Abstract
Nitrous oxide emissions from a sandy-loam textured soil wetted to matric potentials of either-1.0 or-0.1 kPa were determined in laboratory experiments in which the soil was incubated in air (control), air plus 10 Pa C2H2 (to inhibit nitrification), 100 kPa O2 (to suppress denitrification), 10 kPa C2H2 (to inhibit N2O reduction to N2 in denitrification) or following autoclaving. The total N2O production, consumption and net N2O emission from the soils together with the contributions to N2O emission from different processes of N2O production were estimated. The rate of N2O production was significantly greater in the wetter soil (282 pmol N2O g-1 soil h-1) than in the drier soil (192 pmol N2O g-1 soil h-1), but because N2O consumption by denitrifiers was also greater in the wetter soil, the net N2O emissions from the wetter and the drier soils did not differ significantly. Non-biological sources made no significant contribution to N2O emission under either moisture regime and biological processes other than denitrification and nitrification made only a small contribution (1% of the total N2O production) in the wetter soil. Denitrifying nitrifiers were the predominant source of N2O emitted from the drier soil and other (non-nitrifying) denitrifiers were the predominant source of N2O emitted from the wetter soil.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bandibas J, Vermoesen A, De Groot CJ, van Cleemput O (1994) The effect of different moisture regimes and soil characteristics on the nitrous oxide emission and consumption by different soils. Soil Sci 158:106–114
Blackner AM, Bremner JM, Schmidt EL (1980) Production of nitrous oxide by ammonium-oxidising chemoautotrophic microorganisms in soil. Appl Environ Microbiol 40:1060–1066
Bleakly BH, Tiedje JM (1982) Nitrous oxide production by organisms other than nitrifiers or denitrifiers. Appl Environ Microbiol 44:1342–1348
Bock E, Koops HP, Harms H (1986) Cell biology of nitrifying bacteria. In: Prosser JI (ed) Nitrification. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 17–38
Bremner JM, Blackmer AM (1981) Terrestrial nitrification as a source of atmospheric nitrous oxide. In: Delwiche CC (ed) Denitrification, nitrification and atmospheric nitrous oxide. Wiley, New York, pp 151–170
Davidson EA (1992) Sources of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide following wetting of dry soil. Soil Sci Soc Am J 56:95–102
Davidson EA, Swank WT, Perry TO (1986) Distinguishing between nitrification and denitrification as sources of gaseous nitrogen production in soil. Appl Environ Microbiol 52:1280–1286
Davidson EA, Matson PA, Vitousek PM, Riley R, Dunkin K, Garcia-Mendez G, Maas JM (1993) Factors regulating soil emissions of NO and N2O in a seasonally dry tropical forest. Ecology 74:130–139
Delwiche CC (1981) The nitrogen cycle and nitrous oxide. In: Dewiche CC (ed) Denitrification, nitrification and atmospheric nitrous oxide. Wiley, New York, pp 1–15
Firestone MK, Firestone RB, Tiedje JM (1980) Nitrous oxide from soil denitrification: factors controlling its biological production. Science 208:749–751
Klemedtsson L, Hansson G, Mosier A (1990) The use of acetylene for the quantification of N2 and N2O production from biological processes in soil. In: Revsbech NP, Sørensen J (eds) Denitrification in soil and sediment, Plenum, New York, pp 167–180
Linn, DM, Doran JW (1984) Effect of water-filled pore space on carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide production in tilled and non-tilled soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 48:957–959
Mummey DL, Smith JL, Bolton H (1994) Nitrous oxide flux from a shrub-steppe ecosystem: Sources and regulation. Soil Biol Biochem 26:279–286
Parton WJ, Mosier AR, Schimel DS (1988) Rates and pathways of nitrous oxide production in a shortgrass steppe. Biogeochem 6:45–58
Poth M (1986) Dinitrogen production from nitrite by a Nitrosomonas isolate. Appl Environ Microbiol 52:957–959
Poth M, Focht DD (1985) 15N kinetic analysis of N2O production by Nitrosomonas europaea: An examination of nitrifier denitrification. Appl Environ Microbiol 49:1134–1141
Robertson GP, Tiedje JM (1987) Nitrous oxide sources in aerobic soils; nitrification, denitrification and other biological processes. Soil Biol Biochem 19:187–193
Rudaz AO, Davidson EA, Firestone MK (1991) Sources of nitrous oxide production following wetting of dry soil. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 85:117–124
Ryan BF, Joiner BL, Ryan TA (1985) Minitab handbook, 2nd edn. Duxbury Press, Boston
Satoh TH, Hom SSM, Shanmugam KT (1981) Production of nitrous oxide as a product of nitrite metabolism by enteric bacteria. In: Lyons JM, Valentine RC, Phillips DA, Rains DW, Huffaker RC (eds) Genetic engineering of symbiotic nitrogen fixation and conservation of fixed nitrogen. Plenum, New York, pp 481–497
Schoun H, Kim D, Uchiyama H, Sugiyama J (1992) Denitrification by fungi. FEMS Microbiol Lett 94:277–282
Smith MS (1982) Dissimilatory reduction of nitrite to ammonium and nitrous oxide by a soil Citrobacter sp. Appl Environ Microbiol 43:865–871
Thomas KL, Lloyd D, Boddy L (1994) Effects of oxygen, pH and nitrate concentration on denitrification by Pseudomonas species. FEMS Microbiol Lett 118:181–186
Tortoso AC, Hutchinson GL (1980) Contribution of autotrophic and heterotrophic nitrifiers to soil NO and N2O emissions. Appl Environ Microbiol 56:1799–1805
Van Hecke K, Van Cleemput O, Baert L (1990) Chemo-denitrification of nitrate-polluted water. Environ Pollut 63:261–274
Weathers PJ (1984) N2O evolution by green algae. Appl Environ Microbiol 48:1251–1253
Webster EA, Hopkins DW (1996) Nitrogen and oxygen isotope ratios of nitrous oxide emitted from soil and produced by nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. Biol Fertil Soils (in press)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Webster, F.A., Hopkins, D.W. Contributions from different microbial processes to N2O emission from soil under different moisture regimes. Biol Fertil Soils 22, 331–335 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00334578
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00334578