Nitrogen Addition Affects Nitrous Oxide Emissions of Rainfed Lucerne Grassland

Yuan Li, Gang Wang, Narasinha J. Shurpali and Yuying Shen
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Yuan Li: The State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China
Gang Wang: The State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China
Narasinha J. Shurpali: Grasslands and Sustainable Farming, Production Systems Unit, Natural Resources Institute Finland, Halolantie 31A, FI-71750 Kuopio, Finland
Yuying Shen: The State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-13

Abstract: Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is a potent greenhouse gas. Assessing the N 2 O emission from lucerne grasslands with nitrogen addition will aid in estimating the annual N 2 O emissions of such agriculture areas, particularly following summer rainfall events in light of precipitation variation associated with global change. Here, we measured soil N 2 O emissions, soil temperature and water content of lucerne grasslands with four levels of nitrogen addition over 25 days, which included 10 rainfall events. Results showed that nitrogen addition was observed to increase soil NO 3 − -N content, but not significantly improve dry matter yield, height or leaf area index. Nitrogen addition and rainfall significantly affected N 2 O emissions, while the response of N 2 O emissions to increasing nitrogen input was not linear. Relative soil gas diffusivity (D p /D o ) and water-filled pore space (WFPS) were good indicators of N 2 O diurnal dynamics, and D p /D o was able to explain slightly more of the variation in N 2 O emissions than WFPS. Collectively, nitrogen addition did not affect lucerne dry matter yield in a short term, while it induced soil N 2 O emissions when rainfall events alter soil water content, and D p /D o could be a better proxy for predicting N 2 O emissions in rainfed lucerne grasslands.

Keywords: precipitation variation; soil gas diffusivity; water-filled pore spaces; fertiliser nitrogen; Loess Plateau (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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