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Fertilizer-induced nitric oxide emissions from agricultural soils

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Abstract

We summarize and evaluate 23 studies of the effect of fertilizer use on nitric oxide (NO) emission from agricultural soils. To quantify this effect we selected only field-scale studies with duration of at least one complete growing season and excluded studies with a legume as the principle crop. Only 6 studies met the established criteria, resulting in a total of 12 observations of soil/crop/fertilizer combinations, all in temperate areas. For these studies, the amount of NO emitted was linearly related to the amount of fertilizer applied (R2 = 0.64) and about 0.5% of applied nitrogen was emitted as NO during the crop growing season. The available data are too limited to separate the effects of fertilizer type, soil type, or crop management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Call Box 25,000, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, 00928-2500, USA

    Edzo Veldkamp & Michael Keller

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  1. Edzo Veldkamp
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  2. Michael Keller
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Veldkamp, E., Keller, M. Fertilizer-induced nitric oxide emissions from agricultural soils. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 48, 69–77 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009725319290

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