Fraction of nitrous oxide production in nitrification and its effect on total soil emission: A meta-analysis and global-scale sensitivity analysis using a process-based model

Motoko Inatomi, Tomohiro Hajima and Akihiko Ito

PLOS ONE, 2019, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-21

Abstract: Nitrification in terrestrial soils is one of the major processes of emission of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas and stratospheric-ozone-depleting substance. We assessed the fraction of N2O emission associated with nitrification in soil through a meta-analysis and sensitivity analysis using a process-based model. We corrected observational values of gross nitrification and associated N2O emission rates from 71 records for various soils in the world spanning from 0.006% to 29.5%. We obtained a median value of 0.14%, and then assessed how the nitrification-associated N2O emission fraction has been considered in terrestrial nitrogen cycle models. Using a process-based biogeochemical model, we conducted a series of sensitivity analyses for the effects of different values of nitrification-associated N2O emission fraction on soil N2O emission. Using an empirical relationship between soil pH and nitrification-associated N2O emission fraction, the model well simulated global emission patterns (global total in the 2000s, 16.8 Tg N2O yr–1). Differences in the nitrification-associated N2O emission fraction caused differences in total N2O emission of as much as 2.5 Tg N2O yr–1. Therefore, to obtain reliable estimation of soil N2O emission for nitrogen and climate management, it is important to constrain the parameterization in models by ensuring extensive and accurate observations.

Date: 2019
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0219159

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219159

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