Nitrogen-rich organic soils under warm well-drained conditions are global nitrous oxide emission hotspots

Jaan Parn (1, 2) , Jos T A Verhoeven (3) , Klaus Butterbach-Bahl (4) , Nancy B Dise (5) , Sami Ullah (2) , Anto Aasa (1) , Sergey Egorov (1) , Mikk Espenberg (1) , Järvi Järveoja (1) , Jyrki Jauhiainen (6) , Kuno Kasak (1) , Leif Klemedtsson (7) , Ain Kull (1) , Fatima Laggoun-Défarge (8, 9) , Elena D Lapshina (10) , Annalea Lohila (11) , Krista Lõhmus (12) , Martin Maddison (1) , William J Mitsch , Christoph Müller , Ülo Niinemets (13) , Bruce Osborne (14) , Taavi Pae (1) , Jüri-Ott Salm (15) , Fotis Sgouridis (16) , Kristina Sohar (1) , Kaido Soosaar (1) , Kathryn Storey (17) , Alar Teemusk (1) , Moses M Tenywa (18) , Julien Tournebize (19) , Jaak Truu (1) , Gert Veber (1) , Jorge A Villa (20) , Seint Sann Zaw (21) , Ulo Mander (1)

1 Department of Geography, Tartu
2 School of Geography, Geology and the Environment
3 Ecology and Biodiversity, Departement of Biology
4 Institute of Meteoroly and Climate Research
5 CEH - Centre for Ecology and Hydrology [Edinburgh]
6 LUKE - Natural Resources Institute Finland
7 Department of Earth Sciences [Gothenburg]
8 ISTO - Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans - UMR7327
9 Biogéosystèmes Continentaux - UMR7327
10 UNESCO Chair of Environnemental Dynamics and Climate Change
11 Atmospheric Composition Research [Helsinki]
12 Department of Botany [Tartu]
13 EMU - Estonian University of Life Sciences
14 UCD - University College Dublin [Dublin]
15 Estonian Fund for Nature
16 School of Geographical Sciences [Bristol]
17 Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment
18 Department of Agricultural Production, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
19 Hydrosystems and Bioprocesses Research Unit
20 Grupo de Investigación Aplicada al Medio Ambiente
21 Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation Association

Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is a powerful greenhouse gas and the main driver of stratospheric ozone depletion. Since soils are the largest source of N 2 O, predicting soil response to changes in climate or land use is central to understanding and managing N 2 O. Here we find that N 2 O flux can be predicted by models incorporating soil nitrate concentration (NO 3 −), water content and temperature using a global field survey of N 2 O emissions and potential driving factors across a wide range of organic soils. N 2 O emissions increase with NO 3 − and follow a bell-shaped distribution with water content. Combining the two functions explains 72% of N 2 O emission from all organic soils. Above 5 mg NO 3 −-N kg −1 , either draining wet soils or irrigating well-drained soils increases N 2 O emission by orders of magnitude. As soil temperature together with NO 3 − explains 69% of N 2 O emission, tropical wetlands should be a priority for N 2 O management.

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Continental interfaces, environment

Jaan Parn, Jos T A Verhoeven, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Nancy B Dise, Sami Ullah, et al.. Nitrogen-rich organic soils under warm well-drained conditions are global nitrous oxide emission hotspots. Nature Communications, 2018, 9 (1), 8 p. ⟨10.1038/s41467-018-03540-1⟩. ⟨insu-01759495⟩