Do Metals Increase or Decrease Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Maize Yields from Upland Soils?

Ye Lim Park, Hyun Ho Lee, Sung Un Kim, Namgoo Kang and Chang Oh Hong ()
Additional contact information
Ye Lim Park: Department of Applied Environmental Science, Kyung Hee University, Yongin 17104, Korea
Hyun Ho Lee: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea
Sung Un Kim: Department of Life Science and Environmental Biochemistry, Pusan National University, Miryang 50463, Korea
Namgoo Kang: Measurment Instrumentation and Data Verification Research Team, Advanced Measurement Instrumentation Institute, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon 34113, Korea
Chang Oh Hong: Department of Life Science and Environmental Biochemistry, Pusan National University, Miryang 50463, Korea

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: Metals, including copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn), are associated with nitrous oxide (N 2 O) production processes, such as nitrification and denitrification. This study aimed to elucidate the effects of Cu, Fe, and Zn on N 2 O emissions and to determine cumulative N 2 O emission and crop yields from upland soils. Metals were applied at a rate of 20 kg ha −1 in upland soil supporting maize ( Zea mays L.) growth in 2018 and 2019. While the mean value of cumulative N 2 O emissions across both years was 5.19 kg N 2 O ha −1 yr −1 for the control soil, those of soil treated with Cu, Fe, and Zn were 3.37, 2.48, and 4.82 kg N 2 O ha −1 yr −1 , respectively. Ammonium (NH 4 + ) concentration in soil was highest after Fe application, and nitrate (NO 3 − ) concentration was lowest. The copy number of the amoA gene related to NH 4 + oxidation was lowest after Fe enhancement, implying that nitrification was inhibited. Furthermore, N 2 O emission decreased with Cu addition because the copy number of the nosZ gene associated with N 2 O reduction to N 2 was the highest. Because Cu and Fe decreased yield-scaled N 2 O emission, the application of either metal could reduce N 2 O emission per unit area of maize production, suggesting that both metals are beneficial soil amendments for reducing N 2 O emissions while maintaining maize yield.

Keywords: denitrification; greenhouse gas; micronutrient; nitrification; water-filled pore space (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/9/1458/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/9/1458/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:12:y:2022:i:9:p:1458-:d:914053

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().