Abstract
Nations are now obligated to assess their greenhouse gas emissions under the protocols of Article 4 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The IPCC has developed `spreadsheet-format' methodologies for countries to estimate national greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector. Each activity has a magnitude and emission rate and their product is summed over all included activities to generate a national total (IPCC, 1997). For N2O emissions from cropland soils, field studies have shown that there are important factors that influence N2O emissions at specific field sites that are not considered in the IPCC methodology. We used DNDC, a process-oriented agroecosystem model, to develop an unofficial national inventory of direct N2O emissions from cropland in China. We assembled county-scale data on soil properties, daily weather, crop areas, N-fertilizer use, livestock populations (for manure inputs to cropland), and agricultural management for the 2500 counties in mainland China. Total 1990 cropland area was 0.95 million km2. Total N-fertilizer use in China in 1990 was 16.6 Tg N. The average fertilization rate was 175 kg N ha−1 cropland. One-year simulations with DNDC were run for each crop type in each county to generate estimates of direct N2O emissions from soils. National totals were the sum of results for all crop simulations across all counties. Baseline simulations estimated that total N2O emission from arable land in China in 1990 was 0.31 Tg N2O-N yr−1. We also ran simulations with zero N-fertilizer input; the difference between the zero-fertilizer and the baseline run is an estimate of fertilizer-induced N2O emissions. The fertilizer-induced emission was 0.13 Tg N2O-N yr−1, about 0.8% of total N-fertilizer use (lower than the mean but within the IPCC range of 1.25±1.0%). We compared these results to our estimates of county-scale IPCC methodology emissions. Total emissions were similar but geographical patterns were quite different.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bouwman AF (1996) Direct emission of nitrous oxide from agricultural soils. Nutr Cycling Agroecosys 46: 53–70
Bouwman AF (1994) Method to Estimate Direct Emission of Nitrous Oxide from Agricultural Soils, Report No. 773004004, National Inst. Publ. Health & Environ. Protection (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands
CIESIN (Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network) (1998) The China Time Series Administrative Regions GIS Data: 1:1M, County Level, prepared by CIESIN, the Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping, and China in Time and Space (University of Washington), available on the World Wide Web at http://sedac.ciesin.org/china/admin/bn d90/bnd90.html
Cole V, Cerri C, Minami K, Mosier A, Rosenberg N & Sauerbeck D, et al. (1996) Chapter 23. Agriculture options for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. In: Watson RT, Zinyowera MC & Moss RH (eds.) Climate Change 1995. Impacts, Adaptations, and Mitigation of Climate Change: Scientific-Technical Analyses. Published for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Crill P, M. Keller, A. Weitz, B. Grauel & E. Veldkamp (2000) Intensive field measurements of nitrous oxide emissions from a tropical agricultural soil. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 14: 85–96
Crook F (1993) Underreporting of China's cultivated land area: Implications for world agricultural trade. China International Agricultural and Trade Report, pp 33–39. 1993 Situation and Outlook Series RS-93–4. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, DC
CRTSA (Central Radio and Television School of Agriculture) (1995) Textbooks for Primary Agricultural Technology Training, Vols. I-VI. Beijing: China Agricultural Publishing House, (In Chinese)
Engel Th, Priesack E (1993) Expert-N, a building block system of nitrogen models as a resource for advice, reseaqrch, water management and policy. In: Eijsackers HJP & Hamers T (eds) Integrated Soil and Sediment Research: A Basis for Proper Protection, pp 503–507. Kluwer Academic Publishers
FAOSTAT (1999) Statistical Database of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, available on theWorldWide Web at http://apps.fao.org
Fischer G, Chen YF, and Sun LX (1998) The balance of cultivated land in China during 1988–1995. Internat. Inst. Appl. Syst. Analysis (IIASA) Interim Report IR-98–047, Laxenburg, Austria
Flessa H., Dorsch P. & Beese F. (1995). Seasonal variation of N2O and CH4 fluxes in differently managed arable soils in southern Germany. J Geophy Res 100: 23115–23124
Frolking S, Xiao X, Zhuang Y, Salas W & Li C (1999) Agricultural land-use in China: A comparison of area estimates from ground-based census and satellite-borne remote sensing. Global Ecol Biogeogr Lett 8: 401–416
Frolking S, Mosier AR, Ojima DS, Li C, Parton WJ, Potter CS, Priesack E, Stenger R, Haberbosch C, Dörsch P, Flessa H & Smith KA (1998) Comparison of N2O emissions from soils at three temperate agricultural sites: simulations of year-round measurements by four models. Nutr Cycling Agroecosys 55: 77–105
Fu LQ, Zhang SW, Liu DW & Wan EP (1993) Image processing for maize yield estimation by remote sensing. Remote Sensing Technique for Wheat, Maize, and Rice Yield Estimation (ed. by BS Chen), pp 8–15. Beijing: China Science and Technology Press, (In Chinese).
Grant RF, Nyborg M & Laidlaw LW (1993) Evolution of nitrous oxide from soil: I. model development. Soil Sci 156: 259–265
Holland EA, Braswell BH, Lamarque J-F, Townsend A, Sulzman J, Mller J-F, Dentener F, Brasseur G, Levy H, Penner JE & Roelofs G-J (1997) Variations in the predicted spatial distribution of atmospheric nitrogen deposition and their impact on carbon uptake by terrestrial ecosystems. J. Geophys. Res. 102:15 849–15 866
Huang G, Zhang Z & Zhao Q (1997) Crop Practice in Southern China. Beijing: China Agricultural Publishing House, (In Chinese)
IPCC (1995) (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change/Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. OECD/ODCE, Paris
IPCC (1997) (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change/Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. OECD/ODCE, Paris
ISS (Institute of Soil Science) (1986) The Soil Atlas of China. Institute of Soil Science, Academia Sinica, Cartographic Publ. House, Beijing
Li C, Zhuang YH, Cao MQ, Crill PM, Dai ZH, Frolking S, Moore B, Salas W, Song WZ & Wang XK (2000)) Modeled agricultural N2O emissions for the US and China. (In review) J Geophys Res
Li C, Narayanan V & Harriss RC (1996) Nitrous oxide emissions in 1990 from agricultural lands in the United States. Global Biogeochem Cycles 10: 297–306
Li C, Frolking S & Harriss RC (1994). Modeling carbon biogeochemistry in agricultural soils, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 8: 237–254
Li C, Frolking S, and Frolking TA (1992a) A model of nitrous oxide evolution from soil driven by rainfall events: I. model structure and sensitivity, J. Geophys. Res. 97: 9759–9776
Li C, Frolking S & Frolking TA (1992b) A model of nitrous oxide evolution from soil driven by rainfall events: II. model applications, J Geophys Res 97: 9777–9783
Mosier A, Kroeze C, Nevison C, Oenema O, Seitzinger S & van Cleemput O (1998) Closing the global N2O budget: nitrous oxide emissions through the agricultural nitrogen cycle: OECD/IPCC/IEA phase II development of IPCC guidelines for nation greenhouse gas inventory methodology. Nutr Cycl Agroecosys 52: 225–248
Mosier AR, W Parton, D Valentine, D Ojima, D Schimel & D Delgado (1996), CH4 and N2O fluxes in the Colorado shortgrass steppe. 1. Impact of landscape and nitrogen addition. Global Biogeochem, Cycles 10: 387–400
NOAA (1994) Global Daily Summary: Temperature and Precipitation 1977–1991, Version 1.0, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin., National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC
Parton WJ, Mosier AR, Ojima DS, Valentine DW, Schimel DS, Weier K & Kulmala AE (1996) Generalized model for N2 and N2O production from nitrification and denitrification Global Biogeochem Cycles 10: 401–412
Plant RAJ (1999). Effects of land use on regional nitrous oxide emissions in the humid tropics of Costa Rica. Ph.D. Dissertation. Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Potter CS, Matson PA, Vitousek PM & Davidson EA (1996) Process modeling of controls on nitrogen trace gas emissions from soils world-wide. J Geophys. Res 101: 1361–1377
Smith KA, Clayton H, Arah JRM, Christensen S, Ambus P, Fowler D, Hargreaves KJ, Skiba U, Harris GW, Wienhold FG, Klemedtsson L & Galle B (1994) Micrometeorological and chamber methods for measurement of nitrous oxide fluxes between soils and the atmosphere: Overview and conclusions. J Geophys Res 99: 16541–16548
SSB (State Statistical Bureau) (1994) Statistical Yearbook of China 1994, p 795. Beijing: China Statistical Publ. House
Stange F, K Butterbach-Bahl, H Papen, S Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Li C & J Aber (2000) A process oriented model of N2O and NO emissions from forest soils: 2. Sensitivity analysis and validation. J Geophys Res 105: 4385–4398
Terry RE, Tate RL & JM Duxbury (1981). Nitrous oxide emissions from drained, cultivated organic soils of South Florida. J Air Pollut Control Assoc 31: 1173–1176
Weitz AM (1999). Soil hydraulic controls over nitrogen oxide emissions and nitrogen cycling in tropical agriculture. Ph.D. Dissertation. Department of Earth Science, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA
Wu C (Editor in Chief) (1990) Land-UseMap of China (1:1,000,000 scale). Beijing: Science Press (In Chinese)
Wu C & Guo H (1994) Land-Use in China, p 442. Beijing: Science Press (In Chinese)
Xing GX (1998) N2O emission from cropland in China. Nutr Cycl Agroecosys 52: 249–254
Xu W(1997) Nitrous oxide emissions from a rice paddy in Guizhou Province, China. Ph.D. Dissertation. Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China
Zheng X, Wang M, Wang Y, Shen R, Li j, Heyer J, Koge M, Papen H, Jin J & Li L, (1999) Characters of greenhouse gas (CH4, N2O, NO) emissions from croplands of southern China, World Resource Review 11: 229–246
Zhuang YH, Cao M, Wang X & Yao H (1996) Spatial distribution of trace-gas emissions from burning crop residue in China. In: Levine, J.S. (ed.) Biomass Burning and Global Change, Vol. 2, pp 764–770. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, C., Zhuang, Y., Cao, M. et al. Comparing a process-based agro-ecosystem model to the IPCC methodology for developing a national inventory of N2O emissions from arable lands in China. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 60, 159–175 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012642201910
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012642201910