium acetate systems. The higher amount of N 2 O-releasing fluxes in the CWs than in the YWs was consistent with the higher NO 2 - -N accumulation in the former than in the latter. Moreover, electron competition was tighter in the CWs and contributed to the incomplete denitrification with poor N 2 O production performance. Illumina MiSeq sequencing demonstrated that some denitrifying bacteria, such as Denitratisoma, Bacillus, and Zoogloea, were higher in the YWs than in the CWs. This result indicated that the carbon source is important in controlling N 2 O emissions in microbial communities. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  20. Drainage and tillage practices in the winter fallow season mitigate CH4 and N2O emissions from a double-rice field in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Guangbin; Yu, Haiyang; Fan, Xianfang; Yang, Yuting; Ma, Jing; Xu, Hua

    2016-09-01

    Traditional land management (no tillage, no drainage, NTND) during the winter fallow season results in substantial CH4 and N2O emissions from double-rice fields in China. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of drainage and tillage during the winter fallow season on CH4 and N2O emissions and to develop mitigation options. The experiment had four treatments: NTND, NTD (drainage but no tillage), TND (tillage but no drainage), and TD (both drainage and tillage). The study was conducted from 2010 to 2014 in a Chinese double-rice field. During winter, total precipitation and mean daily temperature significantly affected CH4 emission. Compared to NTND, drainage and tillage decreased annual CH4 emissions in early- and late-rice seasons by 54 and 33 kg CH4 ha-1 yr-1, respectively. Drainage and tillage increased N2O emissions in the winter fallow season but reduced it in early- and late-rice seasons, resulting in no annual change in N2O emission. Global warming potentials of CH4 and N2O emissions were decreased by 1.49 and 0.92 t CO2 eq. ha-1 yr-1, respectively, and were reduced more by combining drainage with tillage, providing a mitigation potential of 1.96 t CO2 eq. ha-1 yr-1. A low total C content and high C / N ratio in rice residues showed that tillage in the winter fallow season reduced CH4 and N2O emissions in both early- and late-rice seasons. Drainage and tillage significantly decreased the abundance of methanogens in paddy soil, and this may explain the decrease of CH4 emissions. Greenhouse gas intensity was significantly decreased by drainage and tillage separately, and the reduction was greater by combining drainage with tillage, resulting in a reduction of 0.17 t CO2 eq. t-1. The results indicate that drainage combined with tillage during the winter fallow season is an effective strategy for mitigating greenhouse gas releases from double-rice fields.

  1. Partitioning N2O emissions within the US Corn Belt using an inverse modeling approach

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions within the US Corn Belt have been estimated to be 2- to 9-11 fold larger than predictions from emission inventories, implying that one or more source 12 categories in bottom-up approaches are underestimated. Here we interpret hourly N2O 13 mixing ratios measured during ...

  2. Assessment of online monitoring strategies for measuring N2O emissions from full-scale wastewater treatment systems.

    PubMed

    Marques, Ricardo; Rodriguez-Caballero, A; Oehmen, Adrian; Pijuan, Maite

    2016-08-01

    Clark-Type nitrous oxide (N2O) sensors are routinely used to measure dissolved N2O concentrations in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), but have never before been applied to assess gas-phase N2O emissions in full-scale WWTPs. In this study, a full-scale N2O gas sensor was tested and validated for online gas measurements, and assessed with respect to its linearity, temperature dependence, signal saturation and drift prior to full-scale application. The sensor was linear at the concentrations tested (0-422.3, 0-50 and 0-10 ppmv N2O) and had a linear response up to 2750 ppmv N2O. An exponential correlation between temperature and sensor signal was described and predicted using a double exponential equation while the drift did not have a significant influence on the signal. The N2O gas sensor was used for online N2O monitoring in a full-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) treating domestic wastewater and results were compared with those obtained by a commercial online gas analyser. Emissions were successfully described by the sensor, being even more accurate than the values given by the commercial analyser at N2O concentrations above 500 ppmv. Data from this gas N2O sensor was also used to validate two models to predict N2O emissions from dissolved N2O measurements, one based on oxygen transfer rate and the other based on superficial velocity of the gas bubble. Using the first model, predictions for N2O emissions agreed by 98.7% with the measured by the gas sensor, while 87.0% similarity was obtained with the second model. This is the first study showing a reliable estimation of gas emissions based on dissolved N2O online data in a full-scale wastewater treatment facility. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Nitrous oxide emissions during biological soil disinfestation with different organic matter and plastic mulch films in laboratory-scale tests.

    PubMed

    Maeda, Morihiro; Kayano, Eisuke; Fujiwara, Taku; Nagare, Hideaki; Akao, Satoshi

    2015-10-23

    Nitrous oxide (N 2 O), which is a greenhouse gas, may be more emitted as an intermediate product of denitrification during biological soil disinfestation. The biological soil disinfestation is a method to suppress soil-borne pathogens under reductive soil conditions produced by the application of organic matter and water irrigation with plastic film. The objective of the study was to determine the effects of different organic matter and mulch films on N 2 O emissions during biological soil disinfestation. Grey lowland soil amended with cattle compost plus rice bran (0.2%), rice husk (0.2%) or dent corn (0.1%, 0.2% and 0.4%) was incubated at 100% water-holding capacity with or without plastic films made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and triple-layer polyolefin (3PO) for 72 h at 50°C. Permeation of the two films was also measured at 25°C and 50°C. Results showed that incorporation of organic matter increased N 2 O emissions compared with no organic matter addition at 50°C. Incorporation of rice bran and dent corn with easily decomposable C and low C:N ratios increased N 2 O emissions for the first 12 h, but thereafter, available C supply from these amendments suppressed N 2 O emissions. Permeability of mulch films increased at a higher temperature and was larger for PVC than for 3PO. Our study indicated that rice husk should not be used for soil disinfestation and that application rates of organic matter must be determined based on their decomposability. Moreover, mulch film covering would not suppress N 2 O emission in biological soil disinfestation because of high temperature.

  4. Global terrestrial N2O budget for present and future

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Olin, Stefan; Xing, Xu-Ri; Wårlind, David; Eliasson, Peter; Smith, Ben; Arneth, Almut

    2017-04-01

    Nitrogen (N) plays an important role in plant productivity and physiology and is the main limiting nutrient in a majority of the terrestrial ecosystems. The enhanced input of anthropogenic reactive nitrogen (Nr) in agriculture have enhanced global food production, but with adverse effects on biodiversity and water quality, and substantially increased emissions of N trace gases that affect air quality and climate. Emissions of N gases affects the climate, either through cloud forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) gases or as greenhouse gases, where nitrous oxide (N2O) is the most important being approximately 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2). In this study we use the process-based global vegetation model Lund-Potsdam-Jena General Ecosystem Simulator (LPJ-GUESS) (Olin et al. 2015) that recently have incorporated a new soil N transformation scheme, adopted from Xu-Ri and Prentice (2008), which makes it possible to study the N2O emission respond to changes in climate and CO2 concentration as well as anthropogenic N enhancements on a global scale. We present here results from the validation of the new model against site-scale N2O measurements from agricultural and non-agricultural ecosystems. We will also present results from a study to examine how land use, land use change and anthropogenic N fertilisation influence historical and future global N2O emissions. This new development represents a key component within future projects in CMIP6 (LUMIP) and in EC-Earth for the EU Horizon 2020 project CRESCENDO. Olin, S., Lindeskog, M., Pugh, T., Schurgers, G., Mischurow, M., Wårlind, D., Zaehle, S., Stocker, B., Smith, B. and Arneth, A. 2015. Soil carbon management in large-scale Earth system modelling: implications for crop yields and nitrogen leaching. Earth System Dynamics, 6, 745-768. Xu-Ri and Prentice IC. 2008. Terrestrial nitrogen cycle simulation with a dynamic global vegetation model. Global Change Biology, 14, 1745-1764.

  5. N2O and NO emissions during autotrophic nitrogen removal in a granular sludge reactor--a simulation study.

    PubMed

    Van Hulle, S W H; Callens, J; Mampaey, K E; van Loosdrecht, M C M; Volcke, E I P

    2012-01-01

    This contribution deals with NO and N2O emissions during autotrophic nitrogen removal in a granular sludge reactor. Two possible model scenarios describing this emission by ammonium- oxidizing biomass have been compared in a simulation study of a granular sludge reactor for one-stage partial nitritation--Anammox. No significant difference between these two scenarios was noticed. The influence of the bulk oxygen concentration, granule size, reactor temperature and ammonium load on the NO and N2O emissions has been assessed. The simulation results indicate that emission maxima of NO and N2O coincide with the region for optimal Anammox conversion. Also, most of the NO and N2O are present in the off-gas, owing to the limited solubility of both gases. The size of granules needs to be large enough not to limit optimal Anammox activity, but not too large as this implies an elevated production of N2O. Temperature has a significant influence on N2O emission, as a higher temperature results in a better N-removal efficiency and a lowered N2O production. Statistical analysis of the results showed that there is a strong correlation between nitrite accumulation and N2O production. Further, three regions of operation can be distinguished: a region with high N2O, NO and nitrite concentration; a region with high N2 concentrations and, as such, high removal percentages; and a region with high oxygen and nitrate concentrations. There is some overlap between the first two regions, which is in line with the fact that maximum emission of NO and N2O coincides with the region for optimal Anammox conversion.

  6. No Memory Effects of Restoration on N2O Exchange above an intensively managed Grassland in Switzerland

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Merbold, L.; Decock, C.; Hörtnagl, L. J.; Fuchs, K.; Eugster, W.

    2015-12-01

    Here we present 3 consecutive years of EC flux measurements of N2O, CH4 and CO2) carried out in intensively managed grassland in Switzerland. Our measurements of greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations were based on a recently developed CW-QCL absorption spectrometer to measure the concentrations of N2O and CH4 and an infrared gas analyzer to measure the concentrations of CO2 and H2O. We investigated the magnitude of trace gas emissions during a year of major disturbance (grassland restoration - including ploughing and fertilization in 2012) and the two following years representing business as usual (up to 6 harvests per year which are followed by fertilizer application, 2013 and 2014). We observed large peaks of N2O (up to 50 nmol m-2 s-1) in 2012 during thawing of the soil after the winter period and after re-sowing as well as inorganic fertilizer application at the beginning of summer. N2O emissions following harvest and fertilizer application ranged between 2 and 7 nmol m-2 s-1 and background fluxes were no larger than 1 nmol m-2 s-1. Fluxes of N2O were primarily controlled by soil water content and temperature, while management activities lead to larger variation of N2O fluxes during several days after the management event when compared to the background flux measurements. Annual flux budgets were dominated by CO2 emissions and N2O emissions contributed largely to the annual budget in 2012 but to a much lesser extend in the post-disturbance years (2013/2014). CH4 flux contribution to the annual budget was negligible. We conclude that grassland restoration results in large N2O emissions, while not leading to larger N2O emissions in subsequent years. Still, such specific time periods of enhanced N2O emissions need to be considered in decadal greenhouse gas budget estimates due to the fact that a single year can offset previous carbon and nitrogen sinks.

  7. Reducing N2O and NO emissions while sustaining crop productivity in a Chinese vegetable-cereal double cropping system.

    PubMed

    Yao, Zhisheng; Yan, Guangxuan; Zheng, Xunhua; Wang, Rui; Liu, Chunyan; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus

    2017-12-01

    High nitrogen (N) inputs in Chinese vegetable and cereal productions played key roles in increasing crop yields. However, emissions of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and atmospheric pollutant nitric oxide (NO) increased too. For lowering the environmental costs of crop production, it is essential to optimize N strategies to maintain high crop productivity, while reducing the associated N losses. We performed a 2 year-round field study regarding the effect of different combinations of poultry manure and chemical N fertilizers on crop yields, N use efficiency (NUE) and N 2 O and NO fluxes from a Welsh onion-winter wheat system in the North China Plain. Annual N 2 O and NO emissions averaged 1.14-3.82 kg N ha -1 yr -1 (or 5.54-13.06 g N kg -1 N uptake) and 0.57-1.87 kg N ha -1 yr -1 (or 2.78-6.38 g N kg -1 N uptake) over all treatments, respectively. Both N 2 O and NO emissions increased linearly with increasing total N inputs, and the mean annual direct emission factors (EF d ) were 0.39% for N 2 O and 0.19% for NO. Interestingly, the EF d for chemical N fertilizers (N 2 O: 0.42-0.48%; NO: 0.07-0.11%) was significantly lower than for manure N (N 2 O: 1.35%; NO: 0.76%). Besides, a negative power relationship between yield-scaled N 2 O, NO or N 2 O + NO emissions and NUE was observed, suggesting that improving NUE in crop production is crucial for increasing crop yields while decreasing nitrogenous gas release. Compared to the current farmers' fertilization rate, alternative practices with reduced chemical N fertilizers increased NUE and decreased annual N 2 O + NO emissions substantially, while crop yields remained unaffected. As a result, annual yield-scaled N 2 O + NO emissions were reduced by > 20%. Our study shows that a reduction of current application rates of chemical N fertilizers by 30-50% does not affect crop productivity, while at the same time N 2 O and NO emissions would be reduced significantly. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

  8. Bedding additives reduce ammonia emission and improve crop N uptake after soil application of solid cattle manure.

    PubMed

    Shah, Ghulam Abbas; Shah, Ghulam Mustafa; Rashid, Muhammad Imtiaz; Groot, Jeroen C J; Traore, Bouba; Lantinga, Egbert A

    2018-03-01

    This study examined the influences of three potential additives, i.e., lava meal, sandy soil top-layer and zeolite (used in animal bedding) amended solid cattle manures on (i) ammonia (NH 3 ), dinitrous oxide (N 2 O), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) emissions and (ii) maize crop or grassland apparent N recovery (ANR). Diffusion samplers were installed at 20 cm height on grassland surface to measure the concentrations of NH 3 from the manures. A photoacoustic gas monitor was used to quantitate the fluxes of N 2 O, CH 4 and CO 2 after manures' incorporation into the maize-field. Herbage ANR was calculated from dry matter yield and N uptake of three successive harvests, while maize crop ANR was determined at cusp of juvenile stage, outset of grain filling as well as physiological maturity stages. Use of additives decreased the NH 3 emission rates by about two-third from the manures applied on grassland surface than control untreated-manure. Total herbage ANR was more than doubled in treated manures and was 25% from manure amended with farm soil, 26% and 28% from zeolite and lava meal, respectively compared to 11% from control manure. In maize experiment, mean N 2 O and CO 2 emission rates were the highest from the latter treatment but these rates were not differed from zero control in case of manures amended with farm soil or zeolite. However, mean CH 4 emissions was not differed among all treatments during the whole measuring period. The highest maize crop ANR was obtained at the beginning of grain filling stage (11-40%), however ample lower crop recoveries (8-14%) were achieved at the final physiological maturity stage. This phenomenon was occurred due to leaf senescence N losses from maize crop during the period of grains filling. The lowest losses were observed from control manure at this stage. Hence, all additives decreased the N losses from animal manure and enhanced crop N uptake thus improved the agro-environmental worth of animal manure

  9. Minimizing N2O emissions and carbon footprint on a full-scale activated sludge sequencing batch reactor.

    PubMed

    Rodriguez-Caballero, A; Aymerich, I; Marques, Ricardo; Poch, M; Pijuan, M

    2015-03-15

    A continuous, on-line quantification of the nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from a full-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) placed in a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was performed in this study. In general, N2O emissions from the biological wastewater treatment system were 97.1 ± 6.9 g N2O-N/Kg [Formula: see text] consumed or 6.8% of the influent [Formula: see text] load. In the WWTP of this study, N2O emissions accounted for over 60% of the total carbon footprint of the facility, on average. Different cycle configurations were implemented in the SBR aiming at reaching acceptable effluent values. Each cycle configuration consisted of sequences of aerated and non-aerated phases of different time length being controlled by the ammonium set-point fixed. Cycles with long aerated phases showed the largest N2O emissions, with the consequent increase in carbon footprint. Cycle configurations with intermittent aeration (aerated phases up to 20-30 min followed by short anoxic phases) were proven to effectively reduce N2O emissions, without compromising nitrification performance or increasing electricity consumption. This is the first study in which a successful operational strategy for N2O mitigation is identified at full-scale. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. High emissions of greenhouse gases from grasslands on peat and other organic soils.

    PubMed

    Tiemeyer, Bärbel; Albiac Borraz, Elisa; Augustin, Jürgen; Bechtold, Michel; Beetz, Sascha; Beyer, Colja; Drösler, Matthias; Ebli, Martin; Eickenscheidt, Tim; Fiedler, Sabine; Förster, Christoph; Freibauer, Annette; Giebels, Michael; Glatzel, Stephan; Heinichen, Jan; Hoffmann, Mathias; Höper, Heinrich; Jurasinski, Gerald; Leiber-Sauheitl, Katharina; Peichl-Brak, Mandy; Roßkopf, Niko; Sommer, Michael; Zeitz, Jutta

    2016-12-01

    Drainage has turned peatlands from a carbon sink into one of the world's largest greenhouse gas (GHG) sources from cultivated soils. We analyzed a unique data set (12 peatlands, 48 sites and 122 annual budgets) of mainly unpublished GHG emissions from grasslands on bog and fen peat as well as other soils rich in soil organic carbon (SOC) in Germany. Emissions and environmental variables were measured with identical methods. Site-averaged GHG budgets were surprisingly variable (29.2 ± 17.4 t CO 2 -eq. ha -1  yr -1 ) and partially higher than all published data and the IPCC default emission factors for GHG inventories. Generally, CO 2 (27.7 ± 17.3 t CO 2  ha -1  yr -1 ) dominated the GHG budget. Nitrous oxide (2.3 ± 2.4 kg N 2 O-N ha -1  yr -1 ) and methane emissions (30.8 ± 69.8 kg CH 4 -C ha -1  yr -1 ) were lower than expected except for CH 4 emissions from nutrient-poor acidic sites. At single peatlands, CO 2 emissions clearly increased with deeper mean water table depth (WTD), but there was no general dependency of CO 2 on WTD for the complete data set. Thus, regionalization of CO 2 emissions by WTD only will remain uncertain. WTD dynamics explained some of the differences between peatlands as sites which became very dry during summer showed lower emissions. We introduced the aerated nitrogen stock (N air ) as a variable combining soil nitrogen stocks with WTD. CO 2 increased with N air across peatlands. Soils with comparatively low SOC concentrations showed as high CO 2 emissions as true peat soils because N air was similar. N 2 O emissions were controlled by the WTD dynamics and the nitrogen content of the topsoil. CH 4 emissions can be well described by WTD and ponding duration during summer. Our results can help both to improve GHG emission reporting and to prioritize and plan emission reduction measures for peat and similar soils at different scales. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Enhancement of farmland greenhouse gas emissions from leakage of stored CO2: simulation of leaked CO2 from CCS.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Xueyan; Ma, Xin; Wu, Yang; Li, Yue

    2015-06-15

    The effects of leaked CO2 on plant and soil constitute a key objective of carbon capture and storage (CCS) safety. The effects of leaked CO2 on trace soil gas (e.g., methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in farmlands are not well-understood. This study simulated the effects of elevated soil CO2 on CH4 and N2O through pot experiments. The results revealed that significant increases of CH4 and N2O emissions were induced by the simulated CO2 leakages; the emission rates of CH4 and N2O were substantial, reaching about 222 and 48 times than that of the control, respectively. The absolute global warming potentials (GWPs) of the additional CH4 and N2O are considerable, but the cumulative GWPs of the additional CH4 and N2O only accounted for 0.03% and 0.06%, respectively, of the cumulative amount of leaked CO2 under high leakage conditions. The results demonstrate that leakage from CCS projects may lead to additional greenhouse gas emissions from soil; however, in general, the amount of additional CH4 and N2O emissions is negligible when compared with the amount of leaked CO2. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. N2O Source Strength of Tropical Rain Forests: From the Site to the Global Scale

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kiese, R.; Werner, C.; Butterbach-Bahl, K.

    2006-12-01

    In contrast to the significant importance of tropical rain forest ecosystems as one of the major single sources within the global atmospheric N2O budget (2.2 3.7 Tg N y-1, regional and global estimates of their N2O source strength are still limited and highly uncertain. However, accurate quantification of sources and sinks of greenhouse gases like CO2, N2O and CH4 for natural, agricultural and forest ecosystems is crucial to our understanding of land use change effects on global climate change. At present, up-scaling approaches which link detailed geographic information systems (GIS) to mechanistic biochemical models are seen as a promising tool to contribute towards more reliable estimates of biogenic sources of N2O, e.g. tropical rain forest ecosystems. In our study we further developed and tested the PnET-N-DNDC model using Bayesian calibration techniques based on detailed N2O emission data of two recently conducted field campaigns in African (Kenya) and Asian (SE-China) tropical forest ecosystems and additional datasets from earlier own field campaigns or the literature. For global upscaling of N2O emissions an extensive GIS database was constructed holding all necessary parameters (climate ECWMF ERA 40; soil: FAO, vegetation: LPJ-DGVM simulation) in spatial and temporal resolution for initializing and driving the further developed biogeochemical model at a grid size of 0.25°x0.25°. We calculated global N2O emissions inventories for the years 1991 to 2001, and found a general agreement of the simulated flux ranges with reported N2O emissions from tropical forest ecosystems worldwide. According to our simulations, tropical rainforest soils are indeed a significant source of atmospheric N2O ranging from 1.1 2.2 Tg in dependence from the simulated year. Notably, related to differences in environmental conditions, N2O emissions varied considerably within the tropical belt. Furthermore, our simulations revealed a pronounced inter-annual variability of N2O

  13. Greenhouse gas budget (CO2, CH4 and N2O) of intensively managed grassland following restoration.

    PubMed

    Merbold, Lutz; Eugster, Werner; Stieger, Jacqueline; Zahniser, Mark; Nelson, David; Buchmann, Nina

    2014-06-01

    The first full greenhouse gas (GHG) flux budget of an intensively managed grassland in Switzerland (Chamau) is presented. The three major trace gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) were measured with the eddy covariance (EC) technique. For CO2 concentrations, an open-path infrared gas analyzer was used, while N2O and CH4 concentrations were measured with a recently developed continuous-wave quantum cascade laser absorption spectrometer (QCLAS). We investigated the magnitude of these trace gas emissions after grassland restoration, including ploughing, harrowing, sowing, and fertilization with inorganic and organic fertilizers in 2012. Large peaks of N2O fluxes (20-50 nmol m(-2) s(-1) compared with a <5 nmol m(-2) s(-1) background) were observed during thawing of the soil after the winter period and after mineral fertilizer application followed by re-sowing in the beginning of the summer season. Nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes were controlled by nitrogen input, plant productivity, soil water content and temperature. Management activities led to increased variations of N2O fluxes up to 14 days after the management event as compared with background fluxes measured during periods without management (<5 nmol m(-2) s(-1)). Fluxes of CO2 remained small until full plant development in early summer 2012. In contrast, methane emissions showed only minor variations over time. The annual GHG flux budget was dominated by N2O (48% contribution) and CO2 emissions (44%). CH4 flux contribution to the annual budget was only minor (8%). We conclude that recently developed multi-species QCLAS in an EC system open new opportunities to determine the temporal variation of N2O and CH4 fluxes, which further allow to quantify annual emissions. With respect to grassland restoration, our study emphasizes the key role of N2O and CO2 losses after ploughing, changing a permanent grassland from a carbon sink to a significant carbon source. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. N2O emissions from an intermittently aerated semi-aerobic aged refuse bioreactor: Combined effect of COD and NH4+-N in influent leachate.

    PubMed

    Li, Weihua; Sun, Yingjie; Bian, Rongxing; Wang, Huawei; Zhang, Dalei

    2017-11-01

    The carbon-nitrogen ratio (COD/NH 4 + -N) is an important factor affecting nitrification and denitrification in wastewater treatment; this factor also influences nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions. This study investigated two simulated intermittently aerated semi-aerobic aged refuse bioreactors (SAARB) filled with 8-year old aged refuse (AR). The research analyzed how differences in and the combination of influent COD and NH 4 + -N impact N 2 O emissions in leachate treatment. Experimental results showed that N 2 O emissions increased as the influent COD/NH 4 + -N decreased. The influent COD had a greater effect on N 2 O emissions than NH 4 + -N at the same influent ratios of COD/NH 4 + -N (2.7 and 8.0, respectively). The maximum N 2 O emission accounted for 8.82±2.65% of the total nitrogen removed from the influent leachate; the maximum level occurred when the COD was 2000mg/L. An analysis of differences in influent carbon sources at the same COD/NH 4 + -N ratios concluded that the availability of biodegradable carbon substrates (i.e. glucose) is an important factor affecting N 2 O emissions. At a low influent COD/NH 4 + -N ratio (2.7), the N 2 O conversion rate was greater when there were more biodegradable carbon substrates. Although the SAARB included the N 2 O generation and reduction processes, N 2 O reduction mainly occurred later in the process, after leachate recirculation. The maximum N 2 O emission rate occurred in the first hour of single-period (24h) experiments, as leachate contacted the surface AR. In practical SAARB applications, N 2 O emissions may be reduced by measures such as reducing the initial recirculation loading of NH 4 + -N substrates, adding a later supplement of biodegradable carbon substrates, and/or prolonging hydraulic retention time (HRT) of influent leachate. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Who contributes more to N2O emission during sludge bio-drying with two different aeration strategies, nitrifiers or denitrifiers?

    PubMed

    Zhang, Junya; Wang, Yuanyue; Yu, Dawei; Tong, Juan; Chen, Meixue; Sui, Qianwen; ChuLu, BuHe; Wei, Yuansong

    2017-04-01

    Global warming effects have drawn more and more attention to studying all sources and sinks of nitrous oxide (N 2 O). Sludge bio-drying, as an effective sludge treatment technology, is being adopted worldwide. In this study, two aeration strategies (piles I and II) were compared to investigate the primary contributors to N 2 O emission during sludge bio-drying through studying the evolution of functional genes involved in nitrification (amoA, hao, and nxrA) and denitrification (narG, nirS, nirK, norB, and nosZ) by quantitative PCR (qPCR). Results showed that the profile of N 2 O emission can be divided into three stages, traditional denitrification contributed largely to N 2 O emission at stage I (days 1-5), but N 2 O emission mainly happened at stage II (days 5-14) due to nitrifier denitrification and NH 2 OH accumulation by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), accounting for 51.4% and 58.2% of total N 2 O emission for piles I and II, respectively. At stage III (days 14-21), nitrifier denitrification was inhibited because sludge bio-drying proceeded mainly by the physical aeration, thus N 2 O emission decreased and changed little. The improved aeration strategy availed pile I to reduce N 2 O emission much especially at stages II and III, respectively. These results indicated that nitrifier denitrification by AOB and biological NH 2 OH oxidation due to AOB made more contribution to N 2 O emission, and aeration strategy was crucial to mitigate N 2 O emission during sludge bio-drying.

  16. Abatement of N{sub 2}O emissions from circulating fluidized bed combustion through afterburning

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gustavsson, L.; Leckner, B.

    1995-04-01

    A method for the abatement of N{sub 2}O emission from fluidized bed combustion has been investigated. The method consists of burning a secondary fuel after the normal circulating fluidized bed combustor. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), fuel oil, pulverized coal, and wood, as well as sawdust, were used as the secondary fuel. Experiments showed that the N{sub 2}O emission can be reduced by 90% or more by this technique. The resulting N{sub 2}O emission was principally a function of the gas temperature achieved in the afterburner and independent of afterburning fuel, but the amount of air in the combustion gases frommore » the primary combustion also influences the results. No negative effects on sulfur capture or on NO or CO emissions were recorded. In the experiments, the primary cyclone of the fluidized bed boiler was used for afterburning. If afterburning is implemented in a plant optimized for this purpose, an amount of secondary fuel corresponding to 10% of the total energy input should remove practically all N{sub 2}O. During the present experiments the secondary fuel consumption was greater than 10% of the total energy input due to various losses.« less

  17. Comprehensive effects of a sedge plant on CH4 and N2O emissions in an estuarine marsh

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Yangjie; Wang, Dongqi; Chen, Zhenlou; Hu, Hong

    2018-05-01

    Although there have been numerous studies focusing on plants' roles in methane (CH4) emissions, the influencing mechanism of wetland plants on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions has rarely been studied. Here, we test whether wetland plants also play an important role in N2O emissions. Gas fluxes were determined using the in situ static flux chamber technique. We also carried out pore-water extractions, sedge removal experiments and tests of N2O transportation. The brackish marsh acted as a net source of both CH4 and N2O. However, sedge plants played the opposite role in CH4 and N2O emissions. The removal of the sedges led to reduced CH4 emissions and increased accumulation of CH4 inside the sediment. Apart from being a conduit for CH4 transport, the sedges made a greater contribution to CH4 oxidation than CH4 production. The sedges exerted inhibitory effects on the release of N2O. The N2O was barely detectable inside the sediment in both vegetated and vegetation-removed plots. The denitrification measurements and nitrogen addition (the addition rates were equal to 0.028, 0.056 and 0.112 g m-2) experiments suggest that denitrification associated with N2O production occurred mainly in the surface sediment layer. The vascular sedge could transport atmospheric N2O downward into the rhizosphere. The rhizospheric sediment, together with the vascular sedge, became an effective sink of atmospheric N2O.

  18. Effect of Tillage and Non-tillage Agricultural Practice on Nitrogen Losses as NO and N2O in Tropical Corn Fields at Guarico State, Venezuela.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marquina, S.; Rojas, A.; Donoso, L.; Rasse, R.; Giuliante, A.; Corona, O.; Perez, T.

    2007-12-01

    We evaluated the effect of agricultural practices on NO and N2O emissions from corn fields at Northern Guárico, one of Venezuelan largest cereal production regions. Historically, the most common agricultural practice in these regions has been mono cropping. Tillage (T) and non-tillage (NT) of soils represent approximately 30 and 70% of the planted area, respectively. Comparative studies of the nitrogen losses associated with these agricultural practices are not available for these regions. This study was conducted at the farm "Tierra Nueva", Guárico State (9° 23' 33'' N, 66° 38' 30'' W) in two corn fields under tillage and non-tillage agricultural practice during the growing season (June-August 2006). A dry tropical forest, the primary ecosystem of the region, was evaluated for the same period of time. The corn and the forest fields were adjacent; therefore, they were exposed to the same meteorological conditions. The mean annual precipitation of the area is 622±97.3 mm (last 5 years). The soils are Vertisols (Typic Haplusterts). Nutrient soil concentrations (as nitrate and ammonium), water soil content and pH soil were measured in the fields for the same period of time. Soils were fertilized and planted simultaneously by a planting machine provided with a furrow opener where the fertilizer and seeds are incorporated between 0-10 cm depths. Tillage soils were fertilized on June 1st 2006 with 65 kgN/ha of NPK (13:18:16/3MgO, 3S; N as NH4Cl), whereas non-tillage soils were fertilized the next day with 56 kgN/ha of NPK (12:25:12/3MgO, 3S; N as NH4Cl). Second fertilization of both fields was done thirty-seven days later by broadcast adding 58 kgN/ha approximately, using nitrophosphate as fertilizer (NP 33-3: 33% N total; 16.7% N- NO3- and 16.6% N- NH4+). In general, NO and N2O soil emissions from both corn fields increased after fertilization events, and depend on water soil content and nutrient soil concentration. N2O soil emissions were 11 and 9 times larger in

  19. Characterization and production and consumption processes of N2O emitted from temperate agricultural soils determined via isotopomer ratio analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Toyoda, Sakae; Yano, Midori; Nishimura, Sei-Ichi; Akiyama, Hiroko; Hayakawa, Atsushi; Koba, Keisuke; Sudo, Shigeto; Yagi, Kazuyuki; Makabe, Akiko; Tobari, Yoshifumi; Ogawa, Nanako O.; Ohkouchi, Naohiko; Yamada, Keita; Yoshida, Naohiro

    2011-06-01

    Isotopomer ratios of N2O (bulk nitrogen and oxygen isotope ratios, δ15Nbulk and δ18O, and intramolecular 15N site preference, SP) are useful parameters that characterize sources of this greenhouse gas and also provide insight into production and consumption mechanisms. We measured isotopomer ratios of N2O emitted from typical Japanese agricultural soils (Fluvisols and Andisols) planted with rice, wheat, soybean, and vegetables, and treated with synthetic (urea or ammonium) and organic (poultry manure) fertilizers. The results were analyzed using a previously reported isotopomeric N2O signature produced by nitrifying/denitrifying bacteria and a characteristic relationship between δ15Nbulk and SP during N2O reduction by denitrifying bacteria. Relative contributions from nitrification (hydroxylamine oxidation) and denitrification (nitrite reduction) to gross N2O production deduced from the analysis depended on soil type and fertilizer. The contribution from nitrification was relatively high (40%-70%) in Andisols amended with synthetic ammonium fertilizer, while denitrification was dominant (50%-90%) in the same soils amended with poultry manure during the period when N2O production occurred in the surface layer. This information on production processes is in accordance with that obtained from flux/concentration analysis of N2O and soil inorganic nitrogen. However, isotopomer analysis further revealed that partial reduction of N2O was pronounced in high-bulk density, alluvial soil (Fluvisol) compared to low-bulk density, volcanic ash soil (Andisol), and that the observed difference in N2O flux between normal and pelleted manure could have resulted from a similar mechanism with different rates of gross production and gross consumption. The isotopomeric analysis is based on data from pure culture bacteria and would be improved by further studies on in situ biological processes in soils including those by fungi. When flux/concentration-weighted average isotopomer

  20. Projections of oceanic N2O emissions in the 21st century using the IPSL Earth system model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martinez-Rey, J.; Bopp, L.; Gehlen, M.; Tagliabue, A.; Gruber, N.

    2015-07-01

    The ocean is a substantial source of nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere, but little is known about how this flux might change in the future. Here, we investigate the potential evolution of marine N2O emissions in the 21st century in response to anthropogenic climate change using the global ocean biogeochemical model NEMO-PISCES. Assuming nitrification as the dominant N2O formation pathway, we implemented two different parameterizations of N2O production which differ primarily under low-oxygen (O2) conditions. When forced with output from a climate model simulation run under the business-as-usual high-CO2 concentration scenario (RCP8.5), our simulations suggest a decrease of 4 to 12 % in N2O emissions from 2005 to 2100, i.e., a reduction from 4.03/3.71 to 3.54/3.56 TgN yr-1 depending on the parameterization. The emissions decrease strongly in the western basins of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, while they tend to increase above the oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), i.e., in the eastern tropical Pacific and in the northern Indian Ocean. The reduction in N2O emissions is caused on the one hand by weakened nitrification as a consequence of reduced primary and export production, and on the other hand by stronger vertical stratification, which reduces the transport of N2O from the ocean interior to the ocean surface. The higher emissions over the OMZ are linked to an expansion of these zones under global warming, which leads to increased N2O production, associated primarily with denitrification. While there are many uncertainties in the relative contribution and changes in the N2O production pathways, the increasing storage seems unequivocal and determines largely the decrease in N2O emissions in the future. From the perspective of a global climate system, the averaged feedback strength associated with the projected decrease in oceanic N2O emissions amounts to around -0.009 W m-2 K-1, which is comparable to the potential increase from terrestrial N2O sources. However

  1. Vertical Profiles as Observational Constraints on Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Emissions in an Agricultural Region

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pusede, S.; Diskin, G. S.

    2015-12-01

    We use diurnal variability in near-surface N2O vertical profiles to derive N2O emission rates. Our emissions estimates are ~3 times greater than are accounted for by inventories, a discrepancy in line with results from previous studies using different approaches. We quantify the surface N2O concentration's memory of local surface emissions on previous days to be 50-90%. We compare measured profiles both over and away from a dense N2O source region in the San Joaquin Valley, finding that profile shapes, diurnal variability, and changes in integrated near-surface column abundances are distinct according to proximity to source areas. To do this work, we use aircraft observations from the wintertime DISCOVER-AQ project in California's San Joaquin Valley, a region of intense agricultural activity.

  2. Reducing Soil CO2 Emission and Improving Upland Rice Yield with no-Tillage, Straw Mulch and Nitrogen Fertilization in Northern Benin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dossou-Yovo, E.; Brueggemann, N.; Naab, J.; Huat, J.; Ampofo, E.; Ago, E.; Agbossou, E.

    2015-12-01

    To explore effective ways to decrease soil CO2 emission and increase grain yield, field experiments were conducted on two upland rice soils (Lixisols and Gleyic Luvisols) in northern Benin in West Africa. The treatments were two tillage systems (no-tillage, and manual tillage), two rice straw managements (no rice straw, and rice straw mulch at 3 Mg ha-1) and three nitrogen fertilizers levels (no nitrogen, recommended level of nitrogen: 60 kg ha-1, and high level of nitrogen: 120 kg ha-1). Potassium and phosphorus fertilizers were applied to be non-limiting at 40 kg K2O ha-1 and 40 kg P2O5 ha-1. Four replications of the twelve treatment combinations were arranged in a randomized complete block design. Soil CO2 emission, soil moisture and soil temperature were measured at 5 cm depth in 6 to 10 days intervals during the rainy season and every two weeks during the dry season. Soil moisture was the main factor explaining the seasonal variability of soil CO2 emission. Much larger soil CO2 emissions were found in rainy than dry season. No-tillage planting significantly reduced soil CO2 emissions compared with manual tillage. Higher soil CO2 emissions were recorded in the mulched treatments. Soil CO2 emissions were higher in fertilized treatments compared with non fertilized treatments. Rice biomass and yield were not significantly different as a function of tillage systems. On the contrary, rice biomass and yield significantly increased with application of rice straw mulch and nitrogen fertilizer. The highest response of rice yield to nitrogen fertilizer addition was obtained for 60 kg N ha-1 in combination with 3 Mg ha-1 of rice straw for the two tillage systems. Soil CO2 emission per unit grain yield was lower under no-tillage, rice straw mulch and nitrogen fertilizer treatments. No-tillage combined with rice straw mulch and 60 kg N ha-1 could be used by smallholder farmers to achieve higher grain yield and lower soil CO2 emission in upland rice fields in northern Benin.

  3. [Effects of Water and Nitrogenous Fertilizer Coupling on CH4 and N2O Emission from Double-Season Rice Paddy Field].

    PubMed

    Fu, Zhi-qiang; Long, Pan; Liu, Yi-yi; Zhong, Juan; Long, Wen-fei

    2015-09-01

    To provide support for the efficient use of water and fertilizer technology to double-season rice cultivation, water and fertilizer coupling mode was applied in this research, including two irrigation methods and four N levels. The irrigation methods were flood irrigation and intermittent irrigation, while four N levels were high-N, middle-N, low-N and none-N. Field experiment was conducted to study the effect of water and fertilizer coupling mode on CH4 and N2O emission. The results showed that the accumulated CH4 emissions were significantly reduced by intermittent irrigation, in comparison with flood irrigation, the reduction in early rice season were from 13. 18 kg.hm-2 to 87. 90 kg.hm-2, and were from 74. 48 kg.hm-2 to 131. 07 kg.hm-2 in late rice season, with a rate of 24. 4% -67. 4% and 42. 5% -65. 5% respectively; whereas the accumulated N20 emissions were increased, the increment were from 0. 03 kg.hm-2 to 0. 24 kg.hm-2 in early rice season and from 0. 35 kg.hm-2 to 1. 53 kg.hm-2 in late rice season when compared flood irrigation, increased by 6.2% -18. 3% and 40.2% - 80.9% respectively. On the whole, intermittent irrigation reduces the warming potential of greenhouse gases (GWP), which were decreased by 18. 8% to 58. 6% in early rice season and by 34. 4% to 60. 1% in late rice season, and the reduction of total GWP were from 2 388 to 4 151 kg. hm-2 (CO2 eq), with a rate of 41% -54% . Through correlation analysis it found that CH4 emissions from soil were significantly related with soil solution Eh and solution CH4 concentration. In comparison with the flood irrigation, the application of intermittent irrigation in double-season rice cultivation was conducive to CH4 reduction, though the increase came in N2O, but the GWPs were significantly reduced. Comprehensively, intermittent irrigation matching with middle-N is more benefit to double-season rice cultivation.

  4. Spatial variability in groundwater N2 and N2O in the San Joaquin River

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hinshaw, S.; Dahlgren, R. A.

    2010-12-01

    The San Joaquin River is surrounded by nearly 2 million acres of irrigated agricultural land. Groundwater inputs from agricultural areas can have severe negative effects on water quality with high nitrate concentrations being a major concern. Riparian zones are important ecological habitats that mitigate nitrogen loading from groundwater discharging into rivers primarily by denitrification. Denitrification is a permanent removal of nitrate by anaerobic microbial communities via the reduction to NO, N2O and N2. However, previous studies have shown that these areas can be source of N2O emissions. Although removal of nitrate through denitrification is advantageous from a water quality perspective, N2O is a harmful greenhouse gas. This study aimed to investigate nitrogen dynamics and dissolved N gases in surface and groundwater of the riparian zones of the San Joaquin River. Excess N2 and N2O concentrations were measured in surface and groundwater at 4 locations along a 33 km reach of the river. Samples were collected within bank sediments and 5 transect points across the river at depth intervals between 2-3 cm and 150 cm. Dissolved N2 and Ar were measured by membrane inlet mass spectrometry and used to estimate excess dissolved N2 concentrations. Dissolved N2O concentrations were measured using the headspace equilibrium technique and analyzed with a gas chromatograph. Both N2 uptake and excess N2 were present, ranging from -3.40 to 8.65 N2 mg/L with a median concentration of 1.20 N2 mg/L. Significantly lower concentrations of N2O were present ranging from 0.0 to 0.12 N2O mg/L. Deeper groundwater sites had significantly higher N2 and N2O concentrations coinciding with decreased O2. The presence of excess N2 and low N2O concentrations documents the importance of denitrification in removing nitrate from groundwater. Further investigation will examine N2O emissions from riparian soils and benthic sediments using static chambers and focus on nitrogen pathways that

  5. Effects of Eriophorum vaginatum on N_{2}O emissions at a restored peatland

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brummell, Martin; Lazcano, Cristina; Strack, Maria

    2016-04-01

    Restoration of peatlands extracted for horticultural peat production includes both deliberate and accidental introduction of a wide range of plant species, including vascular plants and bryophytes. The roots of vascular plants provide a channel for the movement of greenhouse gases (GHG) including N2O in many soil ecosystems, and may stimulate production of N2O or have other effects via the release of root exudates that are then taken up by soil microorganisms such as heterotrophic denitrifiers. Here we carried out a field study in order to evaluate the effects of Eriophorum vaginatum, an abundant sedge at the harvested peatland at Seba Beach, Alberta, Canada, (53° 27'17.2"N 114° 52'52.0"W) where restoration efforts began in late 2012, and is the dominant ground cover in some areas. We hypothesized that E. vaginatum would increase net N2O production from peat compared to areas of bare peat or moss. We measured net GHG exchange for CO2, CH4, and N2O over one growing season (May-September 2015) using static chambers within this peatland to compare between plots containing E. vaginatum and plots lacking vascular plants. Plots were located along a transect of increasing water table, in order to discriminate between the effects of E. vaginatum and the prevailing hydrological conditions on N2O fluxes. Net fluxes of N2O from the peat to the atmosphere were observed throughout the experimental area, as well as fluxes in the opposite direction, in which the peat removed N2O from the atmosphere inside the chamber. Non-zero fluxes were highly variable in both occurrence and magnitude, though a small number of plots accounted for the majority of measured fluxes. Neither aboveground biomass of E. vaginatum nor its presence in a plot was correlated with either frequency or direction of N2O flux measurements. Other factors, such as water table fluctuations and temperature may be stronger drivers of these microbially-mediated processes than vegetation at this stage of the

  6. The 2017 Fertilizer Emissions Airborne Study (FEAST): Quantifying N2O emissions from croplands and fertilizer plants in the Mississippi River Valley.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kort, E. A.; Gvakharia, A.; Smith, M. L.; Conley, S.; Frauhammer, K.

    2017-12-01

    Nitrous Oxide (N2O) is a crucial atmospheric trace gas that drives 21st century stratospheric ozone depletion and substantively impacts climate. Anthropogenic emissions drive the global imbalance and annual growth of N2O, and the dominant anthropogenic source is fertilizer production and application, both of which have large uncertainties. In this presentation we will discuss the FEAST campaign, a study designed to demonstrate new approaches to quantify N2O emissions from fertilizer production and usage with aircraft measurements. In the FEAST campaign we deployed new instrumentation along with experienced flight sensors onboard the Scientific Aviation Mooney aircraft to make 40 hours of continuous 1Hz measurements of N2O, CO2, CO, H2O, CH4, O3, T, and winds. The Mississippi River Valley provided an optimal target as this location includes significant fertilizer production facilities as well as large cropland areas (dominated by corn, soy, rice, and cotton) with substantive fertilizer application. By leveraging our payload and unique airborne capabilities we directly observe and quantify N2O emissions from individual fertilizer production facilities (as well as CO2 and CH4 emissions from these same facilities). We are also able to quantify N2O fluxes from large cropland areas ( 100's km) employing a mass balance approach, a first for N2O, and will show results highlighting differences between crop types and amounts of applied fertilizer. The ability to quantify fluxes of croplands at 100km scale enables new understanding of processes controlling emissions at spatial scales that has eluded prior studies that either rely on extrapolation of small (flux chamber, towers), or work on 1,000+ km spatial scales (regional-global inversions from atmospheric measurements).

  7. Investigating a method for estimating direct nitrous oxide emissions from grazed pasture soils in New Zealand using NZ-DNDC.

    PubMed

    Giltrap, Donna L; Ausseil, Anne-Gaelle E; Thakur, Kailash P; Sutherland, M Anne

    2013-11-01

    In this study, we developed emission factor (EF) look-up tables for calculating the direct nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from grazed pasture soils in New Zealand. Look-up tables of long-term average direct emission factors (and their associated uncertainties) were generated using multiple simulations of the NZ-DNDC model over a representative range of major soil, climate and management conditions occurring in New Zealand using 20 years of climate data. These EFs were then combined with national activity data maps to estimate direct N2O emissions from grazed pasture in New Zealand using 2010 activity data. The total direct N2O emissions using look-up tables were 12.7±12.1 Gg N2O-N (equivalent to using a national average EF of 0.70±0.67%). This agreed with the amount calculated using the New Zealand specific EFs (95% confidence interval 7.7-23.1 Gg N2O-N), although the relative uncertainty increased. The high uncertainties in the look-up table EFs were primarily due to the high uncertainty of the soil parameters within the selected soil categories. Uncertainty analyses revealed that the uncertainty in soil parameters contributed much more to the uncertainty in N2O emissions than the inter-annual weather variability. The effect of changes to fertiliser applications was also examined and it was found that for fertiliser application rates of 0-50 kg N/ha for sheep and beef and 60-240 kg N/ha for dairy the modelled EF was within ±10% of the value simulated using annual fertiliser application rates of 15 kg N/ha and 140 kg N/ha respectively. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Assessment of N2O emission from a photobioreactor treating ammonia-rich swine wastewater digestate.

    PubMed

    Mezzari, Melissa P; da Silva, Márcio L B; Nicoloso, Rodrigo S; Ibelli, Adriana M G; Bortoli, Marcelo; Viancelli, Aline; Soares, Hugo M

    2013-12-01

    This study investigated the interactions between naturally occurring bacteria and the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris within a lab scale photobioreactor treating ammonia-rich swine wastewater digestate effluent. Nitrification and denitrification were assessed by targeting ammonia monoxygenases (amoA), nitrate (narG), nitrite (nirS), nitric oxide (norB) and nitrous oxide (nosZ) reductases genes. Oxygen produced from microalgae photosynthesis stimulated nitrification. Under limiting carbon availability (i.e., <1.44 for mg TOC/mg NO2-N and 1.72 for mg TOC/mg NO3-N), incomplete denitrification led to accumulation of NO2 and NO3. Significant N2O emission (up to 118 μg N2O-N) was linked to NO2 metabolism in Chlorella. The addition of acetate as external carbon source recovered heterotrophic denitrification activity suppressing N2O emission. Effluent methane concentrations trapped within photobioreactor was removed concomitantly with ammonia. Overall, closed photobioreactors can be built to effectively remove nitrogen and mitigate simultaneously greenhouse gases emissions that would occur otherwise in open microalgae-based wastewater treatment systems. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Emissions from California based on 2010 CalNex Airborne Measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xiang, B.; Miller, S.; Kort, E. A.; Santoni, G. W.; Daube, B.; Commane, R.; Angevine, W. M.; Ryerson, T. B.; Trainer, M.; Andrews, A. E.; Nehrkorn, T.; Tian, H.; Wofsy, S. C.

    2012-12-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important gas for climate and for stratospheric chemistry, with an atmospheric lifetime exceeding 100 years. Global concentrations have increased steadily since the 18th century, apparently due to human-associated emissions, principally from application of nitrogen fertilizers. However, quantitative studies of agricultural emissions at large spatial scales are lacking, inhibited by the difficulty of measuring small enhancements of atmospheric concentrations. Here we derive regional emission rates for N2O in the Central Valley of California, based on analysis of in-situ airborne atmospheric observations collected using a quantum cascade laser spectrometer. The data were obtained on board the NOAA P-3 research aircraft during the CalNex (California Research at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change) program in May and June, 2010. We coupled WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model to STILT (Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport) to link our in-situ observations to surface emissions, and then used a variety of statistical methods to identify source areas and to extract optimized emission rates from the inversion. Our results support the view that fertilizer application is the largest source of N2O in the Central Valley. But the spatial distribution of derived surface emissions, based on California land use and activity maps, was very different than indicated in the leading emissions inventory (EDGAR 4.0), and our estimated total emission flux of N2O for California during the study period was 3 - 4 times larger than EDGAR and other inventories.

  10. Reduction and prediction of N2O emission from an Anoxic/Oxic wastewater treatment plant upon DO control and model simulation.

    PubMed

    Sun, Shichang; Bao, Zhiyuan; Li, Ruoyu; Sun, Dezhi; Geng, Haihong; Huang, Xiaofei; Lin, Junhao; Zhang, Peixin; Ma, Rui; Fang, Lin; Zhang, Xianghua; Zhao, Xuxin

    2017-11-01

    In order to make a better understanding of the characteristics of N 2 O emission in A/O wastewater treatment plant, full-scale and pilot-scale experiments were carried out and a back propagation artificial neural network model based on the experimental data was constructed to make a precise prediction of N 2 O emission. Results showed that, N 2 O flux from different units followed a descending order: aerated grit tank>oxic zone≫anoxic zone>final clarifier>primary clarifier, but 99.4% of the total emission of N 2 O (1.60% of N-load) was monitored from the oxic zone due to its big surface area. A proper DO control could reduce N 2 O emission down to 0.21% of N-load in A/O process, and a two-hidden-layers back propagation model with an optimized structure of 4:3:9:1 could achieve a good simulation of N 2 O emission, which provided a new method for the prediction of N 2 O emission during wastewater treatment. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  11. Quantifying N2O emissions and production pathways from fresh waste during the initial stage of disposal to a landfill.

    PubMed

    Wang, Xiaojun; Jia, Mingsheng; Zhang, Han; Pan, Songqing; Kao, Chih Ming; Chen, Shaohua

    2017-05-01

    Intensive nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions usually occur at the working face of landfills. However, the specific amounts and contributions of the multiple pathways to N 2 O emissions are poorly understood. N 2 O emissions and the mutual conversions of N-species in both open and sealed simulated landfill reactors filled with fresh refuse were examined during a 100-h incubation period, and N 2 O sources were calculated using 15 N isotope labelling. N 2 O peak fluxes were above 70μgNkg -1 waste h -1 for both treatments. The sealed incubation reactors became a N 2 O sink when N 2 O in the ambient environment was sufficient. The total amount of N 2 O emissions under sealed conditions was 2.15±0.56mgNkg -1 waste, which was higher than that under open conditions (1.91±0.34mgNkg -1 waste). The NO 2 - peak appeared prior to the peak in N 2 O flux. The degree and duration of total nitrogen reduction in open incubations were larger and longer than those of sealed incubations and could possibly be due to oxygen supplementation. Denitrification (DF) was a major source of N 2 O generation during these incubations. The contribution of the DF pathway decreased from 89.2% to 61.3% during the open incubations. The effects of nitrification (NF) and nitrification-coupled denitrification (NCD) increased during the increasing phase and the decreasing phase of N 2 O flux, contributing 24.1-37.4% and 31.7-34.4% of total N 2 O emissions, respectively. In sealed treatments, the DF pathway accounted for more than 90% of the total N 2 O emission during the entire incubation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Soil organic carbon and nitrogen pools drive soil C-CO2 emissions from selected soils in Maritime Antarctica.

    PubMed

    Pires, C V; Schaefer, C E R G; Hashigushi, A K; Thomazini, A; Filho, E I F; Mendonça, E S

    2017-10-15

    The ongoing trend of increasing air temperatures will potentially affect soil organic matter (SOM) turnover and soil C-CO 2 emissions in terrestrial ecosystems of Maritime Antarctica. The effects of SOM quality on this process remain little explored. We evaluated (i) the quantity and quality of soil organic matter and (ii) the potential of C release through CO 2 emissions in lab conditions in different soil types from Maritime Antarctica. Soil samples (0-10 and 10-20cm) were collected in Keller Peninsula and the vicinity of Arctowski station, to determine the quantity and quality of organic matter and the potential to emit CO 2 under different temperature scenarios (2, 5, 8 and 11°C) in lab. Soil organic matter mineralization is low, especially in soils with low organic C and N contents. Recalcitrant C form is predominant, especially in the passive pool, which is correlated with humic substances. Ornithogenic soils had greater C and N contents (reaching to 43.15gkg -1 and 5.22gkg -1 for total organic carbon and nitrogen, respectively). C and N were more present in the humic acid fraction. Lowest C mineralization was recorded from shallow soils on basaltic/andesites. C mineralization rates at 2°C were significant lower than at higher temperatures. Ornithogenic soils presented the lowest values of C-CO 2 mineralized by g of C. On the other hand, shallow soils on basaltic/andesites were the most sensitive sites to emit C-CO 2 by g of C. With permafrost degradation, soils on basaltic/andesites and sulfates are expected to release more C-CO 2 than ornithogenic soils. With greater clay contents, more protection was afforded to soil organic matter, with lower microbial activity and mineralization. The trend of soil temperature increases will favor C-CO 2 emissions, especially in the reduced pool of C stored and protected on permafrost, or in occasional Histosols. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. The Regulation of CH4 and N2O fluxes by Wetlands at Landscape Level

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Soosaar, K.; Maddison, M.; Salm, J. O.; Järveoja, J.; Hansen, R.; Mander, Ü.

    2012-04-01

    The world's wetlands, despite being only about 5% of the terrestrial landscape, are currently significant net sinks of more than 1 Pg yr-1 of carbon (Mitsch et al 2012). At landscape level wetlands and riparian zones are important regulators of nutrient transport (Zedler 2003). However, they can be also significant hot spots of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Teiter&Mander 2005). Swedish experience shows that the nationally planned wetland creation (12,000 ha) could make a significant contribution to the targeted reduction of N fluxes (up to 27% of the Swedish environmental objective), at an environmental risk equalling 0.04% of the national anthropogenic GHG emission (Thiere et al 2011). Only few studies consider the potential GHG emission throughout both natural and created wetlands. The main objective of this study was to clarify the potential of various wetland ecosystem and riparian zones of northern rural landscapes in regulation of GHG emissions. Monthly-based measurements of GHG emissions using closed chamber method were performed from October 2007 to October 2011 in 47 study sites in Estonia. The study sites cover various wetlands and riparian forests as well as reference areas on automorphic soils. In general, wetlands' drainage was the most significant disturbance factor influencing GHG fluxes, causing significant increase of N2O emission as well as decreasing CH4 emission. However, we also observed significantly high CH4 flux from drained peatlands. In most of the soils with ground/soil water levels deeper than 30 cm from the surface, a significant decrease of CH4 fluxes were detected. The highest CH4 emissions (up to 5060 kg CH4-C ha-1 yr-1) were detected from drained fen grasslands. In the case of N2O, no clear differences were found between colder and warmer periods. Relatively higher N2O fluxes were measured from the drained fen grassland, the fertilized arable land, the riparian forest on automorphic soil, and the drained transition fen forest

  14. The influence of microbial-based inoculants on N2O emissions from soil planted to corn under greenhouse conditions with different nitrogen fertilizer regimens

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions are increasing at an unprecedented rate due to increased nitrogen (N) fertilizers use. Thus, new innovative management tools are needed to reduce emissions. One potential approach is the use of microbial inoculants in agricultural production. In a previous incubation st...

  15. Offsetting global warming-induced elevated greenhouse gas emissions from an arable soil by biochar application.

    PubMed

    Bamminger, Chris; Poll, Christian; Marhan, Sven

    2018-01-01

    Global warming will likely enhance greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soils. Due to its slow decomposability, biochar is widely recognized as effective in long-term soil carbon (C) sequestration and in mitigation of soil GHG emissions. In a long-term soil warming experiment (+2.5 °C, since July 2008) we studied the effect of applying high-temperature Miscanthus biochar (0, 30 t/ha, since August 2013) on GHG emissions and their global warming potential (GWP) during 2 years in a temperate agroecosystem. Crop growth, physical and chemical soil properties, temperature sensitivity of soil respiration (R s ), and metabolic quotient (qCO 2 ) were investigated to yield further information about single effects of soil warming and biochar as well as on their interactions. Soil warming increased total CO 2 emissions by 28% over 2 years. The effect of warming on soil respiration did not level off as has often been observed in less intensively managed ecosystems. However, the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration was not affected by warming. Overall, biochar had no effect on most of the measured parameters, suggesting its high degradation stability and its low influence on microbial C cycling even under elevated soil temperatures. In contrast, biochar × warming interactions led to higher total N 2 O emissions, possibly due to accelerated N-cycling at elevated soil temperature and to biochar-induced changes in soil properties and environmental conditions. Methane uptake was not affected by soil warming or biochar. The incorporation of biochar-C into soil was estimated to offset warming-induced elevated GHG emissions for 25 years. Our results highlight the suitability of biochar for C sequestration in cultivated temperate agricultural soil under a future elevated temperature. However, the increased N 2 O emissions under warming limit the GHG mitigation potential of biochar. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Nitrous oxide emissions from soils: how well do we understand the processes and their controls?

    PubMed Central

    Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus; Baggs, Elizabeth M.; Dannenmann, Michael; Kiese, Ralf; Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Sophie

    2013-01-01

    Although it is well established that soils are the dominating source for atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O), we are still struggling to fully understand the complexity of the underlying microbial production and consumption processes and the links to biotic (e.g. inter- and intraspecies competition, food webs, plant–microbe interaction) and abiotic (e.g. soil climate, physics and chemistry) factors. Recent work shows that a better understanding of the composition and diversity of the microbial community across a variety of soils in different climates and under different land use, as well as plant–microbe interactions in the rhizosphere, may provide a key to better understand the variability of N2O fluxes at the soil–atmosphere interface. Moreover, recent insights into the regulation of the reduction of N2O to dinitrogen (N2) have increased our understanding of N2O exchange. This improved process understanding, building on the increased use of isotope tracing techniques and metagenomics, needs to go along with improvements in measurement techniques for N2O (and N2) emission in order to obtain robust field and laboratory datasets for different ecosystem types. Advances in both fields are currently used to improve process descriptions in biogeochemical models, which may eventually be used not only to test our current process understanding from the microsite to the field level, but also used as tools for up-scaling emissions to landscapes and regions and to explore feedbacks of soil N2O emissions to changes in environmental conditions, land management and land use. PMID:23713120

  17. Suppression of N2O and NO from denitrification by biochar: the role of pH

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Obia, Alfred; Cornelissen, Gerard; Mulder, Jan; Dörsch, Peter

    2015-04-01

    Denitrification reduces NO3- to N2 and returns excess nitrogen to the atmosphere. NO and N2O are gaseous intermediates of denitrification which, once escaped to the atmosphere, have adverse effects on chemistry and radiative forcing in the atmosphere. We studied the effect of biochar on denitrification and its gaseous intermediates in two acidic soils and tried to distinguish between the alkalizing effect of biochars on soil pH, and other, unknown effects of biochar on denitrification. Anoxic soil slurries were incubated with untreated biochars or biochars from which part of the alkalinity had been removed by water- and acid leaching. Soils amended with NaOH and uncharred cacao shell were used as controls. Biochar addition stimulated overall denitrification depending on biochar and soil type. This stimulation was not strictly coupled to pH increase, suggesting that biochar fueled respiration processes by contributing microbially available C. High resolution gas kinetics of NO, N2O and N2 showed that biochar amended soils induced denitrification enzymes earlier and with higher activity, resulting in less NO and N2O accumulation relative to N2 production. The extent to which biochar suppressed NO and N2O was dose-dependent and clearly related to the effective pH increase during incubation. Acid leaching of BC reduced or eliminated its ability to suppress N2O and NO net production. Comparison of BC with NaOH-amended soils showed that the reduction of N2O and NO net production was mainly an effect of increase in soil pH. Even though other factors supporting N2O reductase activity could not be excluded, our results indicate that soil pH increase might be an important driver behind the often-reported suppression of N2O emissions after biochar addition.

  18. Benefits of biochar, compost and biochar-compost for soil quality, maize yield and greenhouse gas emissions in a tropical agricultural soil.

    PubMed

    Agegnehu, Getachew; Bass, Adrian M; Nelson, Paul N; Bird, Michael I

    2016-02-01

    Soil quality decline represents a significant constraint on the productivity and sustainability of agriculture in the tropics. In this study, the influence of biochar, compost and mixtures of the two on soil fertility, maize yield and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was investigated in a tropical Ferralsol. The treatments were: 1) control with business as usual fertilizer (F); 2) 10 t ha(-1) biochar (B)+F; 3) 25 t ha(-1) compost (Com)+F; 4) 2.5 t ha(-1) B+25 t ha(-1) Com mixed on site+F; and 5) 25 t ha(-1) co-composted biochar-compost (COMBI)+F. Total aboveground biomass and maize yield were significantly improved relative to the control for all organic amendments, with increases in grain yield between 10 and 29%. Some plant parameters such as leaf chlorophyll were significantly increased by the organic treatments. Significant differences were observed among treatments for the δ(15)N and δ(13)C contents of kernels. Soil physicochemical properties including soil water content (SWC), total soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3(-)N), ammonium-nitrogen (NH4(+)-N), exchangeable cations and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were significantly increased by the organic amendments. Maize grain yield was correlated positively with total biomass, leaf chlorophyll, foliar N and P content, SOC and SWC. Emissions of CO2 and N2O were higher from the organic-amended soils than from the fertilizer-only control. However, N2O emissions generally decreased over time for all treatments and emission from the biochar was lower compared to other treatments. Our study concludes that the biochar and biochar-compost-based soil management approaches can improve SOC, soil nutrient status and SWC, and maize yield and may help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in certain systems. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  19. Characterizing CH4 and N2O emissions from an intensive dairy operation in summer and fall in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Gaodi; Ma, Xiaoyuan; Gao, Zhiling; Ma, Wenqi; Li, Jianguo; Cai, Zhenjiang

    2014-02-01

    Evaluation of the global warming potential of the dairy industry both in China and globally necessitates reliable characterization of CH4 and N2O emissions. However, CH4 and N2O emissions from dairy operations differ with feeds, herd structures and manure management practices, and the lack of N2O and CH4 emission measurements for China, especially for intensive dairy operations, causes substantial uncertainty in accounting for GHGs from dairy operation both in China and globally. In this study, CH4 and N2O emissions during summer to fall period from an intensive feedlot in China were characterized to fill the data gap. The diurnal CH4 emission patterns for milking cows and heifers were driven by the feeding activities and the diurnal N2O patterns by the diurnal changes in temperature. The CH4 emission rates of 397 g head-1 d-1 (23.63 L CH4 kg-1 milk) (in summer) and 279 g head-1 d-1 (in fall) for milking cows and heifers accounted for 5.17% and 7.68% of their daily gross energy intakes, whereas the N2O emission rates of 36.7 g head-1 d-1 (0.85 L N2O kg-1 milk) for milking cows and 24.2 g head-1 d-1 for heifers accounted for 4.25% and 6.86% of the daily feed N intake. The CH4 conversion factor and CH4 emission intensity in the measurement season for intensive dairy operations in China are lower than those for collective operations in China, and the CH4 emission intensity is similar to those in developed countries.

  20. Corn residue removal and CO2 emissions

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) are the primary greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted from the soil due to agricultural activities. In the short-term, increases in CO2 emissions indicate increased soil microbial activity. Soil micro-organisms decompose crop residues and release...

  1. Soil greenhouse gas emissions and carbon budgeting in a short-hydroperiod floodplain wetland

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Batson, Jackie; Noe, Gregory B.; Hupp, Cliff R.; Krauss, Ken W.; Rybicki, Nancy B.; Schenk, Edward R.

    2015-01-01

    Understanding the controls on floodplain carbon (C) cycling is important for assessing greenhouse gas emissions and the potential for C sequestration in river-floodplain ecosystems. We hypothesized that greater hydrologic connectivity would increase C inputs to floodplains that would not only stimulate soil C gas emissions but also sequester more C in soils. In an urban Piedmont river (151 km2 watershed) with a floodplain that is dry most of the year, we quantified soil CO2, CH4, and N2O net emissions along gradients of floodplain hydrologic connectivity, identified controls on soil aerobic and anaerobic respiration, and developed a floodplain soil C budget. Sites were chosen along a longitudinal river gradient and across lateral floodplain geomorphic units (levee, backswamp, and toe slope). CO2 emissions decreased downstream in backswamps and toe slopes and were high on the levees. CH4 and N2O fluxes were near zero; however, CH4 emissions were highest in the backswamp. Annual CO2 emissions correlated negatively with soil water-filled pore space and positively with variables related to drier, coarser soil. Conversely, annual CH4 emissions had the opposite pattern of CO2. Spatial variation in aerobic and anaerobic respiration was thus controlled by oxygen availability but was not related to C inputs from sedimentation or vegetation. The annual mean soil CO2 emission rate was 1091 g C m-2 yr-1, the net sedimentation rate was 111 g C m-2 yr-1, and the vegetation production rate was 240 g C m-2 yr-1, with a soil C balance (loss) of -338 g C m-2 yr-1. This floodplain is losing C likely due to long-term drying from watershed urbanization.

  2. Soil greenhouse gas emissions and carbon budgeting in a short-hydroperiod floodplain wetland

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Batson, Jackie; Noe, Gregory B.; Hupp, Cliff R.; Krauss, Ken W.; Rybicki, Nancy B.; Schenk, Edward R.

    2015-01-01

    Understanding the controls on floodplain carbon (C) cycling is important for assessing greenhouse gas emissions and the potential for C sequestration in river-floodplain ecosystems. We hypothesized that greater hydrologic connectivity would increase C inputs to floodplains that would not only stimulate soil C gas emissions but also sequester more C in soils. In an urban Piedmont river (151 km2 watershed) with a floodplain that is dry most of the year, we quantified soil CO2, CH4, and N2O net emissions along gradients of floodplain hydrologic connectivity, identified controls on soil aerobic and anaerobic respiration, and developed a floodplain soil C budget. Sites were chosen along a longitudinal river gradient and across lateral floodplain geomorphic units (levee, backswamp, and toe slope). CO2 emissions decreased downstream in backswamps and toe slopes and were high on the levees. CH4 and N2O fluxes were near zero; however, CH4emissions were highest in the backswamp. Annual CO2 emissions correlated negatively with soil water-filled pore space and positively with variables related to drier, coarser soil. Conversely, annual CH4 emissions had the opposite pattern of CO2. Spatial variation in aerobic and anaerobic respiration was thus controlled by oxygen availability but was not related to C inputs from sedimentation or vegetation. The annual mean soil CO2 emission rate was 1091 g C m−2 yr−1, the net sedimentation rate was 111 g C m−2 yr−1, and the vegetation production rate was 240 g C m−2 yr−1, with a soil C balance (loss) of −338 g C m−2 yr−1. This floodplain is losing C likely due to long-term drying from watershed urbanization.

  3. Non-microbial methane emissions from soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Bin; Hou, Longyu; Liu, Wei; Wang, Zhiping

    2013-12-01

    Traditionally, methane (CH4) is anaerobically formed by methanogenic archaea. However, non-microbial CH4 can also be produced from geologic processes, biomass burning, animals, plants, and recently identified soils. Recognition of non-microbial CH4 emissions from soils remains inadequate. To better understand this phenomenon, a series of laboratory incubations were conducted to examine effects of temperature, water, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on CH4 emissions under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions using autoclaved (30 min, 121 °C) soils and aggregates (>2000 μm, A1; 2000-250 μm, A2; 250-53 μm, M1; and <53 μm, M2). Results show that applying autoclaving to pre-treat soils is effective to inhibit methanogenic activity, ensuring the CH4 emitted being non-microbial. Responses of non-microbial CH4 emissions to temperature, water, and H2O2 were almost identical between aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Increasing temperature, water of proper amount, and H2O2 could significantly enhance CH4 emissions. However, the emission rates were inhibited and enhanced by anaerobic conditions without and with the existence of H2O2, respectively. As regards the aggregates, aggregate-based emission presented an order of M1 > A2 > A1 > M2 and C-based emission an order of M2 > M1 > A1 > A2, demonstrating that both organic carbon quantity and property are responsible for CH4 emissions from soils at the scale of aggregate. Whole soil-based order of A2 > A1 > M1 > M2 suggests that non-microbial CH4 release from forest soils is majorly contributed by macro-aggregates (i.e., >250 μm). The underlying mechanism is that organic matter through thermal treatment, photolysis, or reactions with free radicals produce CH4, which, in essence, is identical with mechanisms of other non-microbial sources, indicating that non-microbial CH4 production may be a widespread phenomenon in nature. This work further elucidates the importance of non-microbial CH4 formation which should be distinguished

  4. Effects of biogas digestate and cattle slurry application on greenhouse gas emissions from grasslands on organic soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eickenscheidt, Tim; Freibauer, Annette; Heinichen, Jan; Augustin, Jürgen; Drösler, Matthias

    2014-05-01

    The change in the German energy policy resulted in a strong development of biogas plants in Germany. As a consequence, drained peatlands are increasingly used to satisfy the rising demand for fermentative substrates. In return high amounts of nutrient-rich digestates are used as organic fertilizer to maintain soil fertility and crop yield. It is well known that organic fertilization enhances nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from managed grasslands, especially in south Germany, a region with frequently frost-thaw cycles. Additionally drained organic soils are considered as hotspots of GHG emissions including N2O. Our study addressed the question to what extent biogas digestate and cattle slurry application alters N2O and methane (CH4) fluxes and how different contents of soil organic matter (SOM) promote the production of GHG. The study was conducted at two areas within one grassland parcel, which differed in their soil organic carbon (SOC) contents (10% versus 17%). At each area (named Corg medium and Corg high) three sites were established: One was fertilized five times with biogas digestate, the second five times with cattle slurry and the third site served as control without fertilization. For each treatment, the fluxes of N2O and CH4 were measured over two years using the closed chamber method. Significantly higher short term (16 days) N2O fluxes after fertilization with digestate compared to slurry could only be found in one out of four fertilisation events. However, on an annual basis the application of biogas digestate significantly enhanced the N2O fluxes compared to the application of cattle slurry. Furthermore, N2O fluxes from the Corghigh site significantly exceeded N2O fluxes from the Corg medium sites. Annual cumulative emissions ranged from 0.91 ± 0.49 kg N ha-1 yr-1 to 3.14 ± 0.91 kg N ha-1 yr-1, reflecting the lower end of literature values from other organic soils and corresponding more to those reported from grasslands on mineral soils in Germany

  5. Nitrous oxide emission factors from N-fertilizer in sugarcane production in Brazil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Galdos, M. V.; Siqueira Neto, M.; Feigl, B. J.; Carvalho, J. L.; Cerri, C. E.; Cerri, C. C.

    2013-12-01

    The Brazilian sugarcane production is rapidly expanding due to the increase of global demand for ethanol. Concurrently the necessary inputs to culture, especially N-fertilizer, are growing, since N is one of the key element to maintain sugarcane productivity. However, it is known that N-fertilizer is responsible for the largest share of N2O emissions from agricultural soils. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes (IPCC) estimated that under favorable climatic conditions approximately 1% of the N-fertilizer applied can be emitted as N2O. Our goal was to estimate N2O emission factors from N-fertilizer used in the sugarcane ratoon for ethanol production. A field study was conducted at the Capuava Mill, located in southeastern Brazil. The experimental design was completely randomized, with four replications in a factorial scheme (2 x 2): two N sources (urea and ammonium nitrate), two application rates (80 and 120 kg ha-1), and a control treatment. N2O concentrations were determined by gas chromatography using a Shimadzu© GC-mini. N2O fluxes were calculated from linear regressions of concentration versus incubation time in the soil static chambers. The N2O emission factor of N-fertilizer was calculated according to the methodology described in the Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC). Comparatively, ammonium nitrate emitted 45 to 75% less N2O than urea application. There was no significant difference in N2O emission between the two applied rates of urea. Also the N2O emission factor of ammonium nitrate (0.3×0.2%) was lower than that of urea (1.1×0.4%). Our results indicated that on average the N fertilization of sugarcane plantation has an emission factor of 0.7×0.5% suggesting that N-fertilizer management can be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to improve the sustainability of bioethanol from sugarcane.

  6. Effect of cover crops on greenhouse gas emissions in an irrigated field under integrated soil fertility management

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guardia, Guillermo; Abalos, Diego; García-Marco, Sonia; Quemada, Miguel; Alonso-Ayuso, María; Cárdenas, Laura M.; Dixon, Elizabeth R.; Vallejo, Antonio

    2016-09-01

    Agronomical and environmental benefits are associated with replacing winter fallow by cover crops (CCs). Yet, the effect of this practice on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions remains poorly understood. In this context, a field experiment was carried out under Mediterranean conditions to evaluate the effect of replacing the traditional winter fallow (F) by vetch (Vicia sativa L.; V) or barley (Hordeum vulgare L.; B) on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the intercrop and the maize (Zea mays L.) cropping period. The maize was fertilized following integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) criteria. Maize nitrogen (N) uptake, soil mineral N concentrations, soil temperature and moisture, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and GHG fluxes were measured during the experiment. Our management (adjusted N synthetic rates due to ISFM) and pedo-climatic conditions resulted in low cumulative N2O emissions (0.57 to 0.75 kg N2O-N ha-1 yr-1), yield-scaled N2O emissions (3-6 g N2O-N kg aboveground N uptake-1) and N surplus (31 to 56 kg N ha-1) for all treatments. Although CCs increased N2O emissions during the intercrop period compared to F (1.6 and 2.6 times in B and V, respectively), the ISFM resulted in similar cumulative emissions for the CCs and F at the end of the maize cropping period. The higher C : N ratio of the B residue led to a greater proportion of N2O losses from the synthetic fertilizer in these plots when compared to V. No significant differences were observed in CH4 and CO2 fluxes at the end of the experiment. This study shows that the use of both legume and nonlegume CCs combined with ISFM could provide, in addition to the advantages reported in previous studies, an opportunity to maximize agronomic efficiency (lowering synthetic N requirements for the subsequent cash crop) without increasing cumulative or yield-scaled N2O losses.

  7. Evaluation of new flux attribution methods for mapping N2O emissions at the landscape scale from EC measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grossel, Agnes; Bureau, Jordan; Loubet, Benjamin; Laville, Patricia; Massad, Raia; Haas, Edwin; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus; Guimbaud, Christophe; Hénault, Catherine

    2017-04-01

    The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate an attribution method based on a combination of Eddy Covariance (EC) and chamber measurements to map N2O emissions over a 3-km2 area of croplands and forests in France. During 2 months of spring 2015, N2O fluxes were measured (i) by EC at 15 m height and (ii) punctually with a mobile chamber at 16 places within 1-km of EC mast. The attribution method was based on coupling the EC measurements, information on footprints (Loubet et al., 20101) and emission ratios based on crops and fertilizations, calculated based on chamber measurements. The results were evaluated against an independent flux dataset measured by automatic chambers in a wheat field within the area. At the landscape scale, the method estimated a total emission of 114-271 kg N-N2O during the campaign. This new approach allowed estimating continuously N2O emission and better accounting for the spatial variability of N2O emission at the landscape scale.

  8. Effect of nitrification inhibitors (DMPP and 3MP+TZ) on soil nitrous oxide emissions from a sub-tropical vegetable production system in Queensland, Australia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Scheer, Clemens; Deuter, Peter; Firrell, Mary; Rowlings, David; Grace, Peter

    2015-04-01

    The use of nitrification inhibitors, in combination with ammonium based fertilisers, has been promoted recently as an effective method to reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from fertilised agricultural fields, whilst increasing yield and nitrogen use efficiency. Vegetable cropping systems are often characterised by high inputs of nitrogen fertiliser and consequently elevated emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) can be expected. However, to date only limited data is available on the use of nitrification inhibitors in sub-tropical vegetable systems. A field experiment investigated the effect of the nitrification inhibitors (DMPP & 3MP+TZ) on N2O emissions and yield from a typical vegetable production system in sub-tropical Australia. Soil N2O fluxes were monitored continuously over an entire year with a fully automated system. Measurements were taken from three subplots for each treatment within a randomized complete blocks design. There was a significant inhibition effect of DMPP and 3MP+TZ on N2O emissions and soil mineral N content directly following the application of the fertiliser over the vegetable cropping phase. However this mitigation was offset by elevated N2O emissions from the inhibitor treatments over the post-harvest fallow period. Cumulative annual N2O emissions amounted to 1.22 kg-N/ha, 1.16 kg-N/ha, 1.50 kg-N/ha and 0.86 kg-N/ha in the conventional fertiliser (CONV), the DMPP treatment, the 3MP+TZ treatment and the zero fertiliser (0N) respectively. Corresponding fertiliser induced emission factors (EFs) were low with only 0.09 - 0.20% of the total applied fertiliser lost as N2O. There was no significant effect of the nitrification inhibitors on yield compared to the CONV treatment for the three vegetable crops (green beans, broccoli, lettuce) grown over the experimental period. This study highlights that N2O emissions from such vegetable cropping system are primarily controlled by post-harvest emissions following the incorporation of vegetable crop

  9. The mechanisms governing low denitrification capacity and high nitrogen oxide gas emissions in subtropical forest soils in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Jinbo; Yu, Yongjie; Zhu, Tongbin; Cai, Zucong

    2014-08-01

    Previous studies have demonstrated that denitrification rates are low in subtropical forest soils. However, the mechanisms governing this process are not well known. This study seeks to identify the mechanisms responsible for the low denitrification capacity and high nitrogen oxide gas ratio in subtropical forest soils in China. The denitrification capacity and nitric oxide (NO), nitrous oxide (N2O), and dinitrogen (N2) emission rates were measured using the acetylene inhibition method under conditions of added nitrate and anoxia. The abundance of nitrate reductase (narG), nitrite reductase (nirK), nitric oxide reductase (cnorB), and nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ) was measured using real-time, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and sequencing of the nirK and norB products was performed to analyze the population structure of denitrifying bacteria. These results showed that the denitrification capacity in subtropical forest soils was lower than in temperate forest soils (p < 0.05). Multiple regression analysis showed that redox potential at the start of incubation (Ehi), rather than soil pH or soil organic C, was the key soil variable influencing denitrification, and Ehi alone could explain 68% of the variations in denitrification capacity. The high Ehi in subtropical soils led to a low abundance of nirK and significant differences in the population structure of denitrifying bacteria between subtropical and temperate soils. Therefore, Ehi was responsible for the low denitrification capacity in subtropical forest soils. The ratio of NO to total denitrification gas products (p < 0.01) and the ratio of NO and N2O to total denitrification gas products (p < 0.05) were significantly higher in subtropical forest soils than in temperate forest soils, while the reverse trend was observed for the ratio of N2 to total denitrification gas products (p < 0.05). A high Ehi reduced the specific reduction activity of each nosZ copy and, in turn, resulted in a large ratio of NO

  10. Mitigating climate change through the understanding of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) consumption processes in peat lands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Akrami, N.; Barker, X. Z.; Horwath, W. R.

    2017-12-01

    Nitrous Oxide (N2O) with global warming potential of 298 over a 100-year horizon is one of the most potent green house gases. In the United States, agriculture share to N2O emissions is over 70%. Peat lands, however, are being considered as both sources and sinks of greenhouse gases. N2O emissions are a product of both production and consumption processes. However, there is still a lack of understanding of N2O consumption processes in soils. In this work, the potential of re-wetted peat lands planted to rice in Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, to act as a potential sink for N2O is being evaluated. Four peat land soils with 1%, 5%, 11% and 23% of organic carbon have been anaerobically incubated with different water contents (15%, 30%, 50%, 75% and 100% of their water holding capacity). 15N-N2O gas has been injected to the headspace of experiment jars and the production and consumption rate of 15N-N2O, 15N-N2 and production rate of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Methane (CH4) along with dissolved Nitrate (NO3-), Nitrite (NO2-), Ammonium (NH4+), Iron (II) and Iron (III) concentration has been quantified. Our results show promising N2O consumption rates under high carbon content and relatively high water content treatments. This research introduces organic carbon and water content as two major criteria in N2O consumption processes in peat lands that make it a potential hotspot for climate changes mitigation through adopting effective management practices to decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

  11. N2O EMISSIONS FROM STREAMS IN THE NEUSE RIVER WATERSHED, NORTH CAROLINA

    EPA Science Inventory

    The paper presents N2O emission data from 11 sites in the Neuse River watershed. Emissions were measured using a static surface enclosure technique deployed on eight sites on the main river channel and three tributary sites. Ancillary data collected included dissolved ...

  12. [Effects of biochar application on greenhouse gas emission from paddy soil and its physical and chemical properties].

    PubMed

    Liu, Yu-xue; Wang, Yao-feng; Lü, Hao-hao; Chen, Yi; Tang, Xu; Wu, Chun-yan; Zhong, Zhe-ke; Yang, Sheng-mao

    2013-08-01

    A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of rice straw returning and rice straw biochar and life rubbish biochar application on the greenhouse gas (CH4, CO2 and N2O) emission from paddy soil, its physical and chemical properties, and rice grain yield. Compared with rice straw returning, applying rice straw biochar decreased the cumulative CH4 and N2O emissions from paddy soil significantly by 64.2% - 78.5% and 16.3% - 18.4%, respectively. Whether planting rice or not, the cumulative N2O emission from paddy soil under the applications of rice straw biochar and life rubbish biochar was decreased significantly, compared with that without biochar amendment. Under the condition of no rice planting, applying life rubbish biochar reduced the cumulative CO2 emission significantly by 25.3%. Rice straw biochar was superior to life rubbish biochar in improving soil pH and available potassium content. Both rice straw biochar and life rubbish biochar could increase the soil organic carbon content significantly, but had less effects on the soil bulk density, total nitrogen and available phosphorus contents, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and grain yield. It was suggested that compared with rice straw returning, straw biochar was more effective in improving rice grain yield.

  13. Subtask 1.22 - Microbial Cycling of CH4, CO2, and N2O in a Wetlands Environment

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dingyi Ye; Bethany Kurz; Marc Kurz

    Soil microbial metabolic activities play an important role in determining CO{sub 2}, CH{sub 4}, and N{sub 2}O fluxes from terrestrial ecosystems. To verify and evaluate CO{sub 2} sequestration potential by wetland restoration in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), as well as to address concern over restoration effects on CH{sub 4} and N{sub 2}O emissions, laboratory and in situ microcosm studies on microbial cycling of CO{sub 2}, CH{sub 4}, and N{sub 2}O were initiated. In addition, to evaluate the feasibility of the use of remote sensing to detect soil gas flux from wetlands, a remote-sensing investigation was also conducted. Results ofmore » the laboratory microcosm study unequivocally proved that restoration of PPR wetlands does sequester atmospheric CO{sub 2}. Under the experimental conditions, the simulated restored wetlands did not promote neither N{sub 2}O nor CH{sub 4} fluxes. Application of ammonia enhanced both N{sub 2}O and CH{sub 4} emission, indicating that restoration of PPR wetlands may reduce both N{sub 2}O and CH{sub 4} emission by cutting N-fertilizer input. Enhancement of CO{sub 2} emission by the N-fertilizer was observed, and this observation revealed an overlooked fact that application of N-fertilizer may potentially increase CO{sub 2} emission. In addition, the CO{sub 2} results also demonstrate that wetland restoration sequesters atmospheric carbon not only by turning soil conditions from aerobic to anoxic, but also by cutting N-fertilizer input that may enhance CO{sub 2} flux. The investigation on microbial community structure and population dynamics showed that under the experimental conditions restoration of the PPR wetlands would not dramatically increase population sizes of those microorganisms that produce N{sub 2}O and CH{sub 4}. Results of the in situ study proved that restoration of the PPR wetland significantly reduced CO{sub 2} flux. Ammonia enhanced the greenhouse gas emission and linearly correlated to the CO{sub 2} flux within

  14. Nitrous oxide emission and denitrifier communities in drip-irrigated calcareous soil as affected by chemical and organic fertilizers.

    PubMed

    Tao, Rui; Wakelin, Steven A; Liang, Yongchao; Hu, Baowei; Chu, Guixin

    2018-01-15

    The effects of consecutive application of chemical fertilizer with or without organic fertilizer on soil N 2 O emissions and denitrifying community structure in a drip-irrigated field were determined. The four fertilizer treatments were (i) unfertilized, (ii) chemical fertilizer, (iii) 60% chemical fertilizer plus cattle manure, and (iv) 60% chemical fertilizer plus biofertilizer. The treatments with organic amendments (i.e. cattle manure and biofertilizer) reduced cumulative N 2 O emissions by 4.9-9.9%, reduced the N 2 O emission factor by 1.3-42%, and increased denitrifying enzyme activities by 14.3-56.2%. The nirK gene copy numbers were greatest in soil which received only chemical fertilizer. In contrast, nirS- and nosZ-copy numbers were greatest in soil amended with chemical fertilizer plus biofertilizer. Chemical fertilizer application with or without organic fertilizer significantly changed the community structure of nirK-type denitrifiers relative to the unfertilized soil. In comparison, the nirS- and nosZ-type denitrifier genotypes varied in treatments receiving organic fertilizer but not chemical fertilizer alone. The changes in the denitrifier communities were closely associated with soil organic carbon (SOC), NO 3 - , NH 4 + , water holding capacity, and soil pH. Modeling indicated that N 2 O emissions in this soil were primarily associated with the abundance of nirS type denitrifying bacteria, SOC, and NO 3 - . Overall, our findings indicate that (i) the organic fertilizers increased denitrifying enzyme activity, increased denitrifying-bacteria gene copy numbers, but reduced N 2 O emissions, and (ii) nirS- and nosZ-type denitrifiers were more sensitive than nirK-type denitrifiers to the organic fertilizers. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  15. Estimates of N2O, NO and NH3 Emissions From Croplands in East, Southeast and South Asia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yan, X.; Ohara, T.; Akimoto, H.

    2002-12-01

    Agricultural activities have greatly altered the global nitrogen cycle and produced nitrogenous gases of environmentally significance. More than half of the global chemical nitrogen fertilizer is used for crop production in East, Southeast and South Asia where rice the center of nutrition. Emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), nitric oxide (NO) and ammonia (NH3) from croplands in this region were estimated by considering both background emission and emissions resulted from nitrogen added to croplands, including chemical nitrogen, animal manure used as fertilizer, biological fixed nitrogen and nitrogen in crop residue returned to field. Background emission fluxes of N2O and NO from croplands were estimated at 1.16 and 0.52 kg N ha-1yr-1, respectively. A fertilizer-induced N2O emission factor of 1.25% for upland was adopted from IPCC guidelines, and a factor of 0.25% was derived for paddy field from measurements. Total N2O emission from croplands in the region was estimated at 1.16 Tg N yr-1, with 41% contributed by background emission which was not considered in previous global estimates. However, the average fertilizer-induced N2O emission is only 0.93%, lower than the default IPCC value of 1.25% due to the low emission factor from paddy field. A fertilizer-induced NO emission factor of 0.66% for upland was derived from field measurements, and a factor of 0.13% was assumed for paddy field. Total NO emission was 572 Gg N yr-1 in the region, with 38% due to background emission. Average fertilizer-induce NO emission factor was 0.48%. Extrapolating this estimate to global scale will result in a global NO emission from cropland of 1.6 Tg N yr-1, smaller than other global estimates. Total NH3 emission was estimated at 11.8 Tg N yr-1. The use of urea and ammonium bicarbonate and the cultivation of rice lead to a high average NH3 loss rate of chemical fertilizer in the region. Emissions were distributed at 0.5° grid by using a global landuse database.

  16. Development of a High Precision and Stability Ambient N2O and CO Analyzer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Jingang; Hoffnagle, John; Tan, Sze; Dong, Feng; Fleck, Derek; Yiu, John; Huang, Kuan; Leggett, Graham; He, Yonggang

    2016-04-01

    With a global warming potential of nearly 300, N2O is a critically important greenhouse gas, contributing about 5 % of the US total GHG emissions. Agriculture soil management practices are the dominant source of anthropogenic N2O emissions, contributing nearly 75 % of US N2O emissions. In urban areas, vehicle tailpipe emissions and waste water treatment plants are significant sources of N2O. We report here a new mid-infrared laser-based cavity ring-down spectrometer (Picarro G5310) that was recently developed to simultaneously measure sub-ppb ambient concentrations of two key greenhouse gas species, N2O and CO, while measuring H2O as well. It combines a quantum cascade laser with a proprietary 3-mirror optical cavity. The ambient N2O and CO measurement precisions are 0.1ppb (10sec), 0.014ppb (600sec), and 0.006ppb (3000sec); and the measurements could even be averaged down over 3 hours, giving measurement precisions of 0.003ppb. The measurable N2O and CO ranges have been tested up to 2.5ppm. With the high precision and unparalleled stability, G5310 is believed a promising tool for long-term monitoring in atmospheric sciences. The new optical analyzer was set up to monitor N2O and CO (G5310), along with CO2 and CH4(G4301), in ambient air obtained from a 10 meter tower in Santa Clara, California. Evidence of contributions from traffic and a nearby sewage treatment facility were expected in the measurement data.

  17. Linking N2O emission from biochar-amended composting process to the abundance of denitrify (nirK and nosZ) bacteria community.

    PubMed

    Li, Shuqing; Song, Lina; Jin, Yaguo; Liu, Shuwei; Shen, Qirong; Zou, Jianwen

    2016-12-01

    Manure composting has been recognized as an important anthropogenic source of nitrous oxide (N2O) contributing to global warming. However, biochar effect on N2O emissions from manure composting is rarely evaluated, especially by linking it to abundance of denitrifying bacteria community. Results of this study indicated that biochar amendment significantly reduced N2O emissions from manure composting, primarily due to suppression of the nirK gene abundance of denitrifying bacteria. Pearson's correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between nirK abundance and N2O fluxes, while a negative correlation between nosZ density and N2O fluxes. Simultaneously, a linear correlation between nirK gene abundance minus nosZ gene abundance with N2O fluxes was also observed. In addition, a statistical model for estimating N2O emissions based on the bacterial denitrifying functional genes was developed and verified to adequately fit the observed emissions. Our results highlighted that biochar amendment would be an alternative strategy for mitigating N2O emissions during manure composting, and the information of related functional bacterial communities could be helpful for understanding the mechanism of N2O emissions.

  18. Emission of greenhouse gases and soil carbon sequestration in a riparian marsh wetland in central Ohio.

    PubMed

    Nag, Subir K; Liu, Ruiqiang; Lal, Rattan

    2017-10-23

    Wetlands are a C sink, but they also account for a large natural source of greenhouse gases (GHG), particularly methane (CH 4 ). Soils of wetlands play an important role in alleviating the global climate change regardless of the emission of CH 4 . However, there are uncertainties about the amount of C stored and emitted from wetlands because of the site specific factors. Therefore, the present study was conducted in a temperate riverine flow-through wetland, part of which was covered with emerging macrophyte Typhus latifolia in central Ohio, USA, with the objective to assess emissions of GHGs (CH 4, CO 2 , N 2 O) and measure C and nitrogen (N) stocks in wetland soil in comparison to a reference upland site. The data revealed that CH 4 emission from the open and vegetated wetland ranged from 1.03-0.51 Mg C/ha/y and that of CO 2 varied from 1.26-1.51 Mg C/ha/y. In comparison, CH 4 emission from reference upland site was negligible (0.01 Mg C/ha/y), but CO 2 emission was much higher (3.24 Mg C/ha/y). The stock of C in wetland soil was 85 to 125 Mg C/ha up to 0.3 m depth. The average rate of emission was 2.15 Mg C/ha/y, but the rate of sequestration was calculated as 5.55 Mg C/ha/y. Thus, the wetland was actually a C sink. Emission of N 2 O was slightly higher in vegetated wetland (0.153 mg N 2 O-N/m 2 /h) than the open wetland and the reference site (0.129 mg N 2 O-N/m 2 /h). Effect of temperature on emission of GHGs from the systems was also studied.

  19. CO2 and N2O emissions in a soil chronosequence at a glacier retreat zone in Maritime Antarctica

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Polar regions represents a large carbon (C) sequestration reservoir in the world. Studies of alterations in C cycle are extremely important to identify changes due to climate change, especially among polar environments. The objectives of this study were to examine (i) patterns of soil CO2-C emission...

  20. Agricultural soil greenhouse gas emissions: a review of national inventory methods.

    PubMed

    Lokupitiya, Erandathie; Paustian, Keith

    2006-01-01

    Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are required to submit national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, together with information on methods used in estimating their emissions. Currently agricultural activities contribute a significant portion (approximately 20%) of global anthropogenic GHG emissions, and agricultural soils have been identified as one of the main GHG source categories within the agricultural sector. However, compared to many other GHG sources, inventory methods for soils are relatively more complex and have been implemented only to varying degrees among member countries. This review summarizes and evaluates the methods used by Annex 1 countries in estimating CO2 and N2O emissions in agricultural soils. While most countries utilize the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) default methodology, several Annex 1 countries are developing more advanced methods that are tailored for specific country circumstances. Based on the latest national inventory reporting, about 56% of the Annex 1 countries use IPCC Tier 1 methods, about 26% use Tier 2 methods, and about 18% do not estimate or report N2O emissions from agricultural soils. More than 65% of the countries do not report CO2 emissions from the cultivation of mineral soils, organic soils, or liming, and only a handful of countries have used country-specific, Tier 3 methods. Tier 3 methods usually involve process-based models and detailed, geographically specific activity data. Such methods can provide more robust, accurate estimates of emissions and removals but require greater diligence in documentation, transparency, and uncertainty assessment to ensure comparability between countries. Availability of detailed, spatially explicit activity data is a major constraint to implementing higher tiered methods in many countries.

  1. [Interactions of straw, nitrogen fertilizer and bacterivorous nematodes on soil labile carbon and nitrogen and greenhouse gas emissions].

    PubMed

    Zhang, Teng-Hao; Wang, Nan; Liu, Man-Qiang; Li, Fang-Hui; Zhu, Kang-Li; Li, Hui-Xin; Hu, Feng

    2014-11-01

    A 3 x 2 factorial design of microcosm experiment was conducted to investigate the interactive effects of straw, nitrogen fertilizer and bacterivorous nematodes on soil microbial biomass carbon (C(mic)) and nitrogen (N(mic)), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON), mineral nitrogen (NH(4+)-N and NO(3-)-N), and greenhouse gas (CO2, N2O and CH4) emissions. Results showed that straw amendment remarkably increased the numbers of bacterivorous nematodes and the contents of Cmic and Nmic, but Cmic and Nmic decreased with the increasing dose of nitrogen fertilization. The effects of bacterivorous nematodes strongly depended on either straw or nitrogen fertilization. The interactions of straw, nitrogen fertilization and bacterivorous nematodes on soil DOC, DON and mineral nitrogen were strong. Straw and nitrogen fertilization increased DOC and mineral nitrogen contents, but their influences on DON depended on the bacterivorous nematodes. The DOC and mineral nitrogen were negatively and positively influenced by the bacterivorous nematodes, re- spectively. Straw significantly promoted CO2 and N2O emissions but inhibited CH4 emission, while interactions between nematodes and nitrogen fertilization on emissions of greenhouse gases were obvious. In the presence of straw, nematodes increased cumulative CO2 emissions with low nitrogen fertilization, but decreased CO2 and N2O emissions with high nitrogen fertilization on the 56th day after incubation. In summary, mechanical understanding the soil ecological process would inevitably needs to consider the roles of soil microfauna.

  2. Co-composting of municipal solid waste mixed with matured sewage sludge: The relationship between N2O emissions and denitrifying gene abundance.

    PubMed

    Bian, Rongxing; Sun, Yingjie; Li, Weihua; Ma, Qiang; Chai, Xiaoli

    2017-12-01

    Aerobic composting is an alternative measure to the disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW). However, it produces nitrous oxide (N 2 O), a highly potent greenhouse via microbial nitrification and denitrification. In this study, the effects of matured sewage sludge (MSS) amendment on N 2 O emissions and the inter-relationships between N 2 O emissions and the abundance of denitrifying bacteria were investigated during aerobic composting of MSW. The results demonstrated that MSW composting with MSS amendments (C1, and C2, with a MSW to MSS ratio of 2:1 and 4:1, (v/v), respectively) significantly increased N 2 O emissions during the initial stage, yet contributed to the mitigation of N 2 O emissions during the cooling and maturation stage. MSS amended composting emitted a total of 18.4%-25.7% less N 2 O than the control treatment without MSS amendment (CK). Matured sewage sludge amendment also significantly altered the abundance of denitrifying bacteria. The quantification of denitrifying functional genes revealed that the N 2 O emission rate had a significant positive correlation with the abundance of the nirS, nirK genes in both treatments with MSS amendment. The nosZ/(nirS + nirK) ratio could be a good indicator for predicting N 2 O emissions. The higher N 2 O emission rate during the initial stage of composting mixed with MSS was characterized by lower nosZ/(nirS + nirK) ratios, compared to CK treatment. Higher ratios of nosZ/(nirS + nirK) were measured during the cooling and maturation stage in treatments with MSS which resulted in a reduction of the N 2 O emissions. These results demonstrated that MSS amendment could be a valid strategy for mitigating N 2 O emissions during MSW composting. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Effects of coastal marsh conversion to shrimp aquaculture ponds on CH4 and N2O emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, P.; Bastviken, D.; Lai, D. Y. F.; Jin, B. S.; Mou, X. J.; Tong, C.; Yao, Y. C.

    2017-12-01

    In this study, we compared the CH4 and N2O fluxes from a tidal brackish Cyperus malaccensis marsh ecosystem and nearby shrimp ponds, converted from C. malaccensis marsh in the last 3-4 years, in the Min River estuary of southeast China over the aquaculture period of the year. Significant differences in CH4 and N2O fluxes were observed in space (between brackish marsh and shrimp ponds) and in time (between sampling occasions that were distributed over the aquaculture period). CH4 fluxes from the shrimp ponds were on an average 10-fold higher than from the brackish marsh. N2O emissions, on the other hand, were lower from the shrimp pond (25% of the emissions from the brackish marsh). Accessory data indicates that these patterns were primarily linked to water level variability and temperature (all fluxes), sediment porewater sulfate concentrations (CH4 flux) and total nitrogen concentrations (N2O flux). Our research demonstrates that the coastal marsh ecosystem converted to aquaculture ponds considerably alter emissions of CH4 and N2O and provides input to the global discussion on how to account for emissions from various types of flooded land in greenhouse gas inventories.

  4. Biogenic CH4 and N2O emissions overwhelm land CO2 sink in Asia: Toward a full GHG budget

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tian, H.

    2017-12-01

    The recent global assessment indicates the terrestrial biosphere as a net source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere (Tian et al Nature 2016). The fluxes of greenhouse gases (GHG) vary by region. Both TD and BU approaches indicate that human-caused biogenic fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O in the biosphere of Southern Asia led to a large net climate warming effect, because the 100-year cumulative effects of CH4 and N2O emissions together exceed that of the terrestrial CO2 sink. Southern Asia has about 90% of the global rice fields and represents more than 60% of the world's nitrogen fertilizer consumption, with 64%-81% of CH4 emissions and 36%-52% of N2O emissions derived from the agriculture and waste sectors. Given the large footprint of agriculture in Southern Asia, improved fertilizer use efficiency, rice management and animal diets could substantially reduce global agricultural N2O and CH4 emissions. This study highlights the importance of including all three major GHGs in regional climate impact assessments, mitigation option and climate policy development.

  5. Fungi regulate response of N2O production to warming and grazing in a Tibetan grassland

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhong, Lei; Wang, Shiping; Xu, Xingliang; Wang, Yanfen; Rui, Yichao; Zhou, Xiaoqi; Shen, Qinhua; Wang, Jinzhi; Jiang, Lili; Luo, Caiyun; Gu, Tianbao; Ma, Wenchao; Chen, Guanyi

    2018-03-01

    Lack of understanding of the effects of warming and winter grazing on soil fungal contribution to nitrous oxide (N2O) production has limited our ability to predict N2O fluxes under changes in climate and land use management, because soil fungi play an important role in driving terrestrial N cycling. Here, we examined the effects of 10 years' warming and winter grazing on soil N2O emissions potential in an alpine meadow. Our results showed that soil bacteria and fungi contributed 46 % and 54 % to nitrification, and 37 % and 63 % to denitrification, respectively. Neither warming nor winter grazing affected the activity of enzymes responsible for overall nitrification and denitrification. However, warming significantly increased the enzyme activity of bacterial nitrification and denitrification to 53 % and 55 %, respectively. Warming significantly decreased enzyme activity of fungal nitrification and denitrification to 47 % and 45 %, respectively, while winter grazing had no such effect. We conclude that soil fungi could be the main source for N2O production potential in the Tibetan alpine grasslands. Warming and winter grazing may not affect the potential for soil N2O production potential, but climate warming can alter biotic pathways responsible for N2O production. These findings indicate that characterizing how fungal nitrification/denitrification contributes to N2O production, as well as how it responds to environmental and land use changes, can advance our understanding of N cycling. Therefore, our results provide some new insights about ecological controls on N2O production and lead to refine greenhouse gas flux models.

  6. Quantification of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and soluble microbial product (SMP) production by a modified AOB-NOB-N2O-SMP model.

    PubMed

    Kim, MinJeong; Wu, Guangxue; Yoo, ChangKyoo

    2017-03-01

    A modified AOB-NOB-N 2 O-SMP model able to quantify nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions and soluble microbial product (SMP) production during wastewater treatment is proposed. The modified AOB-NOB-N 2 O-SMP model takes into account: (1) two-step nitrification by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), (2) N 2 O production by AOB denitrification under oxygen-limited conditions and (3) SMP production by microbial growth and endogenous respiration. Validity of the modified model is demonstrated by comparing the simulation results with experimental data from lab-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBRs). To reliably implement the modified model, a model calibration that adjusts model parameters to fit the model outputs to the experimental data is conducted. The results of this study showed that the modeling accuracy of the modified AOB-NOB-N 2 O-SMP model increases by 19.7% (NH 4 ), 51.0% (NO 2 ), 57.8% (N 2 O) and 16.7% (SMP) compared to the conventional model which does not consider the two-step nitrification and SMP production by microbial endogenous respiration. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Nitrous oxide emissions from sugarcane straw left on the soil surface in Brazil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Galdos, M. V.; Cerri, C. E.; Carvalho, J. L.; Cerri, C. C.

    2012-12-01

    In Brazil, the largest exporter of ethanol from sugarcane in the world, burning the dry leaves and tops in order to facilitate the harvest and transportation of the stalks is still a common practice. Burning plant residues causes emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as CO2, CH4 and N2O, besides the release of charcoal particles into the atmosphere. Due to a combination of pressure from changes in the public opinion and economical reasons, in Brazil sugarcane harvest is changing from a burned into an unburned system. Since manual harvest of sugarcane without burning is not economically feasible, mechanical harvesters have been developed that can take the stalk and leave the residues on the field, forming a mulch, in a system called green cane management. It is expected that 80% of the cane harvested in the main producing regions in Brazil will be harvested without burning by 2014. The conversion from burning sugarcane to green management of sugarcane will have impacts on the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nitrogen in the plant soil system. The green cane management results in the deposition of large amounts of plant litter on the soil surface after harvest, ranging from 10 to 20 tons per hectare, which impact the whole production process of sugarcane, influencing yields, fertilizer management and application, soil erosion, soil organic matter dynamics as well as greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, N2O, CH4). From a GHG perspective, the conservation of sugarcane residues prevents emissions from the burning process, may promote carbon sequestration in soils and releases nitrogen during the decomposition process replacing the need for, and GHG emissions from, fossil fuel based nitrogen fertilizer sources. Measurements of soil C and N stocks and associated greenhouse gas emissions from the burned and unburned sugarcane systems and in the sugarcane expansion areas are still scarce. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to quantify the nitrous oxide

  8. A modeling study of direct and indirect N2O emissions from a representative catchment in the U. S. Corn Belt

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Indirect nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from drainage ditches and headwater streams are poorly constrained. To date, few studies have monitored stream N2O emissions and to our knowledge, no modeling studies have been conducted to simulate stream N2O emissions. In this study, we developed direct and i...

  9. Relationships between Fungal Biomass and Nitrous Oxide Emission in Upland Rice Soils under No Tillage and Cover Cropping Systems.

    PubMed

    Zhaorigetu; Komatsuzaki, Masakazu; Sato, Yoshinori; Ohta, Hiroyuki

    2008-01-01

    The relationships between soil microbial properties and nitrous oxide emission were examined in upland soil under different tillage systems [no tillage (NT), rotary and plow tillage] and cover crop systems (fallow, cereal rye, and hairy vetch) in 2004 and 2005. Microbiological analyses included the determination of soil ergosterol as an indicator of fungal biomass, bacterial plate counting, and MPN estimations of ammonia oxidizers and denitrifiers. The combined practice of NT with rye-cover crop treatment increased fungal biomass but not bacterial populations in 0-10 cm deep soils. Such increase in fungal biomass was not found in 10-20 cm and 20-30 cm deep cover-cropped NT soil. The combined practice of NT with rye-cover cropping resulted in higher in situ N(2)O emission rates compared with rotary- and plow-till treatments. N(2)O flux was positively correlated with soil ergosterol content but not with denitrifier MPN and other soil chemical properties. These results suggested a significant contribution of fungi to N(2)O emission in cover-cropped NT soils.

  10. Long-term effects of contrasting tillage on soil organic carbon, nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions in a Mediterranean Vertisol under different crop sequences.

    PubMed

    Badagliacca, Giuseppe; Benítez, Emilio; Amato, Gaetano; Badalucco, Luigi; Giambalvo, Dario; Laudicina, Vito Armando; Ruisi, Paolo

    2018-04-01

    This 2-year study aimed to verify whether the continuous application of no tillage (NT) for over 20years, in comparison with conventional tillage (CT), affects nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and ammonia (NH 3 ) emissions from a Vertisol and, if so, whether such an effect varies with crop sequence (continuous wheat, WW and wheat after faba bean, FW). To shed light on the mechanisms involved in determining N-gas emissions, soil bulk density, water filled pore space (WFPS), some carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools, denitrifying enzyme activity (DEA), and nitrous oxide reductase gene abundance (nosZ gene) were also assessed at 0-15 and 15-30cm soil depth. Tillage system had no significant effect on total NH 3 emissions. On average, total N 2 O emissions were higher under NT (2.45kgN 2 O-Nha -1 ) than CT (1.72kgN 2 O-Nha -1 ), being the differences between the two tillage systems greater in FW than WW. The higher N 2 O emissions in NT treatments were ascribed to the increased bulk density, WFPS, and extractable organic C under NT compared to CT, all factors that generally promote the production of N 2 O. Moreover, compared to CT, NT enhanced the potential DEA (114 vs 16μgNkg -1 h -1 ) and nosZ gene abundance (116 vs 69 copy number mg -1 dry soil) in the topsoil. Finally, NT compared to CT led to an average annual increase in C stock of 0.70MgCha -1 year -1 . Though NT can increase the amount os soil organic matter so storing CO 2 into soil, some criticisms related to the increase of N 2 O emission arise, thereby suggesting the need for defining management strategies to mitigate such a negative effect. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Response of Soil Biogeochemistry to Freeze-thaw Cycles: Impacts on Greenhouse Gas Emission and Nutrient Fluxes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rezanezhad, F.; Parsons, C. T.; Smeaton, C. M.; Van Cappellen, P.

    2014-12-01

    Freeze-thaw is an abiotic stress applied to soils and is a natural process at medium to high latitudes. Freezing and thawing processes influence not only the physical properties of soil, but also the metabolic activity of soil microorganisms. Fungi and bacteria play a crucial role in soil organic matter degradation and the production of greenhouse gases (GHG) such as CO2, CH4 and N2O. Production and consumption of these atmospheric trace gases are the result of biological processes such as photosynthesis, aerobic respiration (CO2), methanogenesis, methanotrophy (CH4), nitrification and denitrification (N2O). To enhance our understanding of the effects of freeze-thaw cycles on soil biogeochemical transformations and fluxes, a highly instrumented soil column experiment was designed to realistically simulate freeze-thaw dynamics under controlled conditions. Pore waters collected periodically from different depths of the column and solid-phase analyses on core material obtained at the initial and end of the experiment highlighted striking geochemical cycling. CO2, CH4 and N2O production at different depths within the column were quantified from dissolved gas concentrations in pore water. Subsequent emissions from the soil surface were determined by direct measurement in the head space. Pulsed CO2 emission to the headspace was observed at the onset of thawing, however, the magnitude of the pulse decreased with each subsequent freeze-thaw cycle indicating depletion of a "freeze-thaw accessible" carbon pool. Pulsed CO2 emission was due to a combination of physical release of gases dissolved in porewater and entrapped below the frozen zone and changing microbial respiration in response to electron acceptor variability (O2, NO3-, SO42-). In this presentation, we focus on soil-specific physical, chemical, microbial factors (e.g. redox conditions, respiration, fermentation) and the mechanisms that drive GHG emission and nutrient cycling in soils under freeze-thaw cycles.

  12. Solar UV irradiation-induced production of N2O from plant surfaces - low emissions rates but all over the world.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mikkelsen, T. N.; Bruhn, D.; Ambus, P.

    2016-12-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important long-lived greenhouse gas and precursor of stratospheric ozone depleting mono-nitrogen oxides. The atmospheric concentration of N2O is persistently increasing; however, large uncertainties are associated with the distinct source strengths. Here we investigate for the first time N2O emission from terrestrial vegetation in response to natural solar ultra violet radiation. We conducted field site measurements to investigate N2O atmosphere exchange from grass vegetation exposed to solar irradiance with and without UV-screening. Further laboratory tests were conducted with a range of species to study the controls and possible loci of UV-induced N2O emission from plants. Plants released N2O in response to natural sunlight at rates of c. 20-50 nmol m-2 h-1, mostly due to the UV component. The emission rate is temperature dependent with a rather high activation energy indicative for an abiotic process. The prevailing zone for the N2O formation appears to be at the very surface of leaves. However, only c. 26% of the UV-induced N2O appears to originate from plant-N. Further, the process is dependent on atmospheric oxygen concentration. Our work demonstrates that ecosystem emission of the important greenhouse gas, N2O, may be up to c. 30% higher than hitherto assumed.

  13. Mitigation of nitrous oxide (N2 O) emission from swine wastewater treatment in an aerobic bioreactor packed with carbon fibers.

    PubMed

    Yamashita, Takahiro; Yamamoto-Ikemoto, Ryoko; Yokoyama, Hiroshi; Kawahara, Hirofumi; Ogino, Akifumi; Osada, Takashi

    2015-03-01

    Mitigation of nitrous oxide (N2 O) emission from swine wastewater treatment was demonstrated in an aerobic bioreactor packed with carbon fibers (CF reactor). The CF reactor had a demonstrated advantage in mitigating N2 O emission and avoiding NOx (NO3  + NO2 ) accumulation. The N2 O emission factor was 0.0003 g N2 O-N/gTN-load in the CF bioreactor compared to 0.03 gN2 O-N/gTN-load in an activated sludge reactor (AS reactor). N2 O and CH4 emissions from the CF reactor were 42 g-CO2 eq/m(3) /day, while those from the AS reactor were 725 g-CO2 eq/m(3) /day. The dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in the CF reactor removed an average of 156 mg/L of the NH4 -N, and accumulated an average of 14 mg/L of the NO3 -N. In contrast, the DIN in the AS reactor removed an average 144 mg/L of the NH4 -N and accumulated an average 183 mg/L of the NO3 -N. NO2 -N was almost undetectable in both reactors. © 2014 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

  14. Actinobacterial Nitrate Reducers and Proteobacterial Denitrifiers Are Abundant in N2O-Metabolizing Palsa Peat

    PubMed Central

    Palmer, Katharina

    2012-01-01

    Palsa peats are characterized by elevated, circular frost heaves (peat soil on top of a permanently frozen ice lens) and are strong to moderate sources or even temporary sinks for the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). Palsa peats are predicted to react sensitively to global warming. The acidic palsa peat Skalluvaara (approximate pH 4.4) is located in the discontinuous permafrost zone in northwestern Finnish Lapland. In situ N2O fluxes were spatially variable, ranging from 0.01 to −0.02 μmol of N2O m−2 h−1. Fertilization with nitrate stimulated in situ N2O emissions and N2O production in anoxic microcosms without apparent delay. N2O was subsequently consumed in microcosms. Maximal reaction velocities (vmax) of nitrate-dependent denitrification approximated 3 and 1 nmol of N2O per h per gram (dry weight [gDW]) in soil from 0 to 20 cm and below 20 cm of depth, respectively. vmax values of nitrite-dependent denitrification were 2- to 5-fold higher than the vmax nitrate-dependent denitrification, and vmax of N2O consumption was 1- to 6-fold higher than that of nitrite-dependent denitrification, highlighting a high N2O consumption potential. Up to 12 species-level operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of narG, nirK and nirS, and nosZ were retrieved. Detected OTUs suggested the presence of diverse uncultured soil denitrifiers and dissimilatory nitrate reducers, hitherto undetected species, as well as Actino-, Alpha-, and Betaproteobacteria. Copy numbers of nirS always outnumbered those of nirK by 2 orders of magnitude. Copy numbers of nirS tended to be higher, while copy numbers of narG and nosZ tended to be lower in 0- to 20-cm soil than in soil below 20 cm. The collective data suggest that (i) the source and sink functions of palsa peat soils for N2O are associated with denitrification, (ii) actinobacterial nitrate reducers and nirS-type and nosZ-harboring proteobacterial denitrifiers are important players, and (iii) acidic soils like palsa peats represent

  15. Drivers of small scale variability in soil-atmosphere fluxes of CH4, N2O and CO2 in a forest soil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maier, Martin; Nicolai, Clara; Wheeler, Denis; Lang, Friedeike; Paulus, Sinikka

    2016-04-01

    Soil-atmosphere fluxes of CH4, N2O and CO2 can vary on different spatial scales, on large scales between ecosystems but also within apparently homogenous sites. While CO2 and CH4 consumption is rather evenly distibuted in well aerated soils, the production of N2O and CH4 seems to occur at hot spots that can be associated with anoxic or suboxic conditions. Small-scale variability in soil properties is well-known from field soil assesment, affecting also soil aeration and thus theoretically, greenhouse gas fluxes. In many cases different plant species are associated with different soil conditions and vegetation mapping should therefor combined with soil mapping. Our research objective was explaining the small scale variability of greenhouse gas fluxes in an apparently homogeneous 50 years old Scots Pine stand in a former riparian flood plain.We combined greenhouse gas measurements and soil physical lab measurments with field soil assessment and vegetation mapping. Measurements were conducted with at 60 points at a plot of 30 X 30 m at the Hartheim monitoring site (SW Germany). For greenhouse gas measurements a non-steady state chamber system and laser analyser, and a photoacoustic analyser were used. Our study shows that the well aerated site was a substantial sink for atmospheric CH4 (-2.4 nmol/m² s) and also a for N2O (-0.4 nmol/m² s), but less pronounced, whereas CO2 production was a magnitude larger (2.6 μmol/m² s). The spatial variability of the CH4 consumption of the soils could be explained by the variability of the soil gas diffusivity (measured in situ + using soil cores). Deviations of this clear trend were only observed at points where decomposing woody debris was directly under the litter layer. Soil texture ranged from gravel, coarse sand, fine sand to pure silt, with coarser texture having higher soil gas diffusivity. Changes in texture were rather abrupt at some positions or gradual at other positions, and were well reflected in the vegetation

  16. Modulation of Protein Metabolism to Mitigate Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Emission from Excreta of Livestock.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Guangyong

    2017-01-01

    Dietary protein is the main source of the body needed protein for animals. A great number of domestic animals including cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and chicken and other species are raised in the world to supply meat, milk and eggs that contain high quality of protein for human consumption. Domestic animals consume a great amount of feeds and water and excrete a large amount of faeces and urine. The conversion rate of dietary nitrogen (N, mainly dietary protein) to product N in livestock is low and the amount of N excretion is high and the nitrogenous compounds in excreta can be used as materials for nitrous oxide (N2O) formation in the processes of nitrification and denitrification in storage of excreta. Hence livestock farms and grazing pastures are important sources of N2O. N2O is a potent greenhouse gas and the key factor that damages the ozonosphere of the earth. Therefore, it is urgent to reveal the dietary protein metabolism processes and the regulation mechanism, which will help to reduce N2O emission. The nutritional options to reduce N excretion from livestock and consequently N2O emission include feeding low N rations and supplementing essential amino acid (AA) such as lysine and methionine to balance the AA profile of rations for pigs and ruminants. Other options include regulating partition of N excretion from urine to faeces and urinary nitrogenous constituents by decreasing urea N and increasing hippuric acid in ruminants. Supplementing tannic acid in the ration of ruminants has the potential to decrease the ratio of urinary N/faecal N and regulate the urinary nitrogenous components of ruminants and possibly reduce N2O emission in storage of excreta. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  17. Greenhouse gas emissions and N turnover along an altitudinal gradient at Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gütlein, Adrian; Gerschlauer, Friederike; Zistl-Schlingmann, Marcus; Dannenmann, Michael; Meier, Rudolf; Kolar, Alison; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus; Kiese, Ralf

    2016-04-01

    Worldwide climate and land-use change force alterations in various ecosystem properties and functions such as diversity and activity of soil microbial communities which are responsible for biogeochemical processes like soil nitrogen (N) turnover and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange. Tropical deforestation is highest in Africa and despite the importance of those ecosystems to global climate and biogeochemical cycles, data for greenhouse gas exchange is still rare (Serca et al., 1994, Werner et al., 2007) and no study regarding N turnover processes has been published yet. For that reason, we focused on seven different land-use types extending along an altitudinal gradient (950 -- 3880m) at Mt. Kilimanjaro, East Africa, covering (semi-) natural savanna, two montane forests and one afro alpine ecosystem, an extensive agroforest (homegarden) and an intensively managed coffee plantation. On all ecosystems we measured CO_2, CH4 and N_2O fluxes and gross rates of ammonification, nitrification, N immobilization, and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA). GHG results reveal pronounced N_2O fluxes depending mainly on soil moisture and to a lesser extent on soil temperature. Emissions are highest during the rainy seasons while lowest at dry season conditions. The largest N_2O emissions are recognizable at Ocotea forest, most likely due to the generally higher SOC/ totN and wetter conditions favoring formation and emission of N_2O via denitrification. Soils of the studied ecosystems were a sink of atmospheric CH

  18. Ammonia oxidation pathways and nitrifier denitrification are significant sources of N2O and NO under low oxygen availability

    PubMed Central

    Zhu, Xia; Burger, Martin; Doane, Timothy A.; Horwath, William R.

    2013-01-01

    The continuous increase of nitrous oxide (N2O) abundance in the atmosphere is a global concern. Multiple pathways of N2O production occur in soil, but their significance and dependence on oxygen (O2) availability and nitrogen (N) fertilizer source are poorly understood. We examined N2O and nitric oxide (NO) production under 21%, 3%, 1%, 0.5%, and 0% (vol/vol) O2 concentrations following urea or ammonium sulfate [(NH4)2SO4] additions in loam, clay loam, and sandy loam soils that also contained ample nitrate. The contribution of the ammonia (NH3) oxidation pathways (nitrifier nitrification, nitrifier denitrification, and nitrification-coupled denitrification) and heterotrophic denitrification (HD) to N2O production was determined in 36-h incubations in microcosms by 15N-18O isotope and NH3 oxidation inhibition (by 0.01% acetylene) methods. Nitrous oxide and NO production via NH3 oxidation pathways increased as O2 concentrations decreased from 21% to 0.5%. At low (0.5% and 3%) O2 concentrations, nitrifier denitrification contributed between 34% and 66%, and HD between 34% and 50% of total N2O production. Heterotrophic denitrification was responsible for all N2O production at 0% O2. Nitrifier denitrification was the main source of N2O production from ammonical fertilizer under low O2 concentrations with urea producing more N2O than (NH4)2SO4 additions. These findings challenge established thought attributing N2O emissions from soils with high water content to HD due to presumably low O2 availability. Our results imply that management practices that increase soil aeration, e.g., reducing compaction and enhancing soil structure, together with careful selection of fertilizer sources and/or nitrification inhibitors, could decrease N2O production in agricultural soils. PMID:23576736

  19. Ammonia oxidation pathways and nitrifier denitrification are significant sources of N2O and NO under low oxygen availability.

    PubMed

    Zhu, Xia; Burger, Martin; Doane, Timothy A; Horwath, William R

    2013-04-16

    The continuous increase of nitrous oxide (N2O) abundance in the atmosphere is a global concern. Multiple pathways of N2O production occur in soil, but their significance and dependence on oxygen (O2) availability and nitrogen (N) fertilizer source are poorly understood. We examined N2O and nitric oxide (NO) production under 21%, 3%, 1%, 0.5%, and 0% (vol/vol) O2 concentrations following urea or ammonium sulfate [(NH4)2SO4] additions in loam, clay loam, and sandy loam soils that also contained ample nitrate. The contribution of the ammonia (NH3) oxidation pathways (nitrifier nitrification, nitrifier denitrification, and nitrification-coupled denitrification) and heterotrophic denitrification (HD) to N2O production was determined in 36-h incubations in microcosms by (15)N-(18)O isotope and NH3 oxidation inhibition (by 0.01% acetylene) methods. Nitrous oxide and NO production via NH3 oxidation pathways increased as O2 concentrations decreased from 21% to 0.5%. At low (0.5% and 3%) O2 concentrations, nitrifier denitrification contributed between 34% and 66%, and HD between 34% and 50% of total N2O production. Heterotrophic denitrification was responsible for all N2O production at 0% O2. Nitrifier denitrification was the main source of N2O production from ammonical fertilizer under low O2 concentrations with urea producing more N2O than (NH4)2SO4 additions. These findings challenge established thought attributing N2O emissions from soils with high water content to HD due to presumably low O2 availability. Our results imply that management practices that increase soil aeration, e.g., reducing compaction and enhancing soil structure, together with careful selection of fertilizer sources and/or nitrification inhibitors, could decrease N2O production in agricultural soils.

  20. Influence of 13 different biochars on N2O production and its sources during rewetting-drying cycles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wrage-Mönnig, Nicole; Fiedler, Sebastian; Fuertes-Mendizábal, Teresa; Estavillo, José-Maria; Ippolito, Jim A.; Borchard, Nils; Cayuela, Maria Luz; Spokas, Kurt; Novak, Jeff; Kammann, Claudia

    2017-04-01

    Biochars have been found to have variable impacts on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The variability has been attributed to differences in soil - biochar properties and microbial communities. While some information exists on biochar and soil properties, the effect of biochars on microbial sources of N2O is still a matter of speculation. In this study, we tested these effects for12 biochars prepared from cypress, loblolly pine and grape wood produced at four different controlled temperatures (350, 500, 700 and 900˚ C), respectively, plus a grapevine Kontiki biochar (600-700˚ C). The biochars were added (2%) to a loamy sand brought to pH 7.1 with CaO. The treatments plus one control were pre-incubated at 40% water holding capacity (WHC) for four days. Then, they were brought to 80% WHC and 15N-nitrate was added (50 mg NO3-N kg-1 soil, 10% enriched in 15N). All treatments were set up with four replicates. In total, three cycles of (re)wetting - drying (80 to 40% WHC, total duration 20 days) were monitored. Samples for analyses of N2O concentrations and stable isotope signatures were taken daily (except for weekends) after closing the incubation vessels for 90 minutes. N2O emissions increased with each addition of water and decreased during drying to background values. Each rewetting led to larger emissions than measured in the previous cycle for all treatments including controls. All biochars decreased total N2O emissions compared to the control treatments. The higher the production temperature of the biochar, the larger usually the emission reduction. Largest effects were found for the grape wood and the Kontiki biochars. Interestingly, the addition of biochars also changed the isotopic signatures of the emitted N2O. Whereas emissions in the controls were enriched to about 5 atom% 15N excess at peak emissions, the enrichment was usually less after addition of biochars (1-5 atom% excess). Again, this effect tended to be larger at higher production temperatures of the

  1. An original experiment to determine impact of catch crop introduction in a crop rotation on N2O production fate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tallec, Tiphaine; Le Dantec, Valérie; Zawilski, Bartosz; Brut, Aurore; Boussac, Marion; Ferlicoq, Morgan; Ceschia, Eric

    2015-04-01

    The raise in N2O concentration from the preindustrial era (280 ppb) to nowadays (324 ppb) is estimated to account for approximately 6% of the predicted global warming (IPCC 2014). Worldwide, soils are considered to be the dominant source of N2O, releasing an estimated 9.5 Tg N2O-N y-1 (65% of global N2O emissions), of which 36.8% are estimated to originate from agricultural soils (IPCC 2001). Most N2O originating from agricultural soils is a by- or end-product of nitrification or denitrification. The fate of N2O produced by microbiological processes in the subsoil is controlled by biotic (crop species, occurring soil organic matter, human pressure via mineral and organic nitrogen fertilisation) and abiotic (environmental conditions such as temperature, soil moisture, pH, etc.) factors. In cropland, contrary to forest and grassland, long bare soil periods can occurred between winter and summer crops with a high level of mineral (fertilizer) and organic (residues) nitrogen remaining in the soil, causing important emissions of carbon and nitrogen induced by microbial activities. Introduction of catch crop has been identified as an important mitigation option to reduce environmental impact of crops mainly thanks to their ability to increase CO2 fixation, to decrease mineral nitrogen lixiviation and also reduce the potential fate of N2O production. Uncertainty also remains about the impact of released mineral nitrogen coming from crushed catch crop on N2O production if summer crop seedling and mineral nitrogen release are not well synchronized. To verify those assumptions, a unique paired-plot experiment was carried in the south-west of France from September 2013 to august 2014 to test impact of management change on N2O budget and production dynamic. A crop plot was divided into two subplots, one receiving a catch crop (mustard), the other one remaining conventionally managed (bare-soil during winter). This set-up allowed avoiding climate effect. Each subplot was

  2. Nitrous oxide fluxes and soil oxygen dynamics of soil treated with cow urine

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Ruminant urine deposition onto pastures creates hot-spots where emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) are produced by aerobic and anaerobic microbial pathways. However, limited measurements of in situ soil oxygen (O2)-N2O relationships hinder the prediction of N2O emissions from urine-affected soil. This...

  3. Riverine N2O concentrations, exports to estuary and emissions to atmosphere from the Changjiang River in response to increasing nitrogen loads

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yan, Weijin; Yang, Libiao; Wang, Fang; Wang, Jianing; Ma, Pei

    2012-12-01

    This study investigated the variations of dissolved N2O and emissions over diurnal and seasonal temporal scales in 2009, as well as the time series of riverine N2O export to estuary and emission to atmosphere in response to increasing anthropogenic nitrogen loads in the Changjiang River. For the diurnal study, N2O concentrations ranged from 0.26 to 0.34 and from 0.44 to 0.52 μg N-N2O L-1 in August and October 2009, respectively. The dissolved N2O was supersaturated with a mean value of 197%. Studies on N2O emissions, also taken in August and October, ranged from 2.67 to 11.6 and from 6.72 to 15.2 μg N-N2O m-2 h-1, respectively. For the seasonal study (June through December 2009), N2O concentrations ranged from 0.34 to 0.72 μg N-N2O L-1 and were supersaturated in all the samples (average 212%). N2O emissions ranged from 1.87 to 40.8 μg N-N2O m-2 h-1. Our study found no significant differences in diurnal patterns of N2O saturation but detected significant difference in seasonal patterns of N2O saturation: higher during summer while lower during autumn and winter. We found a significant relationship between dissolved N2O and river nitrate, which can predict the variation of N2O concentrations in the River. The net production of N2 ranged from 0.01 to 0.47 mg N-N2 L-1. These excess N2 values were significantly correlated to the N2O production and are suggestive of denitrification in the river. Applying the Global News model to the river system using measures taken during the 1970 to 2002 period, we estimated N2O emissions to atmosphere increased from 330 to 3650 ton N-N2O yr-1. During that same 1970-2002 period, N2O exports to estuary increased from 91 to 470 ton N-N2O yr-1. Taken together, the findings reported here suggest that both the river N2O concentrations and emissions would increase in response to rising anthropogenic nitrogen loads. Our study showed that the mean emission factor based on the ratio of the total N2O flux to NO3- flux is four times greater

  4. Responses of CH(4), CO(2) and N(2)O fluxes to increasing nitrogen deposition in alpine grassland of the Tianshan Mountains.

    PubMed

    Li, Kaihui; Gong, Yanming; Song, Wei; He, Guixiang; Hu, Yukun; Tian, Changyan; Liu, Xuejun

    2012-06-01

    To assess the effects of nitrogen (N) deposition on greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes in alpine grassland of the Tianshan Mountains in central Asia, CH(4), CO(2) and N(2)O fluxes were measured from June 2010 to May 2011. Nitrogen deposition tended to significantly increase CH(4) uptake, CO(2) and N(2)O emissions at sites receiving N addition compared with those at site without N addition during the growing season, but no significant differences were found for all sites outside the growing season. Air temperature, soil temperature and water content were the important factors that influence CO(2) and N(2)O emissions at year-round scale, indicating that increased temperature and precipitation in the future will exert greater impacts on CO(2) and N(2)O emissions in the alpine grassland. In addition, plant coverage in July was also positively correlated with CO(2) and N(2)O emissions under elevated N deposition rates. The present study will deepen our understanding of N deposition impacts on GHG balance in the alpine grassland ecosystem, and help us assess the global N effects, parameterize Earth System models and inform decision makers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Insight into the effects of biochar on manure composting: evidence supporting the relationship between N2O emission and denitrifying community.

    PubMed

    Wang, Cheng; Lu, Haohao; Dong, Da; Deng, Hui; Strong, P J; Wang, Hailong; Wu, Weixiang

    2013-07-02

    Although nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from composting contribute to the accelerated greenhouse effect, it is difficult to implement practical methods to mitigate these emissions. In this study, the effects of biochar amendment during pig manure composting were investigated to evaluate the inter-relationships between N2O emission and the abundance of denitrifying bacteria. Analytical results from two pilot composting treatments with (PWSB, pig manure + wood chips + sawdust + biochar) or without (PWS, pig manure + wood chips + sawdust) biochar (3% w/w) demonstrated that biochar amendment not only lowered NO2(-)-N concentrations but also lowered the total N2O emissions from pig manure composting, especially during the later stages. Quantification of functional genes involved in denitrification and Spearman rank correlations matrix revealed that the N2O emission rates correlated with the abundance of nosZ, nirK, and nirS genes. Biochar-amended pig manure had a higher pH and a lower moisture content. Biochar amendment altered the abundance of denitrifying bacteria significantly; less N2O-producing and more N2O-consuming bacteria were present in the PWSB, and this significantly lowered N2O emissions in the maturation phase. Together, the results demonstrate that biochar amendment could be a novel greenhouse gas mitigation strategy during pig manure composting.

  6. Greater absolute rates of N2O production and consumption with soil warming dwarf variations in denitrification enzyme temperature sensitivities across seasons

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tiemann, L. K.; Billings, S. A.

    2010-12-01

    Investigators appreciate the important role that nitrate (NO3-) and soil moisture availability can play in governing net N2O production from soils. However, a large knowledge gap remains surrounding the drivers of soil N2O consumption and the role of microbial adaptation to changing environmental conditions in governing both N2O production and consumption. Net N2O soil efflux can be correlated with temperature, but little is known about the influence of temperature on gross rates of N2O production vs. consumption. Further, we do not understand how microbial communities responsible for these processes adapt or acclimate to soil warming. To investigate whether temperature alters the denitrifier-mediated fate of NO3- lost via N2O or N2, and if any such effect changes across seasons, we incubated soil collected in three seasons at four temperatures with and without 15N-enriched nitrate for 26 hours. Incubations were conducted in an anaerobic environment flushed with helium to permit detection of N2O and N2, and those gases’ δ15N. Temperature positively influenced CO2 production resulting from anaerobic processes. Maximum values of net N2O production were positively influenced by incubation and seasonal temperature, and the maximum rate of net N2O production occurred relatively early at warmer incubation temperatures. We also observed greater N2O:N2 ratios early in the incubations at warmer incubation temperatures. Isotope data are consistent with these trends. For those soils receiving the 15N label, differences in δ15N2O between early and late in the incubations were increasingly negative, and differences in δ15N2 increasingly positive, as temperature increased. Q10 values for N2O production and consumption exhibited increasing similarities as seasons progressed, with June N2O production and consumption Q10 values being nearly identical. These data provide convincing evidence that: a) increasing temperatures can induce denitrifying communities to perform complete

  7. Can soil denitrification models be validated with the N2/Ar-method? Results from a comparison between DENUZ and the N2/Ar-method in Lower Saxony (Germany)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eschenbach, Wolfram; Elbracht, Jörg; Höper, Heinrich; Kunkel, Ralf; Well, Reinhard; Wendland, Frank

    2014-05-01

    Diffuse NO3- emissions derived from agricultural N surpluses are the main cause of NO3- pollution of aquifers and open water bodies. Denitrification is the key process for the attenuation of these anthropogenic NO3- concentrations in soils and groundwater. Since the greenhouse gas N2O is an obligate intermediate of denitrification this process is also a major regulator of N2O emissions from soils and indirect N2O fluxes from aquifers and open water bodies which result from NO3--leaching. To predict NO3- leaching from the agricultural field and asses the maximal permissible agricultural N surplus to guarantee a mean long-term nitrate concentration in percolation water below 50 mg NO3-/l validated, soil denitrification models are needed. Validation of models predicting denitrification and NO3- leaching is difficult due to lack of suitable data sets and the complexity of denitrification. Moreover, existing groundwater well networks can currently not be used to check the modelled NO3- leaching because NO3- itself might be already partly or totally reduced in the groundwater below soils. In this study we assessed the possibility of validating the soil denitrification model DENUZ (Wendland et al., 2009) with calculated initial NO3- concentrations in the groundwater at the time of groundwater recharge (NO3-t0). NO3-t0 values can be derived from groundwater samples of normal groundwater monitoring wells using the N2/Ar-method (Weymann et al., 2008). Therefore we compare NO3- emission concentrations (pot-NO3-) obtained by groundwater modelled using DENUZ with NO3-t0 values, calculated from measured dissolved gas concentrations (N2, N2O, Ar) and measured NO3- in groundwater samples. We analysed groundwater samples from 484 groundwater monitoring wells throughout Lower-Saxony (Germany). Median NO3- and NO3-t0 concentrations were 0.3 and 30 mg NO3- l-1 respectively, showing that a considerable proportion of the anthropogenic N-surplus is denitrified within the saturated zone

  8. Nitrous Oxide Emissions Affected by Biochar and Nitrogen Stabilizers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gao, S.; Cai, Z.; Xu, M.

    2016-12-01

    Both biochar and N fertilizer stabilizers (N transformation inhibitors) are potential strategies to reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from fertilization, but the mechanisms and/or N transformation processes affecting the N dynamics are not fully understood. This research investigated N2O emissions and N transformations in soil amended with biochar and N transformation inhibitors. The soil was a sandy loam soil and adjusted to 10% soil water content and incubated at 25oC. Biochar amendment at 1% (w/w), Agrotain® Ultra (urease inhibitor), Agrotain® Plus (urease and nitrification inhibitor), and N-Serve® 24 (nitrification inhibitor) as well as another potential nitrification inhibitor, potassium thiosulfate (KTS), at 0.25-1:1 K2O/N ratios (w/w) were tested. Emissions of N2O, soil mineral N species change, and soil pH were determined for 35 days after fertilizers were applied. Biochar, Agrotain® Ultra or Plus, or N-Serve® 24 all effectively reduced N2O emissions by more than 60% as compared to no amendment control. The KTS, however, was only effective in reducing N2O emissions at a high ratio (1:1 K2O/N, w/w). There was a strong correlation between N2O emission and the concentration of nitrite (NO2-) in soil but not other mineral species. All the amendments showed that their effects on N transformation and N2O emissions were completed within a few weeks after application. Laboratory analysis indicated that biochar affected the N dynamics most likely via adsorption of ammonium (NH4+) and the inhibitors by affecting N transformation rate. This research has gained further understanding on how biochar and N stabilizers affect N2O emissions and the knowledge can assist in developing mitigation strategies.

  9. Short-term effects of biogas digestate and cattle slurry application on greenhouse gas emissions affected by N availability from grasslands on drained fen peatlands and associated organic soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eickenscheidt, T.; Freibauer, A.; Heinichen, J.; Augustin, J.; Drösler, M.

    2014-11-01

    A change in German energy policy has resulted in a strong increase in the number of biogas plants in Germany. As a consequence, huge amounts of nutrient-rich residues, the by-products of the fermentative process, are used as organic fertilizers. Drained peatlands are increasingly used to satisfy the huge demand for fermentative substrates (e.g., energy crops, grass silage) and the digestate is returned to the peatlands. However, drained organic soils are considered as hot spots for nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and organic fertilization is additionally known to increase N2O emissions from managed grasslands. Our study addressed the questions (a) to what extent biogas digestate and cattle slurry application increase N2O and methane (CH4) fluxes as well as the mineral nitrogen use efficiency (NUEmin) and grass yield, and (b) how different soil organic matter contents (SOMs) and nitrogen contents promote the production of N2O. In addition NH3 volatilization was determined at one application event to obtain first clues with respect to the effects of soil and fertilizer types. The study was conducted at two sites within a grassland parcel, which differed in their soil organic carbon (SOC) and N contents. At each site (named Corg-medium and Corg-high) three plots were established: one was fertilized five times with biogas digestate, one with cattle slurry, and the third served as control plot. On each plot, fluxes of N2O and CH4 were measured on three replicates over 2 years using the closed chamber method. For NH3 measurements we used the calibrated dynamic chamber method. On an annual basis, the application of biogas digestate significantly enhanced the N2O fluxes compared to the application of cattle slurry and additionally increased the plant N-uptake and NUEmin. Furthermore, N2O fluxes from the Corg-high treatments significantly exceeded N2O fluxes from the Corg-medium treatments. Annual cumulative emissions ranged from 0.91 ± 0.49 to 3.14 ± 0.91 kg N ha-1 yr-1

  10. Monitoring N2O Production Using a cNOR Modeled Active Site

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Griffiths, Z. G.; Hegg, E. L.; Finders, C.; Haslun, J. A.

    2017-12-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas with a 100-year global warming potential 265-296 times greater than carbon dioxide (CO2). It is the leading contributor to ozone depletion and can persist in the stratosphere for approximately 114 years. Hence, understanding the sources of atmospheric N2O emissions is critical to remediating the effects of climate change. Agricultural activities are the largest contributor to N2O emissions in the U.S. with microbial nitrification and denitrification as the dominating soil processes. The enzyme cytochrome c nitric oxide reductase (cNOR) is involved in bacterial denitrification. It is often difficult to study the enzymes involved in biotic N2O production, hence, model enzymes are a useful tool. The enzyme I107EFeBMb, a sperm whale myoglobin derivative, models the active site of cNOR and was used to simulate the anaerobic reduction of NO to N2O by cNOR. Dithionite was used to induce the catalytic activity of I107EFeBMb by reducing the enzyme. However, dithionite is a strong reductant that is capable of reducing NO to N2O directly. Therefore, the dithionite-enzyme mixture was passed through a size-exclusion column to isolate the reduced enzyme. This reduced and purified enzyme was then utilized to investigate N2O production from NO. This project will provide both an enzymatic and abiotic model to study N2O production.

  11. Modeling of N2 and O optical emissions for ionosphere HF powerful heating experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sergienko, T.; Gustavsson, B.

    Analyses of experiments of F region ionosphere modification by HF powerful radio waves show that optical observations are very useful tools for diagnosing of the interaction of the probing radio wave with the ionospheric plasma Hitherto the emissions usually measured in the heating experiment have been the 630 0 nm and the 557 7 nm lines of atomic oxygen Other emissions for instance O 844 8 nm and N2 427 8 nm have been measured episodically in only a few experiments although the very rich optical spectrum of molecular nitrogen potentially involves important information about ionospheric plasma in the heated region This study addresses the modeling of optical emissions from the O and the N2 triplet states first positive second positive Vegard-Kaplan infrared afterglow and Wu-Benesch band systems excited under a condition of the ionosphere heating experiment The auroral triplet state population distribution model was modified for the ionosphere heating conditions by using the different electron distribution functions suggested by Mishin et al 2000 2003 and Gustavsson at al 2004 2005 Modeling results are discussed from the point of view of efficiency of measurements of the N2 emissions in future experiments

  12. Effects of warming on N2O fluxes in a boreal peatland of Permafrost region, Northeast China.

    PubMed

    Cui, Qian; Song, Changchun; Wang, Xianwei; Shi, Fuxi; Yu, Xueyang; Tan, Wenwen

    2018-03-01

    Climate warming is expected to increasingly influence boreal peatlands and alter their greenhouse gases emissions. However, the effects of warming on N 2 O fluxes and the N 2 O budgets were ignored in boreal peatlands. Therefore, in a boreal peatland of permafrost zone in Northeast China, a simulated warming experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of warming on N 2 O fluxes in Betula. Fruticosa community (B. Fruticosa) and Ledum. palustre community (L. palustre) during the growing seasons from 2013 to 2015. Results showed that warming treatment increased air temperature at 1.5m aboveground and soil temperature at 5cm depth by 0.6°C and 2°C, respectively. The average seasonal N 2 O fluxes ranged from 6.62 to 9.34μgm -2 h -1 in the warming plot and ranged from 0.41 to 4.55μgm -2 h -1 in the control plots. Warming treatment increased N 2 O fluxes by 147% and transformed the boreal peatlands from a N 2 O sink to a source. The primary driving factors for N 2 O fluxes were soil temperature and active layer depth, whereas soil moisture showed a weak correlation with N 2 O fluxes. The results indicated that warming promoted N 2 O fluxes by increasing soil temperature and active layer depth in a boreal peatland of permafrost zone in Northeast China. Moreover, elevated N 2 O fluxes persisted in this region will potentially drive a noncarbon feedback to ongoing climate change. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Enhanced Representation of Soil NO Emissions in the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) Model Version 5.0.2

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rasool, Quazi Z.; Zhang, Rui; Lash, Benjamin; Cohan, Daniel S.; Cooter, Ellen J.; Bash, Jesse O.; Lamsal, Lok N.

    2016-01-01

    Modeling of soil nitric oxide (NO) emissions is highly uncertain and may misrepresent its spatial and temporal distribution. This study builds upon a recently introduced parameterization to improve the timing and spatial distribution of soil NO emission estimates in the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. The parameterization considers soil parameters, meteorology, land use, and mineral nitrogen (N) availability to estimate NO emissions. We incorporate daily year-specific fertilizer data from the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) agricultural model to replace the annual generic data of the initial parameterization, and use a 12km resolution soil biome map over the continental USA. CMAQ modeling for July 2011 shows slight differences in model performance in simulating fine particulate matter and ozone from Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) and Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) sites and NO2 columns from Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) satellite retrievals. We also simulate how the change in soil NO emissions scheme affects the expected O3 response to projected emissions reductions.

  14. Short term responses of nitrogen trace gas emissions to nitrogen fertilization in tropical sugar cane: Variations due to soils and management practices

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Matson, P. A.; Billow, C.; Hall, S.; Zachariassen, J.

    1994-01-01

    Nitrogen (N) fertilization of agricultural systems is thought to be a major source of the increase in atmospheric N2O; NO emissions from soils have also been shown to increase due to N fertilization. While N fertilizer use is increasing rapidly in the developing world and in the tropics, nearly all of our information on gas emissions is derived from studies of temperate zone agriculture. Using chambers, we measured fluxes of N2O and NO following urea fertilization in tropical sugar cane systems growing on a variety of soil types in the Hawaiian Islands, USA. On the island of Maui, where urea is applied in irrigation lines and soils are mollisols and inceptisols, N2O fluxes were elevated for a week or less following fertilization; maximum average fluxes were typically less than 30 ng cm(exp -2)/ h. NO fluxes were often an order of magnitude less than N2O. Together, N2O and NO represented from 0.01 - 0.5% of the applied N. In fields on the island of Hawaii, where urea is broadcast on the surface and soils are andisols, N2O fluxes were similar in magnitude to Maui but remained elevated for much longer periods after fertilization. NO emissions were 2-5 times higher than N2O through most of the sampling periods. Together the gases loss represented approximately 1. 1 - 3% of the applied N. Laboratory studies indicate that denitrification is a critical source of N2O in Maui, but that nitrification is more important in Hawaii. Experimental studies suggest that differences in the pattern of N2O/NO and the processes producing them are a result of both carbon availability and placement of fertilizer, and that the more information-intensive fertilizer management practice results in lower emissions.

  15. Characterization and mitigation of nitrous oxide (N2 O) emissions from partial and full-nitrification BNR processes based on post-anoxic aeration control.

    PubMed

    Brotto, Ariane Coelho; Li, Huosheng; Dumit, Muriel; Gabarró, Jordi; Colprim, Jesús; Murthy, Sudhir; Chandran, Kartik

    2015-11-01

    It has been reported that a directional change from anoxic to aerobic conditions is a common trigger for nitrous oxide (N2 O) production by ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB). By extension, during anoxic-aerobic cycling, post-anoxic dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations might likely play a role in the magnitude of N2 O emissions observed. The overall goal of this study was to determine the impact of three select post-anoxic DO concentrations (0.8, 2.0, and 3.0 mg O2 /L) on N2 O emissions from partial-nitrification (PN) and full-nitrification (FN) reactors subjected to anoxic-aerobic cycling and, ultimately, to explore the development of strategies to minimize N2 O emissions from PN and FN based biological nitrogen removal (BNR) processes. Statistically similar N2 O emissions were observed during anoxia for both PN (0.62 ± 0.21% N load) and FN (0.61 ± 0.070% N load) processes. In contrast, N2 O emissions were statistically lower for PN (0.86 ± 0.25% N load) than for FN (4.6 ± 2.8% N load), during the post-anoxic aerobic phase, when compared together for all three post-anoxic DO concentrations. Further, for PN, the highest N2 O emissions were observed at the highest post-anoxic DO concentration of 3.0 mg O2 /L (1.2% N load), likely due to the highest corresponding AOB specific growth rate. In contrast, for FN, the highest N2 O emissions were at the lowest post-anoxic DO concentration of 0.8 mg O2 /L (8.5% N load). The higher emissions from FN process at low DO concentrations were associated with a lag in nitrite oxidizing bacteria activity upon recovery to aerobic conditions. This lag phase contributed to transient nitrite accumulation, and in turn correlated positively to the observed N2 O emissions. Based on our findings, a gradual ramp up in post-anoxic DO concentrations can minimize N2 O emissions during PN-based BNR, whereas a completely different strategy, entailing a rapid increase in post-anoxic DO concentrations can minimize

  16. [Effects of combined applications of pig manure and chemical fertilizers on CH4 and N2O emissions and their global warming potentials in paddy fields with double-rice cropping].

    PubMed

    Wang, Cong; Shen, Jian-Lin; Zheng, Liang; Liu, Jie-Yun; Qin, Hong-Ling; Li, Yong; Wu, Jin-Shui

    2014-08-01

    A field experiment was carried out to study the effects of combined applications of pig manure and chemical fertilizers on CH4 and N2O emissions, which were measured using the static chamber/gas chromatography method, and their global warming potentials in typical paddy fields with double-rice cropping in Hunan province. The results showed that the combined applications of pig manure and chemical fertilizers did not change the seasonal patterns of CH4 and N2O emissions from paddy soils, but significantly changed the magnitudes of CH4 and N2O fluxes in rice growing seasons as compared with sole application of chemical fertilizers. During the two rice growing seasons, the cumulative CH4 emissions for the pig manure and chemical nitrogen (N) fertilizer each contributing to 50% of the total applied N (1/2N + PM) treatment were higher than those for the treatments of no N fertilizer (ON), half amount of chemical N fertilizer (1/2N) and 100% chemical N fertilizer (N) by 54.83%, 33.85% and 43.30%, respectively (P < 0.05), whilst the cumulative N2O emissions for the 1/2N + PM treatment were decreased by 67.50% compared with N treatment, but increased by 129.43% and 119.23% compared with ON and 1/2N treatments, respectively (P < 0.05). CH4 was the dominant contributor to the global warming potential (GWP) in both rice growing seasons, which contributed more than 99% to the integrated GWP of CH4 and N2O emissions for all the four treatments. Both GWP and yield-scaled GWP for the treatment of 1/2N + PM were significantly higher than the other three treatments. The yield-scaled GWP for the treatment of 1/2N + PM was higher than those for the N, 1/2N and ON treatments by 58.21%, 26.82% and 20. 63%, respectively. Therefore, combined applications of pig manure and chemical fertilizers in paddy fields would increase the GWP of CH4 and N2O emissions during rice growing seasons and this effect should be considered in regional greenhouse gases emissions inventory.

  17. Effects of three years of simulated nitrogen deposition on soil nitrogen dynamics and greenhouse gas emissions in a Korean pine plantation of northeast China.

    PubMed

    Song, Lei; Tian, Peng; Zhang, Jinbo; Jin, Guangze

    2017-12-31

    Continuously enhanced nitrogen (N) deposition alters the pattern of N and carbon (C) transformations, and thus influences greenhouse gas emissions. It is necessary to clarify the effect of N deposition on greenhouse gas emissions and soil N dynamics for an accurate assessment of C and N budgets under increasing N deposition. In this study, four simulated N deposition treatments (control [CK: no N addition], low-N [L: 20kgNha -1 yr -1 ], medium-N [M: 40kgNha -1 yr -1 ], and high-N [H: 80kgNha -1 yr -1 ]) were operated from 2014. Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide fluxes were monitored semimonthly, as were soil variables such as temperature, moisture and the concentrations of total dissolved N (TDN), NO 3 - , NO 2 - , NH 4 + , and dissolved organic N (DON) in soil solutions. The simulated N deposition resulted in a significant increase in TDN, NO 3 - and DON concentrations in soil solutions. The average CO 2 emission rate ranged from 222.6mgCO 2 m -2 h -1 in CK to 233.7mgCO 2 m -2 h -1 in the high-N treatment. Three years of simulated N deposition had no effect on soil CO 2 emission, which was mainly controlled by soil temperature. The mean N 2 O emission rate during the whole 3years was 0.02mgN 2 Om -2 h -1 for CK, which increased significantly to 0.05mgN 2 Om -2 h -1 in the high-N treatment. The N 2 O emission rate positively correlated with NH 4 + concentrations, and negatively correlated with soil moisture. The average CH 4 flux during the whole 3years was -0.74μgCH 4 m -2 h -1 in CK, which increased to 1.41μgCH 4 m -2 h -1 in the low-N treatment. CH 4 flux positively correlated with NO 3 - concentrations. These results indicate that short-term N deposition did not affect soil CO 2 emissions, while CH 4 and N 2 O emissions were sensitive to N deposition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Impact of urease inhibitor on ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions from temperate pasture soil cores receiving urea fertilizer and cattle urine.

    PubMed

    Singh, Jagrati; Kunhikrishnan, A; Bolan, N S; Saggar, S

    2013-11-01

    New Zealand's intensively grazed pastures receive the majority of nitrogen (N) input in the form of urea, which is the major constituent of animal urine and the most common form of mineral N in inorganic N fertilizers. In soil, urea is rapidly hydrolyzed to ammonium (NH4(+)) ions, a part of which may be lost as ammonia (NH3) and subsequently as nitrous oxide (N2O), which is a greenhouse gas. Two glasshouse experiments were conducted to study the effect of a urease inhibitor (UI), N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT), commercially named Agrotain, applied with urine and urea on urea hydrolysis and NH3 and N2O emissions. Treatments included the commercially available products Sustain Yellow (urea+Agrotain+4% sulfur coating), Sustain Green (urea+Agrotain) and urea, and cattle urine (476 kg N ha(-1)) with and without Agrotain applied to intact soil cores of a fine sandy loam soil. The addition of Agrotain to urine and urea (i.e. Sustain Green) reduced NH3 emission by 22% to 47%, respectively. Agrotain was also effective in reducing N2O emissions from urine and Sustain Green by 62% and 48%, respectively. The reduction in N2O emissions varied with the type and amount of N applied and plant N uptake. Plant N uptake was significantly higher in the soil cores receiving Agrotain with urea than urea alone, but the slight increase in dry matter yield was non-significant. Hence, urease inhibitor reduced N losses through NH3 and N2O emissions, thereby increasing plant uptake of N. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Coastal vegetation invasion increases greenhouse gas emission from wetland soils but also increases soil carbon accumulation.

    PubMed

    Chen, Yaping; Chen, Guangcheng; Ye, Yong

    2015-09-01

    Soil properties and soil-atmosphere fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O from four coastal wetlands were studied throughout the year, namely, native Kandelia obovata mangrove forest vs. exotic Sonneratia apetala mangrove forest, and native Cyperus malaccensis salt marsh vs. exotic Spartina alterniflora salt marsh. Soils of the four wetlands were all net sources of greenhouse gases while Sonneratia forest contributed the most with a total soil-atmosphere CO2-equivalent flux of 137.27 mg CO2 m(-2) h(-1), which is 69.23%, 99.75% and 44.56% higher than that of Kandelia, Cyperus and Spartina, respectively. The high underground biomass and distinctive root structure of Sonneratia might be responsible for its high greenhouse gas emission from the soil. Soils in Spartina marsh emitted the second largest amount of total greenhouse gases but it ranked first in emitting trace greenhouse gases. Annual average CH4 and N2O fluxes from Spartina soil were 13.77 and 1.14 μmol m(-2) h(-1), respectively, which are 2.08 and 1.46 times that of Kandelia, 1.03 and 1.15 times of Sonneratia, and 1.74 and 1.02 times of Cyperus, respectively. Spartina has longer growing season and higher productivity than native marshes which might increase greenhouse gas emission in cold seasons. Exotic wetland soils had higher carbon stock as compared to their respective native counterparts but their carbon stocks were offset by a larger proportion because of their higher greenhouse gas emissions. Annual total soil-atmosphere fluxes of greenhouse gases reduced soil carbon burial benefits by 8.1%, 9.5%, 6.4% and 7.2% for Kandelia, Sonneratia, Cyperus and Spartina, respectively, which narrowed down the gaps in net soil carbon stock between native and exotic wetlands. The results indicated that the invasion of exotic wetland plants might convert local coastal soils into a considerable atmospheric source of greenhouse gases although they at the same time increase soil carbon accumulation. Copyright © 2015. Published

  20. Nitrous oxide emissions from soils in southern Poland under various tillage conditions.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Galkowski, Michal; Zieba, Damian; Ciaciek, Klaudia; Necki, Jaroslaw; Rozanski, Kazimierz

    2015-04-01

    Due to close ties of nitrogen cycle with the production of food, appropriate mitigation policies need to be considered in order to reduce the impact of reactive N compounds on both human health and the environment. These policies strongly rely on quantitative information with respect to fluxes of reactive nitrogen compounds to the atmosphere and mechanisms controlling those fluxes on a various time and space scales. One of these compounds is nitrous oxide - currently the most important human-emitted ozone depleting substance and one of the most important greenhouse gases. In this study, which is a part of broader, regional (Southern Poland) analysis of nitrous oxide circulation, we present the results of field measurements performed at the Institute of Plant Acclimatization and Husbandry (ZDHAR) in Grodkowice (Malopolska). Several representative sites have been selected for measurements of N2O emissions during two campaigns - in spring (March) and autumn (October) 2014. The investigated crops were chosen to represent the regional agriculture and included wheat, canola and maize under various tillage conditions (with and without tilling), as well as an uncultivated grassland as a control site. The static chamber method was chosen to quantify soil-atmosphere N2O fluxes. Chamber enclosures have been performed every 3-5 days, depending on the conditions prevailing at the sites during the intermediate periods (e.g. rainfall or fertilization events). From each enclosure, five 50-ml air samples have been collected for subsequent analysis of nitrous oxide concentrations. Well-established gas chromatography methods, with a precision of a single N2O measurement better than 0.5 ppb were employed. The measured concentrations were then used in a linear emission model to calculate N2O fluxes. Other trace gases (CH4, CO2, SF6) were also measured in each sample for quality control purposes. Result for both campaigns show large variability of N2O emissions, with maximum fluxes in

  1. Ammonium sorption and ammonia inhibition of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria explain contrasting soil N2O production

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Better understanding of process controls over nitrous oxide (N2O) production in urine-impacted ‘hot spots’ and fertilizer bands is needed to improve mitigation strategies and emission models. Following amendment with bovine (Bos taurus) urine (Bu) or urea (Ur), we measured inorganic N, pH, N2O, and...

  2. Monitoring soil greenhouse gas emissions from managed grasslands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Díaz-Pinés, Eugenio; Lu, Haiyan; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus; Kiese, Ralf

    2014-05-01

    Grasslands in Central Europe are of enormous social, ecological and economical importance. They are intensively managed, but the influence of different common practices (i.e. fertilization, harvesting) on the total greenhouse gas budget of grasslands is not fully understood, yet. In addition, it is unknown how these ecosystems will react due to climate change. Increasing temperatures and changing precipitation will likely have an effect on productivity of grasslands and on bio-geo-chemical processes responsible for emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). In the frame of the TERENO Project (www.tereno.net), a long-term observatory has been implemented in the Ammer catchment, southern Germany. Acting as an in situ global change experiment, 36 big lysimeters (1 m2 section, 150 cm height) have been translocated along an altitudinal gradient, including three sites ranging from 600 to 860 meters above sea level. In addition, two treatments have been considered, corresponding to different management intensities. The overall aim of the pre-alpine TERENO observatory is improving our understanding of the consequences of climate change and management on productivity, greenhouse gas balance, soil nutritional status, nutrient leaching and hydrology of grasslands. Two of the sites are equipped with a fully automated measurement system in order to continuously and accurately monitor the soil-atmosphere greenhouse gas exchange. Thus, a stainless steel chamber (1 m2 section, 80 cm height) is controlled by a robotized system. The chamber is hanging on a metal structure which can move both vertically and horizontally, so that the chamber is able to be set onto each of the lysimeters placed on the field. Furthermore, the headspace of the chamber is connected with a gas tube to a Quantum Cascade Laser, which continuously measures CO2, CH4, N2O and H2O mixing ratios. The chamber acts as a static chamber and sets for 15 minutes onto each lysimeter

  3. Do plant species influence soil CO2 and N2O fluxes in a diverse tropical forest?

    Treesearch

    J.L.M. van Haren; R.C. de Oliveira; N. Restrepo-Coupe; L. Hutyra; P. B. de Camargo; Michael Keller; S.R. Saleska

    2010-01-01

    [1] To test whether plant species influence greenhouse gas production in diverse ecosystems, we measured wet season soil CO2 and N2O fluxes close to 300 large (>35 cm in diameter at breast height (DBH)) trees of 15 species at three clay‐rich forest sites in central Amazonia. We found that soil CO2 fluxes were 38% higher near large trees than at control sites >10...

  4. Dynamics of soil biogeochemical gas emissions shaped by remolded aggregate sizes and carbon configurations under hydration cycles.

    PubMed

    Ebrahimi, Ali; Or, Dani

    2018-01-01

    Changes in soil hydration status affect microbial community dynamics and shape key biogeochemical processes. Evidence suggests that local anoxic conditions may persist and support anaerobic microbial activity in soil aggregates (or in similar hot spots) long after the bulk soil becomes aerated. To facilitate systematic studies of interactions among environmental factors with biogeochemical emissions of CO 2 , N 2 O and CH 4 from soil aggregates, we remolded silt soil aggregates to different sizes and incorporated carbon at different configurations (core, mixed, no addition). Assemblies of remolded soil aggregates of three sizes (18, 12, and 6 mm) and equal volumetric proportions were embedded in sand columns at four distinct layers. The water table level in each column varied periodically while obtaining measurements of soil GHG emissions for the different aggregate carbon configurations. Experimental results illustrate that methane production required prolonged inundation and highly anoxic conditions for inducing measurable fluxes. The onset of unsaturated conditions (lowering water table) resulted in a decrease in CH 4 emissions while temporarily increasing N 2 O fluxes. Interestingly, N 2 O fluxes were about 80% higher form aggregates with carbon placement in center (anoxic) core compared to mixed carbon within aggregates. The fluxes of CO 2 were comparable for both scenarios of carbon sources. These experimental results highlight the importance of hydration dynamics in activating different GHG production and affecting various transport mechanisms about 80% of total methane emissions during lowering water table level are attributed to physical storage (rather than production), whereas CO 2 emissions (~80%) are attributed to biological activity. A biophysical model for microbial activity within soil aggregates and profiles provides a means for results interpretation and prediction of trends within natural soils under a wide range of conditions. © 2017 John

  5. Review and analysis of global agricultural N₂O emissions relevant to the UK.

    PubMed

    Buckingham, S; Anthony, S; Bellamy, P H; Cardenas, L M; Higgins, S; McGeough, K; Topp, C F E

    2014-07-15

    As part of a UK government funded research project to update the UK N2O inventory methodology, a systematic review of published nitrous oxide (N2O) emission factors was carried out of non-UK research, for future comparison and synthesis with the UK measurement based evidence base. The aim of the study is to assess how the UK IPCC default emission factor for N2O emissions derived from synthetic or organic fertiliser inputs (EF1) compares to international values reported in published literature. The availability of data for comparing and/or refining the UK IPCC default value and the possibility of analysing sufficient auxiliary data to propose a Tier 2 EF1 reporting strategy is evaluated. The review demonstrated a lack of consistency in reporting error bounds for fertiliser-derived EFs and N2O flux data with 8% and 44% of publications reporting EF and N2O flux error bounds respectively. There was also poor description of environmental (climate and soil) and experimental design auxiliary data. This is likely to be due to differences in study objectives, however potential improvements to soil parameter reporting are proposed. The review demonstrates that emission factors for agricultural-derived N2O emissions ranged -0.34% to 37% showing high variation compared to the UK Tier 1 IPCC EF1 default values of 1.25% (IPCC 1996) and 1% (IPPC 2006). However, the majority (83%) of EFs reported for UK-relevant soils fell within the UK IPCC EF1 uncertainty range of 0.03% to 3%. Residual maximum likelihood (REML) analysis of the data collated in the review showed that the type and rate of fertiliser N applied and soil type were significant factors influencing EFs reported. Country of emission, the length of the measurement period, the number of splits, the crop type, pH and SOC did not have a significant impact on N2O emissions. A subset of publications where sufficient data was reported for meta-analysis to be conducted was identified. Meta-analysis of effect sizes of 41

  6. Scenario analysis of fertilizer management practices for N2O mitigation from corn systems in Canada.

    PubMed

    Abalos, Diego; Smith, Ward N; Grant, Brian B; Drury, Craig F; MacKell, Sarah; Wagner-Riddle, Claudia

    2016-12-15

    Effective management of nitrogen (N) fertilizer application by farmers provides great potential for reducing emissions of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N 2 O). However, such potential is rarely achieved because our understanding of what practices (or combination of practices) lead to N 2 O reductions without compromising crop yields remains far from complete. Using scenario analysis with the process-based model DNDC, this study explored the effects of nine fertilizer practices on N 2 O emissions and crop yields from two corn production systems in Canada. The scenarios differed in: timing of fertilizer application, fertilizer rate, number of applications, fertilizer type, method of application and use of nitrification/urease inhibitors. Statistical analysis showed that during the initial calibration and validation stages the simulated results had no significant total error or bias compared to measured values, yet grain yield estimations warrant further model improvement. Sidedress fertilizer applications reduced yield-scaled N 2 O emissions by c. 60% compared to fall fertilization. Nitrification inhibitors further reduced yield-scaled N 2 O emissions by c. 10%; urease inhibitors had no effect on either N 2 O emissions or crop productivity. The combined adoption of split fertilizer application with inhibitors at a rate 10% lower than the conventional application rate (i.e. 150kgNha -1 ) was successful, but the benefits were lower than those achieved with single fertilization at sidedress. Our study provides a comprehensive assessment of fertilizer management practices that enables policy development regarding N 2 O mitigation from agricultural soils in Canada. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Long-term no-tillage application increases soil organic carbon, nitrous oxide emissions and faba bean (Vicia faba L.) yields under rain-fed Mediterranean conditions.

    PubMed

    Badagliacca, Giuseppe; Benítez, Emilio; Amato, Gaetano; Badalucco, Luigi; Giambalvo, Dario; Laudicina, Vito Armando; Ruisi, Paolo

    2018-05-20

    The introduction of legumes into crop sequences and the reduction of tillage intensity are both proposed as agronomic practices to mitigate the soil degradation and negative impact of agriculture on the environment. However, the joint effects of these practices on nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and ammonia (NH 3 ) emissions from soil remain unclear, particularly concerning semiarid Mediterranean areas. In the frame of a long-term field experiment (23 years), a 2-year study was performed on the faba bean (Vicia faba L.) to evaluate the effects of the long-term use of no tillage (NT) compared to conventional tillage (CT) on yield and N 2 O and NH 3 emissions from a Vertisol in a semiarid Mediterranean environment. Changes induced by the tillage system in soil bulk density, water filled pore space (WFPS), organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN), denitrifying enzyme activity (DEA), and bacterial gene (16S, amoA, and nosZ) abundance were measured as parameters potentially affecting N gas emissions. No tillage, compared with CT, significantly increased the faba bean grain yield by 23%. The tillage system had no significant effect on soil NH 3 emissions. Total N 2 O emissions, averaged over two cropping seasons, were higher in NT than those in CT plots (2.58 vs 1.71 kg N 2 O-N ha -1 , respectively; P < 0.01). In addition, DEA was higher in NT compared to that in CT (74.6 vs 18.6 μg N 2 O-N kg -1  h -1 ; P < 0.01). The higher N 2 O emissions in NT plots were ascribed to the increase of soil bulk density and WFPS, bacteria (16S abundance was 96% higher in NT than that in CT) and N cycle genes (amoA and nosZ abundances were respectively 154% and 84% higher in NT than that in CT). The total N 2 O emissions in faba bean were similar to those measured in other N-fertilized crops. In conclusion, a full evaluation of NT technique, besides the benefits on soil characteristics (e.g. TOC increase) and crop yield, must take into account some criticisms related to

  8. Microbial responses and nitrous oxide emissions during wetting and drying of organically and conventionally managed soil under tomatoes

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Burger, M.; Jackson, L.E.; Lundquist, E.J.; Louie, D.T.; Miller, R.L.; Rolston, D.E.; Scow, K.M.

    2005-01-01

    The types and amounts of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) inputs, as well as irrigation management are likely to influence gaseous emissions and microbial ecology of agricultural soil. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) efflux, with and without acetylene inhibition, inorganic N, and microbial biomass C were measured after irrigation or simulated rainfall in two agricultural fields under tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum). The two fields, located in the California Central Valley, had either a history of high organic matter (OM) inputs ("organic" management) or one of low OM and inorganic fertilizer inputs ("conventional" management). In microcosms, where short-term microbial responses to wetting and drying were studied, the highest CO2 efflux took place at about 60% water-filled pore space (WFPS). At this moisture level, phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) indicative of microbial nutrient availability were elevated and a PLFA stress indicator was depressed, suggesting peak microbial activity. The highest N 2O efflux in the organically managed soil (0.94 mg N2O-N m-2 h-1) occurred after manure and legume cover crop incorporation, and in the conventionally managed soil (2.12 mg N2O-N m-2 h-1) after inorganic N fertilizer inputs. Elevated N2O emissions occurred at a WFPS >60% and lasted <2 days after wetting, probably because the top layer (0-150 mm) of this silt loam soil dried quickly. Therefore, in these cropping systems, irrigation management might control the duration of elevated N2O efflux, even when C and inorganic N availability are high, whereas inorganic N concentrations should be kept low during times when soil moisture cannot be controlled.

  9. Dinitrogen emissions as an overlooked component of the N balance of montane grasslands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zistl-Schlingmann, M.; Feng, J.; Ralf, K.; Stephan, R.; Dannenmann, M.

    2017-12-01

    The aim of the SUSALPS project (www.susalps.de), formed by several Universities (Bayreuth, TUM) governmental research organizations (KIT, HMGU, Bavarian State Research Centre for Agriculture) and private industry (WWL) is to improve our knowledge on the effects of current and future climate and management on ecosystem functions performed by grasslands. SUSALPS experimental work quantifies impacts of climate and land management changes on plant and microbial diversity, nutrient use efficiencies, biomass production and quality, soil carbon and nitrogen storage and turnover, greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient leaching at several sites covering different elevations and thus, climatic conditions. Numerous studies have been conducted on the dynamics and annual budget of NOx, NH3 and especially N2O emissions, since it is a potent greenhouse gas. The emissions and its role in the N budget remain unclear for the inert and environmentally harmless N2, mainly due to the lack of reliable measurement techniques. The helium incubation technique developed by Butterbach-Bahl, Willibald & Papen (2002) allows us to conduct reliable N2 measurements with intact soil cores and thus field like conditions in the lab. In our studies, we investigated N2 and N2O fluxes and calculated the N2/(N2O+ N2) ratio from grassland ecosystems in southern Germany. A space-for-time approach was used to simulate climate change via the translocation of intact soil cores along an altitudinal gradient. Both climate change and fertilization events were investigated on their influence on gaseous N losses from the plant-soil system. Peak emissions, which occurred subsequently to fertilization events revealed a loss of almost 50% of the applied N via N-gas-emissions. The cumulative annual N-gas-emissions have additionally shown around six fold higher N losses via N2 compared to NH3, contributing about 80% of all gaseous N losses from the ecosystem. This led us to the conclusion, that N2 is an overlooked key

  10. A study of a sector spectrophotometer and auroral O+(2P-2D) emissions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Swenson, G. R.

    1976-01-01

    The metastable O+(2P-2D) auroral emission was investigated. The neighboring OH contaminants and low intensity levels of the emission itself necessitated the evolution of an instrument capable of separating the emission from the contaminants and having a high sensitivity in the wavelength region of interest. A new type of scanning photometer was developed and its properties are discussed. The theoretical aspects of auroral electron interaction with atomic oxygen and the resultant O+(2P-2D) emissions were examined in conjunction with N2(+)1NEG emissions. Ground based measurements of O+(2P-2D) auroral emission intensities were made using the spatial scanning photometer (sector spectrophotometer). Simultaneous measurements of N2(+)1NEG sub 1,0 emission intensity were made in the same field of view using a tilting photometer. Time histories of the ratio of these two emissions made in the magnetic zenith during auroral breakup periods are given. Theories of I sub 7319/I sub 4278 of previous investigators were presented. A rocket measurement of N2(+)1NEG sub 0,0 and O+(2P-2D) emission in aurora was examined in detail and was found to agree with the ground based measurements. Theoretical examination resulted in the deduction of the electron impact efficiency generating O+(2P) and also suggests a large source of O+(2P) at low altitude. A possible source is charge exchange of N+(1S) with OI(3P).

  11. Impact of nitrogen fertilization on soil-Atmosphere greenhouse gas exchanges in eucalypt plantations with different soil characteristics in southern China.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Kai; Zheng, Hua; Chen, Falin; Li, Ruida; Yang, Miao; Ouyang, Zhiyun; Lan, Jun; Xiang, Xuewu

    2017-01-01

    Nitrogen (N) fertilization is necessary to sustain productivity in eucalypt plantations, but it can increase the risk of greenhouse gas emissions. However, the response of soil greenhouse gas emissions to N fertilization might be influenced by soil characteristics, which is of great significance for accurately assessing greenhouse gas budgets and scientific fertilization in plantations. We conducted a two-year N fertilization experiment (control [CK], low N [LN], middle N [MN] and high N [HN] fertilization) in two eucalypt plantations with different soil characteristics (higher and lower soil organic carbon sites [HSOC and LSOC]) in Guangxi, China, and assessed soil-atmosphere greenhouse gas exchanges. The annual mean fluxes of soil CO2, CH4, and N2O were separately 153-266 mg m-2 h-1, -55 --40 μg m-2 h-1, and 11-95 μg m-2 h-1, with CO2 and N2O emissions showing significant seasonal variations. N fertilization significantly increased soil CO2 and N2O emissions and decreased CH4 uptake at both sites. There were significant interactions of N fertilization and SOC level on soil CO2 and N2O emissions. At the LSOC site, the annual mean flux of soil CO2 emission was only significantly higher than the CK treatment in the HN treatment, but, at the HSOC site, the annual mean flux of soil CO2 emission was significantly higher for both the LN (or MN) and HN treatments in comparison to the CK treatment. Under the CK and LN treatments, the annual mean flux of N2O emission was not significantly different between HSOC and LSOC sites, but under the HN treatment, it was significantly higher in the HSOC site than in the LSOC site. Correlation analysis showed that changes in soil CO2 and N2O emissions were significantly related to soil dissolved organic carbon, ammonia, nitrate and pH. Our results suggested significant interactions of N fertilization and soil characteristics existed in soil-atmosphere greenhouse gas exchanges, which should be considered in assessing greenhouse gas

  12. Soil CO2, CH4 and N2O effluxes and concentrations in soil profiles down to 15.5m depth in eucalypt plantations under contrasted rainfall regimes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Germon, A.; Nouvellon, Y.; Christophe, J.; Chapuis-Lardy, L.; Robin, A.; Rosolem, C. A.; Gonçalves, J. L. D. M.; Guerrini, I. A.; Laclau, J. P.

    2017-12-01

    Silvicultural practices in planted forests affect the fluxes of greenhouse gases at the soil surface and the major factors driving greenhouse gas production in forest soils (substrate supply, temperature, water content,…) vary with soil depth. Our study aimed to assess the consequences of drought on the temporal variability of CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes throughout very deep soil profiles in Eucalyptus grandis plantations 3 months before the harvest then in coppice, the first 18 months after clear-cutting. Two treatments were compared: one with 37% of throughfall excluded by plastic sheets (TE), and one without rainfall exclusion (WE). Measurements of soil CO2 efflux were made every two weeks for 30 months using a closed-path Li8100 system in both treatment. Every two weeks for 21 months, CO2, CH4 and N2O surface effluxes were measured using the closed-chamber method and concentrations in the soil were measured at 7 depths down to 15.5 m in both TE and WE. At most measurement dates, soil CO2 efflux were significantly higher in TE than in WE. Across the two treatments and the measurement dates, CO2 concentrations increased from 4446 ± 2188 ppm at 10 cm deep to 15622 ± 3523 ppm at 15.5 m, CH4 concentrations increased from 0.41 ± 0.17 ppm at 10 cm deep to 0.77 ± 0.24 ppm at 15.5 m and N2O concentrations remained roughly constant and were on average 478 ± 55 ppb between soil surface and 15.5 m deep. CO2 and N2O concentrations were on average 20.7 and 7.6% lower in TE than in WE, respectively, across the sampling depths. However, CH4 concentrations in TE were on average 44.4% higher than in WE, throughout the soil profile. Those results suggest that extended drought periods might reduce the production of CO2 and N2O but increase the accumulation of CH4 in eucalypt plantations established in deep tropical soils. Very deep tropical soils cover huge areas worldwide and improving our understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics of gas concentrations in deep soil layers

  13. Greenhouse gas emissions and plant characteristics from soil cultivated with sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and amended with organic or inorganic fertilizers.

    PubMed

    López-Valdez, F; Fernández-Luqueño, F; Luna-Suárez, S; Dendooven, L

    2011-12-15

    Agricultural application of wastewater sludge has become the most widespread method of disposal, but the environmental effects on soil, air, and crops must be considered. The effect of wastewater sludge or urea on sunflower's (Helianthus annuus L.) growth and yield, the soil properties, and the resulting CO(2) and N(2)O emissions are still unknown. The objectives of this study were to investigate: i) the effect on soil properties of organic or inorganic fertilizer added to agricultural soil cultivated with sunflower, ii) how urea or wastewater sludge increases CO(2) and N(2)O emissions from agricultural soil over short time periods, and iii) the effect on plant characteristics and yield of urea or wastewater sludge added to agricultural soil cultivated with sunflower. The sunflower was fertilized with wastewater sludge or urea or grown in unamended soil under greenhouse conditions while plant and soil characteristics, yield, and greenhouse gas emissions were monitored. Sludge and urea modified some soil characteristics at the onset of the experiment and during the first two months but not thereafter. Some plant characteristics were improved by sludge. Urea and sludge treatments increased the yield at similar rates, while sludge-amended soil significantly increased N(2)O emissions but not CO(2) emissions compared to the other amended or unamended soils. This implies that wastewater sludge increased the biomass and/or the yield; however, from a holistic point of view, using wastewater sludge as fertilizer should be viewed with concern. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Upland Trees Contribute to Exchange of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) in Forest Ecosystems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tian, H.; Thompson, R.; Canadell, J.; Winiwarter, W.; Machacova, K.; Maier, M.; Halmeenmäki, E.; Svobodova, K.; Lang, F.; Pihlatie, M.; Urban, O.

    2017-12-01

    The increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) concentration contributes to the acceleration of the greenhouse effect. However, the role of trees in the N2O exchange of forest ecosystems is still an open question. While the soils of temperate and boreal forests were shown to be a natural source of N2O, trees have been so far overlooked in the forest N2O inventories. We determined N2O fluxes in common tree species of boreal and temperate forests: Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), Norway spruce (Picea abies), downy and silver birch (Betula pubescens, B. pendula), and European beech (Fagus sylvatica). We investigated (1) whether these tree species exchange N2O with the atmosphere under natural field conditions, (2) how the tree N2O fluxes contribute to the forest N2O balance, and (3) whether these fluxes show seasonal dynamics. The studies were performed in a boreal forest (SMEAR II station, Finland; June 2014 - May 2015) and two temperate mountain forests (White Carpathians, Czech Republic; Black Forest, Germany; June and July 2015). Fluxes of N2O in mature tree stems and forest floor were measured using static chamber systems followed by chromatographic and photo-acoustic analyses of N2O concentration changes. Pine, spruce and birch trees were identified as net annual N2O sources. Spruce was found the strongest emitter (0.27 mg ha-1 h-1) amounting thus up to 2.5% of forest floor N2O emissions. All tree species showed a substantial seasonality in stem N2O flux that was related to their physiological activity and climatic variables. In contrast, stems of beech trees growing at soils consuming N2O may act as a substantial sink of N2O from the atmosphere. Consistent N2O consumption by tree stems ranging between -12.1 and -35.2 mg ha-1 h-1 and contributing by up to 3.4% to the forest floor N2O uptake is a novel finding in contrast to current studies presenting trees as N2O emitters. To understand these fluxes, N2O exchange of photoautotrophic organisms associated with

  15. Modelling field scale spatial variation in water run-off, soil moisture, N2O emissions and herbage biomass of a grazed pasture using the SPACSYS model.

    PubMed

    Liu, Yi; Li, Yuefen; Harris, Paul; Cardenas, Laura M; Dunn, Robert M; Sint, Hadewij; Murray, Phil J; Lee, Michael R F; Wu, Lianhai

    2018-04-01

    In this study, we evaluated the ability of the SPACSYS model to simulate water run-off, soil moisture, N 2 O fluxes and grass growth using data generated from a field of the North Wyke Farm Platform. The field-scale model is adapted via a linked and grid-based approach (grid-to-grid) to account for not only temporal dynamics but also the within-field spatial variation in these key ecosystem indicators. Spatial variability in nutrient and water presence at the field-scale is a key source of uncertainty when quantifying nutrient cycling and water movement in an agricultural system. Results demonstrated that the new spatially distributed version of SPACSYS provided a worthy improvement in accuracy over the standard (single-point) version for biomass productivity. No difference in model prediction performance was observed for water run-off, reflecting the closed-system nature of this variable. Similarly, no difference in model prediction performance was found for N 2 O fluxes, but here the N 2 O predictions were noticeably poor in both cases. Further developmental work, informed by this study's findings, is proposed to improve model predictions for N 2 O. Soil moisture results with the spatially distributed version appeared promising but this promise could not be objectively verified.

  16. Corn nitrogen management influences nitrous oxide emissions in drained and undrained soils

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Tile-drainage and nitrogen (N) fertilization are important for corn (Zea mays L.) production. To date, no studies have evaluated nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions of single vs. split-N fertilizer application under different soil drainage conditions. The objective of this study was to quantify season-lon...

  17. Emission and control of N2O and composition of ash derived from cattle manure combustion using a pilot-scale fluidized bed incinerator.

    PubMed

    Oshita, Kazuyuki; Kawaguchi, Koji; Takaoka, Masaki; Matsukawa, Kazutsugu; Fujimori, Takashi; Fujiwara, Taku

    2015-10-06

    This study investigates the emission of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and discusses the reduction of N 2 O emissions during the 24-h combustion of cattle manure using a pilot-scale fluidized bed incinerator under various experimental conditions. The results of these experiments were then validated against previously reported data. In addition, the characteristics of cattle manure incineration ash and their changes under different combustion conditions were estimated. In incineration experiments with composted cattle manure, N 2 O concentrations using multi-stage combustion were 75% lower than the concentrations resulting from normal combustion without additional auxiliary fuel, since N 2 O could be decomposed in the high-temperature zone formed by the inlet of the secondary combustion air. The N 2 O emission factor under normal combustion conditions (800°C) was 6.0% g-N 2 O-N/g-N. This result is similar to the values found in previous studies at the same temperature. The N 2 O emission factor was decreased to 1.6% g-N 2 O-N/g-N using a multi-stage combustion procedure. The current Japanese N 2 O emission factor of 0.1% g-N 2 O-N/g-N is an underestimate for some conditions and should be uniquely specified for each condition. Finally, cattle manure ash contains ample fertilizer elements, little Fe, Al and Zn, but abundant Cl. Therefore if Cl could be removed by some kind of pretreatment, cattle manure ash could be used as a favourable fertilizer.

  18. Nitrogen management to reduce nitrous oxide emissions

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils represent a complex interaction between the inputs of nitrogen into the soil and the soil environment. Mitigating these emissions will have a positive impact on greenhouse gases. Agriculture is the primary source of N2O emissions and must develop...

  19. Reducing nitrous oxide emissions by changing N fertiliser use from calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) to urea based formulations.

    PubMed

    Harty, M A; Forrestal, P J; Watson, C J; McGeough, K L; Carolan, R; Elliot, C; Krol, D; Laughlin, R J; Richards, K G; Lanigan, G J

    2016-09-01

    The accelerating use of synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilisers, to meet the world's growing food demand, is the primary driver for increased atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide (N2O). The IPCC default emission factor (EF) for N2O from soils is 1% of the N applied, irrespective of its form. However, N2O emissions tend to be higher from nitrate-containing fertilisers e.g. calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) compared to urea, particularly in regions, which have mild, wet climates and high organic matter soils. Urea can be an inefficient N source due to NH3 volatilisation, but nitrogen stabilisers (urease and nitrification inhibitors) can improve its efficacy. This study evaluated the impact of switching fertiliser formulation from calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) to urea-based products, as a potential mitigation strategy to reduce N2O emissions at six temperate grassland sites on the island of Ireland. The surface applied formulations included CAN, urea and urea with the urease inhibitor N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT) and/or the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD). Results showed that N2O emissions were significantly affected by fertiliser formulation, soil type and climatic conditions. The direct N2O emission factor (EF) from CAN averaged 1.49% overall sites, but was highly variable, ranging from 0.58% to 3.81. Amending urea with NBPT, to reduce ammonia volatilisation, resulted in an average EF of 0.40% (ranging from 0.21 to 0.69%)-compared to an average EF of 0.25% for urea (ranging from 0.1 to 0.49%), with both fertilisers significantly lower and less variable than CAN. Cumulative N2O emissions from urea amended with both NBPT and DCD were not significantly different from background levels. Switching from CAN to stabilised urea formulations was found to be an effective strategy to reduce N2O emissions, particularly in wet, temperate grassland. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Biochar type and factors affecting N transformation, ammonia volatilization, and nitrous oxide emissions

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Soil amendment with biochar has shown the potential to improve nitrogen (N) availability for plant uptake and reduce environmental losses via ammonia (NH3) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. There are still many unknowns on how biochar type and soil conditions affect N dynamics and processes associa...

  1. Sorption of pure N2O to biochars and other organic and inorganic materials under anhydrous conditions

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Cornelissen, Gerard; Rutherford, David W.; Arp, Hans Peter H.; Dorsch, Peter; Kelly, Charlene N.; Rostad, Colleen E.

    2013-01-01

    Suppression of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from soil is commonly observed after amendment with biochar. The mechanisms accounting for this suppression are not yet understood. One possible contributing mechanism is N2O sorption to biochar. The sorption of N2O and carbon dioxide (CO2) to four biochars was measured in an anhydrous system with pure N2O. The biochar data were compared to those for two activated carbons and other components potentially present in soils—uncharred pine wood and peat—and five inorganic metal oxides with variable surface areas. Langmuir maximum sorption capacities (Qmax) for N2O on the pine wood biochars (generated between 250 and 500 °C) and activated carbons were 17–73 cm3 g–1 at 20 °C (median 51 cm3 g–1), with Langmuir affinities (b) of 2–5 atm–1 (median 3.4 atm–1). Both Qmaxand b of the charred materials were substantially higher than those for peat, uncharred wood, and metal oxides [Qmax 1–34 cm3 g–1 (median 7 cm3 g–1); b 0.4–1.7 atm–1 (median 0.7 atm–1)]. This indicates that biochar can bind N2O more strongly than both mineral and organic soil materials. Qmax and b for CO2 were comparable to those for N2O. Modeled sorption coefficients obtained with an independent polyparameter—linear free-energy relationship matched measured data within a factor 2 for mineral surfaces but underestimated by a factor of 5–24 for biochar and carbonaceous surfaces. Isosteric enthalpies of sorption of N2O were mostly between −20 and −30 kJ mol–1, slightly more exothermic than enthalpies of condensation (−16.1 kJ mol–1). Qmax of N2O on biochar (50000–130000 μg g–1 biochar at 20 °C) exceeded the N2O emission suppressions observed in the literature (range 0.5–960 μg g–1 biochar; median 16 μg g–1) by several orders of magnitude. Thus, the hypothesis could not be falsified that sorption of N2O to biochar is a mechanism of N2O emission suppression.

  2. Factors Controlling Fluxes of Nitrous Oxide (N-N2O) in AN Upland Tropical Forest (atlantic Forest) - Brazil, Rio de Janeiro

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Perry, I.; de Mello, W. Z.; McDowell, W. H.

    2010-12-01

    Atlantic Forest is located along the Brazilian coast and inland to Paraguay and Argentina. It has been largely devastated years ago by anthropogenic activities, such as agriculture and urbanization. Only ten percent of its original area remains (100.000 km2), which is concentrated on high lands. Atlantic Forest is a biodiversity hotspot that receives high nitrogen (N) input through atmospheric deposition in forests of Rio de Janeiro; however, not much is known about the consequences of this N addition. This study has been conducted in the Serra dos Orgaos National Park (SONP - 22.782 km2) located a few kilometers Northeast of Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region, Sea Mountain. The forest, characterized as Tropical Moist Forest, is rigorously protected. Vegetation varies along the altitudinal gradient, where the highest peak is at 2,200m asl. Previous studies reported that N atmospheric deposition in SONP varies from 14 to 24 kg ha-1 year-1. The high N deposition on tropical forests increases emission to the atmosphere of N-N2O, a greenhouse gas. There is a lack of N-N2O measurements in tropical forests, mainly in upland tropical forests. We present fluxes of N-N2O from a Brazilian upland tropical forest, and assess the factors controlling N-N2O fluxes. Samples were collected from eight grids (48m2), between 330-451m asl (Subtropical vegetation) and eight grids between 1137-1251m (Montane vegetation), during the dry (July 2008) and wet (Jan-Feb 2009) seasons. Daily, N-N2O (N=372) and soil (N=185) were collected. Nitrous oxide emission was 0,7 (lower altitude) and 0,3 kgN ha-1 year-1 (higher altitude), which is lower than in other upland tropical forests, such as Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico, where atmospheric N input (4 kg ha-1 year-1) is not as high as in SONP. Water filled pore space, soil temperature, phosphorus and C:N are the main factors controlling N-N2O fluxes. Manganese was not a good indicator for presence or absence of N-N2O. Higher N-N2O

  3. Impact of reduced tillage on greenhouse gas emissions and soil carbon stocks in an organic grass-clover ley - winter wheat cropping sequence.

    PubMed

    Krauss, Maike; Ruser, Reiner; Müller, Torsten; Hansen, Sissel; Mäder, Paul; Gattinger, Andreas

    2017-02-15

    Organic reduced tillage aims to combine the environmental benefits of organic farming and conservation tillage to increase sustainability and soil quality. In temperate climates, there is currently no knowledge about its impact on greenhouse gas emissions and only little information about soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in these management systems. We therefore monitored nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and methane (CH 4 ) fluxes besides SOC stocks for two years in a grass-clover ley - winter wheat - cover crop sequence. The monitoring was undertaken in an organically managed long-term tillage trial on a clay rich soil in Switzerland. Reduced tillage (RT) was compared with ploughing (conventional tillage, CT) in interaction with two fertilisation systems, cattle slurry alone (SL) versus cattle manure compost and slurry (MC). Median N 2 O and CH 4 flux rates were 13 μg N 2 O-N m -2  h -1 and -2 μg CH 4 C m -2  h -1 , respectively, with no treatment effects. N 2 O fluxes correlated positively with nitrate contents, soil temperature, water filled pore space and dissolved organic carbon and negatively with ammonium contents in soil. Pulse emissions after tillage operations and slurry application dominated cumulative gas emissions. N 2 O emissions after tillage operations correlated with SOC contents and collinearly to microbial biomass. There was no tillage system impact on cumulative N 2 O emissions in the grass-clover (0.8-0.9 kg N 2 O-N ha -1 , 369 days) and winter wheat (2.1-3.0 kg N 2 O-N ha -1 , 296 days) cropping seasons, with a tendency towards higher emissions in MC than SL in winter wheat. Including a tillage induced peak after wheat harvest, a full two year data set showed increased cumulative N 2 O emissions in RT than CT and in MC than SL. There was no clear treatment influence on cumulative CH 4 uptake. Topsoil SOC accumulation (0-0.1 m) was still ongoing. SOC stocks were more stratified in RT than CT and in MC than SL. Total SOC stocks (0-0.5

  4. Isotopomer fractionation during N2O consumption within soil mesocosms as a function of water filled pore space

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jinuntuya, M.; Ostrom, N. E.; Ostrom, P.; Sutka, R.

    2005-12-01

    Our prior research has demonstrated that the intramolecular distribution of 15N within the N2O molecule can be used to distinguish N2O derived from nitrification and denitrification. For this approach to be successful, however, the affect of fractionation during consumption of N2O by denitrification must be understood. Stable isotope and isotopomer analysis of soil mesocosm experiments were used to investigate fractionation of N2O during consumption at four different levels of water filled pores space (WFPS) 60, 80, 100 and 110% Uncultivated soil from the Long Term Ecological Research Site at Kellogg Biological Station was used to establish that the fractionation factors for δ15N, δ18O-N2O, δ15Nα and δ15Nβ ranged from -4.2 to -7.8 ‰, -12.5 to -19.1 ‰,-5.3 to -9.7‰ and -2.0 to -6.0 ‰, respectively. Lower fractionation factors were observed at higher WFPS demonstrating the importance of diffusion in limiting the expression of fractionation. The small degree of fractionation for δ15Nα and δ15Nβ indicates that consumption must be marked (e.g. >50%) before a significant isotope effect is observed. Our characterization of fractionation factors as a function of WFPS provides a basis to apportion the origins of N2O even when consumption is evident.

  5. Laboratory-scale measurements of N2O and CH4 emissions from hybrid poplars (Populus deltoides x Populus nigra).

    PubMed

    McBain, M C; Warland, J S; McBride, R A; Wagner-Riddle, C

    2004-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not young hybrid poplar (Populus deltoides x Populus nigra) could transport landfill biogas internally from the root zone to the atmosphere, thereby acting as conduits for landfill gas release. Fluxes of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from the seedlings to the atmosphere were measured under controlled conditions using dynamic flux chambers and a tunable diode laser trace gas analyser (TDLTGA). Nitrous oxide was emitted from the seedlings, but only when extremely high soil N2O concentrations were applied to the root zone. In contrast, no detectable emissions of CH4 were measured in a similar experimental trial. Visible plant morphological responses, characteristic of flood-tolerant trees attempting to cope with the negative effects of soil hypoxia, were observed during the CH4 experiments. Leaf chlorosis, leaf abscission and adventitious roots were all visible plant responses. In addition, seedling survival was observed to be highest in the biogas 'hot spot' areas of a local municipal solid waste landfill involved in this study. Based on the available literature, these observations suggest that CH4 can be transported internally by Populus deltoides x Populus nigra seedlings in trace amounts, although future research is required to fully test this hypothesis.

  6. Near-Continuous Isotopic Characterization of Soil N2O Fluxes from Maize Production

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anex, R. P.; Francis Clar, J.

    2015-12-01

    Isotopomer ratios of N2O and especially intramolecular 15N site preference (SP) have been proposed as indicators of the sources of N2O and for providing insight into the contributions of different microbial processes. Current knowledge, however, is mainly based on pure culture studies and laboratory flask studies using mass spectrometric analysis. Recent development of laser spectroscopic methods has made possible high-precision, in situ measurements. We present results from a maize production field in Columbia County, Wisconsin, USA. Data were collected from the fertilized maize phase of a maize-soybean rotation. N2O mole fractions and isotopic composition were determined using an automatic gas flux measurement system comprising a set of custom-designed automatic chambers, circulating gas paths and an OA-ICOS N2O Isotope Analyzer (Los Gatos Research, Inc., Model 914-0027). The instrument system allows for up to 15 user programmable soil gas chambers. Wide dynamic range and parts-per-billion precision of OA-ICOS laser absorption instrument allows for extremely rapid estimation of N2O fluxes. Current operational settings provide measurements of N2O and its isotopes every 20 seconds with a precision of 0.1 ± 0.050 PPB. Comparison of measurements from four chambers (two between row and two in-row) show very different aggregate N2O flux, but SP values suggest similar sources from nitrifier denitrification and incomplete bacterial denitrification. SP values reported are being measured throughout the current growing season. To date, the majority of values are consistent with an origin from bacterial denitrification and coincide with periods of high water filled pore space.

  7. Nitrogen Losses as N2O and NO After Non-tillage Agricultural Practice in a Tropical Corn Field at Guarico State, Venezuela.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Perez, T. J.; Gil, J. A.; Marquina, S.; Donoso, L. E.; Trumbore, S. E.; Tyler, S. C.

    2005-12-01

    Historically, the most common agricultural practice in Northern Guárico, one of Venezuelan largest cereal production regions, has been mono cropping, with extensive tillage operations that usually causes rapid soil degradation and nitrogen losses. Alternative production systems, such as non-tillage agricultural practices, have been extensively implemented during the last few years. However, studies of the nitrogen losses associated with these alternative practices are not widely available. This study was conducted at "Fundo Tierra Nueva", Guárico State (9°23'33" N, 66° 38'30" W) in a corn field under the non-tillage agricultural practice, during the growing season June-August 2005. The soils are Vertisols (Typic Haplusterts). The area has two well defined precipitation seasons: wet (May-October) and dry (November-April). The mean annual precipitation of the area is 622±97.3 mm (last 5 years). Because the irrigation of the crop depends on precipitation, the planting is scheduled during the months of highest precipitation in June-July. We measured nitrogenous gas emissions (N2O and NO), concentrations of total nitrogen (NT), NH4+ and NO3- in soil (0-100 cm) after fertilization to estimate the nitrogen losses. We also measured CO2 emissions to evaluate the relationship of microbial respiration to the emissions of nitrogenous trace gases. Soils were fertilized with 54 kgN/ha (NPK 12:24:12, nitrogen as NH4Cl) and planted simultaneously by a planting machine provided with a furrow opener where the fertilizer and seeds are incorporated between 0-10 cm depth. Thirty days later, soils were fertilized by broadcast addition of 18 kgN/ha (as ammonium nitrate). Nitrous oxide emissions were highly dependant on the water content. Prior to fertilization N2O emissions were very low. Right after fertilization the emissions increased by a factor of 5 compared to pre-fertilization levels and increased to 100 times larger after the first heavy rain. NO emissions did not increase

  8. Multi-scale measurements show limited soil greenhouse gas emissions in Kenyan smallholder coffee-dairy systems.

    PubMed

    Ortiz-Gonzalo, Daniel; de Neergaard, Andreas; Vaast, Philippe; Suárez-Villanueva, Víctor; Oelofse, Myles; Rosenstock, Todd S

    2018-06-01

    Efforts have been made in recent years to improve knowledge about soil greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes from sub-Saharan Africa. However, data on soil GHG emissions from smallholder coffee-dairy systems have not hitherto been measured experimentally. This study aimed to quantify soil GHG emissions at different spatial and temporal scales in smallholder coffee-dairy farms in Murang'a County, Central Kenya. GHG measurements were carried out for one year, comprising two cropping seasons, using vented static chambers and gas chromatography. Sixty rectangular frames were installed on two farms comprising the three main cropping systems found in the area: 1) coffee (Coffea arabica L.); 2) Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum); and 3) maize intercropped with beans (Zea mays and Phaseolus vulgaris). Within these fields, chambers were allocated on fertilised and unfertilised locations to capture spatial variability. Cumulative annual fluxes in coffee plots ranged from 1 to 1.9kgN 2 O-Nha -1 , 6.5 to 7.6MgCO 2 -Cha -1 and - 3.4 to -2.2kgCH 4 -Cha -1 , with 66% to 94% of annual GHG fluxes occurring during rainy seasons. Across the farm plots, coffee received most of the N inputs and had 56% to 89% higher emissions of N 2 O than Napier grass, maize and beans. Within farm plots, two to six times higher emissions were found in fertilised hotspots - around the perimeter of coffee trees or within planted maize rows - than in unfertilised locations between trees, rows and planting holes. Background and induced soil N 2 O emissions from fertiliser and manure applications in the three cropping systems were lower than hypothesized from previous studies and empirical models. This study supplements methods and underlying data for the quantification of GHG emissions at multiple spatial and temporal scales in tropical, smallholder farming systems. Advances towards overcoming the dearth of data will facilitate the understanding of synergies and tradeoffs of climate-smart approaches for low

  9. Enhanced representation of soil NO emissions in the ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Modeling of soil nitric oxide (NO) emissions is highly uncertain and may misrepresent its spatial and temporal distribution. This study builds upon a recently introduced parameterization to improve the timing and spatial distribution of soil NO emission estimates in the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. The parameterization considers soil parameters, meteorology, land use, and mineral nitrogen (N) availability to estimate NO emissions. We incorporate daily year-specific fertilizer data from the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) agricultural model to replace the annual generic data of the initial parameterization, and use a 12 km resolution soil biome map over the continental USA. CMAQ modeling for July 2011 shows slight differences in model performance in simulating fine particulate matter and ozone from Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) and Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) sites and NO2 columns from Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) satellite retrievals. We also simulate how the change in soil NO emissions scheme affects the expected O3 response to projected emissions reductions. The National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) Computational Exposure Division (CED) develops and evaluates data, decision-support tools, and models to be applied to media-specific or receptor-specific problem areas. CED uses modeling-based approaches to characterize exposures, evaluate fate and transport, and

  10. Influence of aeration on CH4, N2O and NH3 emissions during aerobic composting of a chicken manure and high C/N waste mixture.

    PubMed

    Shen, Yujun; Ren, Limei; Li, Guoxue; Chen, Tongbin; Guo, Rui

    2011-01-01

    Co-composting of chicken manure, straw and dry grasses was investigated in a forced aeration system to estimate the effect of aeration rates on NH(3), CH(4) and N(2)O emissions and compost quality. Continuous measurements of gas emissions were carried out and detailed gas emission patterns were obtained using an intermittent-aeration of 30 min on/30 min off at rates of 0.01 (A1), 0.1 (A2) and 0.2 (A3) m(3)min(-1)m(-3). Concentrations of CH(4) and N(2)O at the low aeration rate (A1) were significantly greater than those at the other two rates, but there was no significant difference between the A2 and A3 treatments. CH(4) and N(2)O emissions for this mixture could be controlled when the composting process was aerobic and ammonia emissions were reduced at a lower aeration rate. Comparison of CH(4), N(2)O, NH(3) emissions and compost quality showed that the aeration rate of the A2 treatment was superior to the other two aeration rates. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Short tests to couple N₂O emission mitigation and nitrogen removal strategies for landfill leachate recirculation.

    PubMed

    Wu, Dong; Wang, Chao; Dolfing, Jan; Xie, Bing

    2015-04-15

    Landfills implemented with onsite leachate recirculation can efficiently remove pollutants, but currently they are reckoned as N2O emission hot spots. In this project, we evaluated the relationship between N2O emission and nitrogen (N) removal efficiency with different types of leachate recirculated. Nitrate supplemented leachate showed low N2O emission rates with the highest N removal efficiency (~70%), which was equivalent to ~1% nitrogen emitted as N2O. Although in nitrite containing leachates' N removal efficiencies also reached to ~60%, their emitted N2O comprised ~40% of total removed nitrogen. Increasing nitrogen load promoted N2O emission and N removal efficiency, except in ammonia type leachate. When the ratio of BOD to total nitrogen increased from 0.2 to 0.4, the N2O emission flux from nitrate supplemented leachate decreased from ~25 to <0.5 μg N/kg-soil·h. We argue prior to leachate in situ recirculation, sufficient pre-aeration is critical to mitigate N2O surges and simultaneously enhance nitrogen removal efficiency. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. LandscapeDNDC used to model nitrous oxide emissions from soils under an oak forest in southern England

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cade, Shirley; Clemitshaw, Kevin; Lowry, David; Yamulki, Sirwan; Casella, Eric; Molina, Saul; Haas, Edwin; Kiese, Ralf

    2013-04-01

    Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important greenhouse gas, having a global warming potential of approximately 300 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2), and plays a significant role in depleting stratospheric ozone. Its principal source is microbial activity in soils and waters. Measured values of N2O emissions from soils show high temporal dynamics and a large range as a result of inter-related physico-chemical factors affecting the microbial processes, thus making predictions difficult. Emissions often occur in pulses following re-wetting, frost-thaw or management events such as N-fertilization, which further complicates predictions. Process-based models have been developed to help understand this emission variability and as potential tools for IPCC Tier 3 reporting on national emission inventories. Forests are promoted as sinks for CO2 and can be used as renewable sources of energy or longer term CO2 storage if timber is used in products such as in construction and furniture, provided appropriate replanting takes place. It is important that the effect of any changes in forest management and land use as a result of a desire to reduce CO2 emissions does not increase N2O emissions from forest soils, which are still poorly understood, compared to agricultural soils. LandscapeDNDC (Haas et al 2012) has been developed as a process-oriented model, based on the biogeochemical model, DNDC (Li et al, 1992), in order to simulate biosphere-atmosphere-hydrosphere exchanges at site and regional scales. It can model the carbon and nitrogen turnover and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of forest, agricultural and grassland ecosystems, and allows modelling of impacts of regional land use change over time. This study uses data (including forest growth, GHG emissions and soil moisture) from an oak forest, known as the Straits Enclosure, at Alice Holt in Hampshire, where extensive measurements have been made by Forest Research since 1995. It involves validation of the site scale

  13. The Impacts of Changes in Snowfall on Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions Using an Automated Chamber System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ruan, L.; Kahmark, K.; Robertson, G.

    2012-12-01

    Snow cover has decreased in many regions of the northern hemisphere and is projected to decrease further in most. The reduced snow cover may enhance soil freezing and increase the depth of frost. The frequency of freeze-thaw cycles is likely to increase due to the reduction of snowpack thickness. Freeze and thaw cycles can strongly affect soil C and N dynamics. The pulses of N2O and CO2 emissions from soil after thawing have been reported in various studies. However, most studies were based on the controlled laboratory conditions or low resolution static chamber methods in situ. Near-continuous automated chambers provide the temporal resolution needed for capturing short-lived pulses of greenhouse gases after intermittent melting events. We investigated the winter and spring response of soil greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, CH4 and N2O) to changes of snow depth using an automated chamber system. This study was established in 2010 at the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) in southwest Michigan. The plot was no till rotational (corn-soybean-wheat) cropland, most recently in corn. The experiment was a completely randomized design (CRD) with three levels of snow depth: ambient, double, and no snow. Each level had four replicates. Twelve automated chambers were randomly assigned to treatments and greenhouse gas fluxes measured 4 times per day in each plot. There were more freeze-thaw cycles in the no snow treatment than in the ambient and double snow treatments. Soil temperature at 5 cm depth was more variable in the no snow treatment than in the ambient and double snow treatments. CH4 fluxes were uniformly low with no significant difference across three treatments. CO2 showed expected seasonal changes with the highest emission in spring and lowest emissions through the winter. N2O peaks were higher in spring due to freeze thaw effects and cumulative N2O fluxes were substantially higher in the no snow treatment than in the ambient and double snow treatments.

  14. Global Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Agricultural Soils: Magnitude and Uncertainties Associated with Input Data and Model Parameters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, R.; Tian, H.; Pan, S.; Yang, J.; Lu, C.; Zhang, B.

    2016-12-01

    Human activities have caused significant perturbations of the nitrogen (N) cycle, resulting in about 21% increase of atmospheric N2O concentration since the pre-industrial era. This large increase is mainly caused by intensive agricultural activities including the application of nitrogen fertilizer and the expansion of leguminous crops. Substantial efforts have been made to quantify the global and regional N2O emission from agricultural soils in the last several decades using a wide variety of approaches, such as ground-based observation, atmospheric inversion, and process-based model. However, large uncertainties exist in those estimates as well as methods themselves. In this study, we used a coupled biogeochemical model (DLEM) to estimate magnitude, spatial, and temporal patterns of N2O emissions from global croplands in the past five decades (1961-2012). To estimate uncertainties associated with input data and model parameters, we have implemented a number of simulation experiments with DLEM, accounting for key parameter values that affect calculation of N2O fluxes (i.e., maximum nitrification and denitrification rates, N fixation rate, and the adsorption coefficient for soil ammonium and nitrate), different sets of input data including climate, land management practices (i.e., nitrogen fertilizer types, application rates and timings, with/without irrigation), N deposition, and land use and land cover change. This work provides a robust estimate of global N2O emissions from agricultural soils as well as identifies key gaps and limitations in the existing model and data that need to be investigated in the future.

  15. Effect of elevated CO2, O3, and UV radiation on soils.

    PubMed

    Formánek, Pavel; Rejšek, Klement; Vranová, Valerie

    2014-01-01

    In this work, we have attempted to review the current knowledge on the impact of elevated CO2, O3, and UV on soils. Elevated CO2 increases labile and stabile soil C pool as well as efficiency of organic pollutants rhizoremediation and phytoextraction of heavy metals. Conversely, both elevated O3 and UV radiation decrease inputs of assimilates to the rhizosphere being accompanied by inhibitory effects on decomposition processes, rhizoremediation, and heavy metals phytoextraction efficiency. Contrary to elevated CO2, O3, or UV-B decreases soil microbial biomass, metabolisable C, and soil N t content leading to higher C/N of soil organic matter. Elevated UV-B radiation shifts soil microbial community and decreases populations of soil meso- and macrofauna via direct effect rather than by induced changes of litter quality and root exudation as in case of elevated CO2 or O3. CO2 enrichment or increased UV-B is hypothesised to stimulate or inhibit both plant and microbial competitiveness for soluble soil N, respectively, whereas O3 favours only microbial competitive efficiency. Understanding the consequences of elevated CO2, O3, and UV radiation for soils, especially those related to fertility, phytotoxins inputs, elements cycling, plant-microbe interactions, and decontamination of polluted sites, presents a knowledge gap for future research.

  16. N2O production, a widespread trait in fungi

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maeda, Koki; Spor, Aymé; Edel-Hermann, Véronique; Heraud, Cécile; Breuil, Marie-Christine; Bizouard, Florian; Toyoda, Sakae; Yoshida, Naohiro; Steinberg, Christian; Philippot, Laurent

    2015-04-01

    N2O is a powerful greenhouse gas contributing both to global warming and ozone depletion. While fungi have been identified as a putative source of N2O, little is known about their production of this greenhouse gas. Here we investigated the N2O-producing ability of a collection of 207 fungal isolates. Seventy strains producing N2O in pure culture were identified. They were mostly species from the order Hypocreales order--particularly Fusarium oxysporum and Trichoderma spp.--and to a lesser extent species from the orders Eurotiales, Sordariales, and Chaetosphaeriales. The N2O 15N site preference (SP) values of the fungal strains ranged from 15.8‰ to 36.7‰, and we observed a significant taxa effect, with Penicillium strains displaying lower SP values than the other fungal genera. Inoculation of 15 N2O-producing strains into pre-sterilized arable, forest and grassland soils confirmed the ability of the strains to produce N2O in soil with a significant strain-by-soil effect. The copper-containing nitrite reductase gene (nirK) was amplified from 45 N2O-producing strains, and its genetic variability showed a strong congruence with the ITS phylogeny, indicating vertical inheritance of this trait. Taken together, this comprehensive set of findings should enhance our knowledge of fungi as a source of N2O in the environment.

  17. N2O production, a widespread trait in fungi.

    PubMed

    Maeda, Koki; Spor, Aymé; Edel-Hermann, Véronique; Heraud, Cécile; Breuil, Marie-Christine; Bizouard, Florian; Toyoda, Sakae; Yoshida, Naohiro; Steinberg, Christian; Philippot, Laurent

    2015-04-20

    N2O is a powerful greenhouse gas contributing both to global warming and ozone depletion. While fungi have been identified as a putative source of N2O, little is known about their production of this greenhouse gas. Here we investigated the N2O-producing ability of a collection of 207 fungal isolates. Seventy strains producing N2O in pure culture were identified. They were mostly species from the order Hypocreales order-particularly Fusarium oxysporum and Trichoderma spp.-and to a lesser extent species from the orders Eurotiales, Sordariales, and Chaetosphaeriales. The N2O (15)N site preference (SP) values of the fungal strains ranged from 15.8‰ to 36.7‰, and we observed a significant taxa effect, with Penicillium strains displaying lower SP values than the other fungal genera. Inoculation of 15 N2O-producing strains into pre-sterilized arable, forest and grassland soils confirmed the ability of the strains to produce N2O in soil with a significant strain-by-soil effect. The copper-containing nitrite reductase gene (nirK) was amplified from 45 N2O-producing strains, and its genetic variability showed a strong congruence with the ITS phylogeny, indicating vertical inheritance of this trait. Taken together, this comprehensive set of findings should enhance our knowledge of fungi as a source of N2O in the environment.

  18. Validating soil denitrification models based on laboratory N_{2} and N_{2}O fluxes and underlying processes derived by stable isotope approaches

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Well, Reinhard; Böttcher, Jürgen; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus; Dannenmann, Michael; Deppe, Marianna; Dittert, Klaus; Dörsch, Peter; Horn, Marcus; Ippisch, Olaf; Mikutta, Robert; Müller, Carsten; Müller, Christoph; Senbayram, Mehmet; Vogel, Hans-Jörg; Wrage-Mönnig, Nicole

    2016-04-01

    Robust denitrification data suitable to validate soil N2 fluxes in denitrification models are scarce due to methodical limitations and the extreme spatio-temporal heterogeneity of denitrification in soils. Numerical models have become essential tools to predict denitrification at different scales. Model performance could either be tested for total gaseous flux (NO + N2O + N2), individual denitrification products (e.g. N2O and/or NO) or for the effect of denitrification factors (e.g. C-availability, respiration, diffusivity, anaerobic volume, etc.). While there are numerous examples for validating N2O fluxes, there are neither robust field data of N2 fluxes nor sufficiently resolved measurements of control factors used as state variables in the models. To the best of our knowledge there has been only one published validation of modelled soil N2 flux by now, using a laboratory data set to validate an ecosystem model. Hence there is a need for validation data at both, the mesocosm and the field scale including validation of individual denitrification controls. Here we present the concept for collecting model validation data which is be part of the DFG-research unit "Denitrification in Agricultural Soils: Integrated Control and Modelling at Various Scales (DASIM)" starting this year. We will use novel approaches including analysis of stable isotopes, microbial communities, pores structure and organic matter fractions to provide denitrification data sets comprising as much detail on activity and regulation as possible as a basis to validate existing and calibrate new denitrification models that are applied and/or developed by DASIM subprojects. The basic idea is to simulate "field-like" conditions as far as possible in an automated mesocosm system without plants in order to mimic processes in the soil parts not significantly influenced by the rhizosphere (rhizosphere soils are studied by other DASIM projects). Hence, to allow model testing in a wide range of conditions

  19. Spatial variability of nitrous oxide and methane emissions from an MBT landfill in operation: Strong N{sub 2}O hotspots at the working face

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Harborth, Peter, E-mail: p.harborth@tu-bs.de; Fuß, Roland; Münnich, Kai

    Highlights: ► First measurements of N{sub 2}O and CH{sub 4} emissions from an MBT landfill. ► High N{sub 2}O emissions from recently deposited material. ► N{sub 2}O emissions associated with aeration and the occurrence of nitrite and nitrate. ► Strong negative correlation between CH{sub 4} and N{sub 2}O production activity. - Abstract: Mechanical biological treatment (MBT) is an effective technique, which removes organic carbon from municipal solid waste (MSW) prior to deposition. Thereby, methane (CH{sub 4}) production in the landfill is strongly mitigated. However, direct measurements of greenhouse gas emissions from full-scale MBT landfills have not been conducted so far.more » Thus, CH{sub 4} and nitrous oxide (N{sub 2}O) emissions from a German MBT landfill in operation as well as their concentrations in the landfill gas (LFG) were measured. High N{sub 2}O emissions of 20–200 g CO{sub 2} eq. m{sup −2} h{sup −1} magnitude (up to 428 mg N m{sup −2} h{sup −1}) were observed within 20 m of the working face. CH{sub 4} emissions were highest at the landfill zone located at a distance of 30–40 m from the working face, where they reached about 10 g CO{sub 2} eq. m{sup −2} h{sup −1}. The MBT material in this area has been deposited several weeks earlier. Maximum LFG concentration for N{sub 2}O was 24.000 ppmv in material below the emission hotspot. At a depth of 50 cm from the landfill surface a strong negative correlation between N{sub 2}O and CH{sub 4} concentrations was observed. From this and from the distribution pattern of extractable ammonium, nitrite, and nitrate it has been concluded that strong N{sub 2}O production is associated with nitrification activity and the occurrence of nitrite and nitrate, which is initiated by oxygen input during waste deposition. Therefore, CH{sub 4} mitigation measures, which often employ aeration, could result in a net increase of GHG emissions due to increased N{sub 2}O emissions, especially at MBT

  20. Nitric and nitrous oxide emissions from N-saturated subtropical forest in Southwest China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kang, Ronghua; Mulder, Jan; Behrendt, Thomas; Yu, Longfei; Dörsch, Peter

    2017-04-01

    Acidic subtropical forest soils, receiving high atmogenic nitrogen (N) deposition, are characterized by fast N turnover and are potential "hot spots" for NO emissions. Moreover, soils in monsoonal climate are expose to rapid soil moisture fluctuations and high soil temperatures. We measured in situ fluxes in different landscape positions of the Tieshanping forest, Chongqing, SW China, in the summers of 2015 and 2016 and conducted controlled dry-out experiments using a dynamic chamber system in the laboratory. In the wet summer of 2015, the monthly mean NO flux from Acrisols on hill slopes was 44.3 µg N m-2 h-1 with the highest flux (231.5 µg N m-2 h-1) observed at the foot of the hill slope (HS). Significantly larger NO fluxes (88.4 µg N m-2 h-1) were observed in the drier summer of 2016 than the wetter summer of 2015. Monthly mean NO flux in a groundwater discharge zone (GDZ) near the stream (26.4 µg N m-2 h-1) was lower than on the hillslope. In both summers, the NO fluxes were negatively correlated with soil moistures (P < 0.001). In the laboratory experiment (30 0C), maximum NO production rates in hill slope soils (7.7 - 32.0 ng N kg-1 s-1) were observed at 21% WFPS (water filled pore space), while soils from the groundwater discharge zone had their maximum NO emission at 15% WFPS ( 5.6 ng N kg-1 s-1). Whereas NO emission response to dry-out showed one maximum in the dry soil moisture range, N2O release from HS soils showed two distinct maxima, one (1.3 - 4.5 ng N kg-1 s-1) at high and one (0.5 - 2.8 ng N kg-1 s-1) at low soil moisture, attributable to denitrification and nitrification, respectively. For GDZ soils, maximum N2O release rates ( 22 ng N kg-1 s-1) were observed at 150% WFPS, reflecting the high denitrification potentials in these riparian soils. Results from a short-term in situ labelling experiment with 15NH414NO3 and 14NH415NO3 indicated that more than 80% of the NO emitted on the hillslope originates from nitrification. In conclusion, our