Abstract
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a powerful greenhouse gas and the main driver of stratospheric ozone depletion. Since soils are the largest source of N2O, predicting soil response to changes in climate or land use is central to understanding and managing N2O. Here we find that N2O flux can be predicted by models incorporating soil nitrate concentration (NO3 -), water content and temperature using a global field survey of N2O emissions and potential driving factors across a wide range of organic soils. N2O emissions increase with NO3 - and follow a bell-shaped distribution with water content. Combining the two functions explains 72% of N2O emission from all organic soils. Above 5 mg NO3 --N kg-1, either draining wet soils or irrigating well-drained soils increases N2O emission by orders of magnitude. As soil temperature together with NO3 - explains 69% of N2O emission, tropical wetlands should be a priority for N2O management.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1135 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Nature Communications |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2018 |
Funding
1Department of Geography, Instute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu 51014, Estonia. 2School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, Keele University, Newcastle ST5 5BG, UK. 3School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. 4Ecology and Biodiversity, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht 3584 CH, The Netherlands. 5Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen 82467, Germany. 6Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh EH26 0QB, UK. 7Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå SE901 83, Sweden. 8Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Helsinki FIN-00790, Finland. 9Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg SE405 30, Sweden. 10Institute of Earth Sciences, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and University of Orléans, Orléans 45100, France. 11UNESCO Chair of Environmental Dynamics and Climate Change, Yugra State University, Khanty-Mansiysk 628012, Russia. 12Atmospheric Composition Research, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki FIN-00101, Finland. 13Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu 51014, Estonia. 14Everglades Wetland Research Park, Kapnick Center, Florida Gulf Coast University, Naples 4940 FL, USA. 15Institute of Plant Ecology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen 35392, Germany. 16University College Dublin (UCD) School of Biology and Environmental Science UCD Earth Institute, Dublin 4, Ireland. 17Department of Plant Physiology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu 51014, Estonia. 18Estonian Fund for Nature, Tartu 51014, Estonia. 19School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1SS, UK. 20Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, Tasmanian Government Hobart 7001 TAS, Australia. 21Department of Agricultural Production, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala 7062, Uganda. 22Hydrosystems and Bioprocesses Research Unit National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture (IRSTEA), Antony 92160, France. 23Grupo de Investigación Aplicada al Medio Ambiente, Corporacion Universitaria Lasallista, Caldas 51 118, Colombia. 24Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation Association, Yangon 0951, Myanmar. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to J.Pär. (email: [email protected])
