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Estimating field N2 emissions based on laboratory-quantified N2O/(N2O + N2) ratios and field-quantified N2O emissions

  • Soils, Sec 3 • Remediation and Management of Contaminated or Degraded Lands • Research Article
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

The key environmentally beneficial process that substantially removes reactive nitrogen from biosphere is a complete denitrification. The science of measuring and constraining nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions has advanced significantly; however, despite several attempts, in situ dinitrogen (N2) measurement is still a great challenge and is poorly understood due to the high atmospheric N2 background. This study aimed at estimating field-scale inferred N2 emissions using data of field N2O emissions and laboratory-measured N2O/(N2O + N2) ratios and correlating those emissions with the soil-environmental factors.

Materials and methods

Closed static chamber and He/O2 direct measurement methods were used at field and laboratory scale, respectively. For each treatment (varying N fertilizer rates), on each sampling date, N2O and N2 emissions were measured at laboratory and N2O emissions at field-scale, allowing the calculation of field-scale inferred N2 emissions.

Results

The results demonstrate that field-scale inferred cumulative N2 emissions were 1.35, 1.48 and 1.60 times greater than laboratory-measured cumulative N2 emissions in low nitrogen level (LNL), medium nitrogen level (MNL) and high nitrogen level (HNL) treatments, respectively. This suggests that estimating N2 emissions at the field-scale in agricultural soil could give more insight on N cycling processes. Moreover, N fertilizer application rates increased linearly both field and laboratory cumulative N2O and N2 emissions. Both positive and negative relationships between soil-environmental parameters and N2O, N2 and their N2O/(N2O + N2) ratios at field and laboratory-based indicate their heterogeneous roles in N2O formation and reduction processes.

Conclusion

The results provide complementary insights into field-scale N2 emissions in agricultural soil and help in closing the knowledge gap in the N balance. Linear relationships between the emissions (N2O and N2) and N fertilizer rates observed suggest that climate change mitigation options could be achieved by optimizing the N fertilization rates since N2O and N2 emissions are enhanced by increasing N inputs. As our results present the field-scale inferred N2 emissions, there is still a need to design a robust methodological approach that will enable researchers to directly quantify field N2 emissions.

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Funding

This research was funded by the National Key Research and Development program of China (2021YFD1700901), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA26040103), and the Key Research and Development of Hebei Province (21323601D). Fiston Bizimana is grateful to the Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), for doctoral studies (Ph.D.) scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Laboratory of Soil Ecology, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 286 Huaizhong Road, Shijiazhuang, 050021, China

    Fiston Bizimana, Arbindra Timilsina, Wenxu Dong, Gokul Gaudel, Shuping Qin & Chunsheng Hu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19AYuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China

    Fiston Bizimana, Gokul Gaudel & Chunsheng Hu

  3. Land and Environment, AgResearch, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand

    Jiafa Luo & Keren Ding

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  1. Fiston Bizimana
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  2. Jiafa Luo
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  3. Arbindra Timilsina
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  4. Wenxu Dong
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  8. Chunsheng Hu
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Correspondence to Chunsheng Hu.

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Bizimana, F., Luo, J., Timilsina, A. et al. Estimating field N2 emissions based on laboratory-quantified N2O/(N2O + N2) ratios and field-quantified N2O emissions. J Soils Sediments 22, 2196–2208 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03212-0

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