Legacy effects cause systematic underestimation of N2O emission factors

Haoyu Qian, Zhengqi Yuan, Nana Chen, Xiangcheng Zhu, Shan Huang, Changying Lu, Kailou Liu, Feng Zhou, Pete Smith, Hanqin Tian, Qiang Xu, Jianwen Zou, Shuwei Liu, Zhenwei Song, Weijian Zhang, Songhan Wang, Zhenghui Liu, Ganghua Li, Ziyin Shang (), Yanfeng Ding (), Kees Jan Groenigen and Yu Jiang ()
Additional contact information
Haoyu Qian: Nanjing Agricultural University
Zhengqi Yuan: Nanjing Agricultural University
Nana Chen: Nanjing Agricultural University
Xiangcheng Zhu: Yichun University
Shan Huang: Jiangxi Agricultural University
Changying Lu: Suzhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Taihu Lake Region of Jiangsu/National Agricultural Experiment Station for Soil Quality
Kailou Liu: Jiangxi Institute of Red Soil and Germplasm Resources
Feng Zhou: Peking University
Pete Smith: University of Aberdeen
Hanqin Tian: Boston College
Qiang Xu: Yangzhou University
Jianwen Zou: Nanjing Agricultural University
Shuwei Liu: Nanjing Agricultural University
Zhenwei Song: Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Weijian Zhang: Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Songhan Wang: Nanjing Agricultural University
Zhenghui Liu: Nanjing Agricultural University
Ganghua Li: Nanjing Agricultural University
Ziyin Shang: Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Yanfeng Ding: Nanjing Agricultural University
Kees Jan Groenigen: University of Exeter
Yu Jiang: Nanjing Agricultural University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Agricultural soils contribute ~52% of global anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, predominantly from nitrogen (N) fertilizer use. Global N2O emission factors (EFs), estimated using IPCC Tier 1 methodologies, largely rely on short-term field measurements that ignore legacy effects of historic N fertilization. Here we show, through data synthesis and experiments, that EFs increase over time. Historic N addition increases soil N availability, lowers soil pH, and stimulates the abundance of N2O producing microorganisms and N2O emissions in control plots, causing underestimates of EFs in short-term experiments. Accounting for this legacy effect, we estimate that global EFs and annual fertilizer-induced N2O emissions of cropland are 1.9% and 2.1 Tg N2O-N yr−1, respectively, both ~110% higher than IPCC estimates. Our findings highlight the significance of legacy effects on N2O emissions, emphasize the importance of long-term experiments for accurate N2O emission estimates, and underscore the need for mitigation practices to reduce N2O emissions.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-58090-0 Abstract (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:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58090-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58090-0

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().