Nitrogen-rich organic soils under warm well-drained conditions are global nitrous oxide emission hotspots.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29555906.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-03540-1 and PMC identifier 5859301.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) is a powerful greenhouse gas and the main driver of stratospheric ozone depletion. Since soils are the largest source of N<sub>2</sub>O, predicting soil response to changes in climate or land use is central to understanding and managing N<sub>2</sub>O. Here we find that N<sub>2</sub>O flux can be predicted by models incorporating soil nitrate concentration (NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup>), water content and temperature using a global field survey of N<sub>2</sub>O emissions and potential driving factors across a wide range of organic soils. N<sub>2</sub>O emissions increase with NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> and follow a bell-shaped distribution with water content. Combining the two functions explains 72% of N<sub>2</sub>O emission from all organic soils. Above 5 mg NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup>-N kg<sup>-1</sup>, either draining wet soils or irrigating well-drained soils increases N<sub>2</sub>O emission by orders of magnitude. As soil temperature together with NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> explains 69% of N<sub>2</sub>O emission, tropical wetlands should be a priority for N<sub>2</sub>O management.