The legacy effect of long-term nitrogen fertilization on nitrous oxide emissions

Xue  Tian; Huanhuan  Wei; Yibai  Zhao; Rui  Cao; Chong Zhang; Xiaotong Song; Di  Wu; Klaus Butterbach-Bahl; Robert M. Rees; Pete Smith; Xiaotang Ju

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176532

The legacy effect of long-term nitrogen fertilization on nitrous oxide emissions

Xue Tian
, Huanhuan Wei
, Yibai Zhao
, Rui Cao
, Chong Zhang
, Xiaotong Song
, Di Wu
, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl
, Robert M. Rees
, Pete Smith
, Xiaotang Ju^* (Corresponding Author)

^*Corresponding author for this work

Aberdeen Centre For Environmental Sustainability

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

3 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The primary driver of increasing atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide (N2O) is the use of organic and synthetic fertilizer to increase agricultural crop production. Current global estimates are based on IPCC N2O emission factor (EF) calculations, although there are shortcomings as many of the N2O EFs are derived from measurements during the cropping season. These neglect the fallow season, and do not adequately account for double or even triple cropping systems or legacy effects on soil N2O emissions in the following year. In this study, we assessed the legacy effect of fertilization on soil N2O fluxes using data from a long-term double-cropping field experiment with summer maize and winter wheat in rotation, in which no nitrogen (N; NN) and balanced manure with synthetic N (MN) fertilized treatments were switched to allow an assessment of legacy effects. Based on high-frequency measurements of N2O and previous data, we calculated that the historical N fertilization, or legacy effect, explained 23% of the annual flux of 0.81 kg N ha-1 yr-1 in the first season of observation. In the following three seasons, the legacy effect of the previous N fertilization regime decreased to a negligible level, with N2O emissions mainly driven by in-season fertilization. Our data show that, on average, the seasonal EF for N2O was about 0.11% higher in response to the previous N fertilization. Our study indicates that the current N2O EF may severely underestimate
emissions because studies ignore legacy effects on N2O emissions from zero N plots and only compare zero N with N fertilization treatments for a given season or year to derive seasonal or annual N2O EF.

Original language	English
Article number	176532
Number of pages	9
Journal	Science of the Total Environment
Volume	954
Early online date	1 Oct 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176532
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2024

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank Qi Li and Guannan Wang for their assistance in the sampling and measurement works in Shangzhuang Experimental Station

Data Availability Statement

The data of this study are available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 42107320 to X.S. and 42207348 to C.Z.), the International Exchanges 2023 Cost Share (NSFC458 RS) (grant number 12411530100 to C.Z.), and Hainan University Startup Fund (grant number KYQD(ZR)-20098 to X.J. and KYQD(ZR)-21028 to C.Z.).

Funders	Funder number
National Natural Science Foundation of China	42107320, 42207348, 12411530100
Hainan University	KYQD(ZR)-20098, KYQD(ZR)-21028

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 2 Zero Hunger
SDG 13 Climate Action

Keywords

Nitrous oxide emission
legacy effect
emission factor (EF)
in-season nitrogen fertilization
winter wheat and summer maize rotation
long-term field experiment

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Cite this

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title = "The legacy effect of long-term nitrogen fertilization on nitrous oxide emissions",

abstract = "The primary driver of increasing atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide (N2O) is the use of organic and synthetic fertilizer to increase agricultural crop production. Current global estimates are based on IPCC N2O emission factor (EF) calculations, although there are shortcomings as many of the N2O EFs are derived from measurements during the cropping season. These neglect the fallow season, and do not adequately account for double or even triple cropping systems or legacy effects on soil N2O emissions in the following year. In this study, we assessed the legacy effect of fertilization on soil N2O fluxes using data from a long-term double-cropping field experiment with summer maize and winter wheat in rotation, in which no nitrogen (N; NN) and balanced manure with synthetic N (MN) fertilized treatments were switched to allow an assessment of legacy effects. Based on high-frequency measurements of N2O and previous data, we calculated that the historical N fertilization, or legacy effect, explained 23\% of the annual flux of 0.81 kg N ha-1 yr-1 in the first season of observation. In the following three seasons, the legacy effect of the previous N fertilization regime decreased to a negligible level, with N2O emissions mainly driven by in-season fertilization. Our data show that, on average, the seasonal EF for N2O was about 0.11\% higher in response to the previous N fertilization. Our study indicates that the current N2O EF may severely underestimate emissions because studies ignore legacy effects on N2O emissions from zero N plots and only compare zero N with N fertilization treatments for a given season or year to derive seasonal or annual N2O EF. ",

keywords = "Nitrous oxide emission, legacy effect, emission factor (EF), in-season nitrogen fertilization, winter wheat and summer maize rotation, long-term field experiment",

author = "Xue Tian and Huanhuan Wei and Yibai Zhao and Rui Cao and Chong Zhang and Xiaotong Song and Di Wu and Klaus Butterbach-Bahl and Rees, \{Robert M.\} and Pete Smith and Xiaotang Ju",

note = "Acknowledgments We sincerely thank Qi Li and Guannan Wang for their assistance in the sampling and measurement works in Shangzhuang Experimental Station",

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doi = "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176532",

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T1 - The legacy effect of long-term nitrogen fertilization on nitrous oxide emissions

AU - Tian, Xue

AU - Wei, Huanhuan

AU - Zhao, Yibai

AU - Cao, Rui

AU - Zhang, Chong

AU - Song, Xiaotong

AU - Wu, Di

AU - Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus

AU - Rees, Robert M.

AU - Smith, Pete

AU - Ju, Xiaotang

N1 - Acknowledgments We sincerely thank Qi Li and Guannan Wang for their assistance in the sampling and measurement works in Shangzhuang Experimental Station

PY - 2024/12/1

Y1 - 2024/12/1

N2 - The primary driver of increasing atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide (N2O) is the use of organic and synthetic fertilizer to increase agricultural crop production. Current global estimates are based on IPCC N2O emission factor (EF) calculations, although there are shortcomings as many of the N2O EFs are derived from measurements during the cropping season. These neglect the fallow season, and do not adequately account for double or even triple cropping systems or legacy effects on soil N2O emissions in the following year. In this study, we assessed the legacy effect of fertilization on soil N2O fluxes using data from a long-term double-cropping field experiment with summer maize and winter wheat in rotation, in which no nitrogen (N; NN) and balanced manure with synthetic N (MN) fertilized treatments were switched to allow an assessment of legacy effects. Based on high-frequency measurements of N2O and previous data, we calculated that the historical N fertilization, or legacy effect, explained 23% of the annual flux of 0.81 kg N ha-1 yr-1 in the first season of observation. In the following three seasons, the legacy effect of the previous N fertilization regime decreased to a negligible level, with N2O emissions mainly driven by in-season fertilization. Our data show that, on average, the seasonal EF for N2O was about 0.11% higher in response to the previous N fertilization. Our study indicates that the current N2O EF may severely underestimate emissions because studies ignore legacy effects on N2O emissions from zero N plots and only compare zero N with N fertilization treatments for a given season or year to derive seasonal or annual N2O EF.

AB - The primary driver of increasing atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide (N2O) is the use of organic and synthetic fertilizer to increase agricultural crop production. Current global estimates are based on IPCC N2O emission factor (EF) calculations, although there are shortcomings as many of the N2O EFs are derived from measurements during the cropping season. These neglect the fallow season, and do not adequately account for double or even triple cropping systems or legacy effects on soil N2O emissions in the following year. In this study, we assessed the legacy effect of fertilization on soil N2O fluxes using data from a long-term double-cropping field experiment with summer maize and winter wheat in rotation, in which no nitrogen (N; NN) and balanced manure with synthetic N (MN) fertilized treatments were switched to allow an assessment of legacy effects. Based on high-frequency measurements of N2O and previous data, we calculated that the historical N fertilization, or legacy effect, explained 23% of the annual flux of 0.81 kg N ha-1 yr-1 in the first season of observation. In the following three seasons, the legacy effect of the previous N fertilization regime decreased to a negligible level, with N2O emissions mainly driven by in-season fertilization. Our data show that, on average, the seasonal EF for N2O was about 0.11% higher in response to the previous N fertilization. Our study indicates that the current N2O EF may severely underestimate emissions because studies ignore legacy effects on N2O emissions from zero N plots and only compare zero N with N fertilization treatments for a given season or year to derive seasonal or annual N2O EF.

KW - Nitrous oxide emission

KW - legacy effect

KW - emission factor (EF)

KW - in-season nitrogen fertilization

KW - winter wheat and summer maize rotation

KW - long-term field experiment

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176532

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176532

M3 - Article

SN - 0048-9697

VL - 954

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

M1 - 176532

ER -

The legacy effect of long-term nitrogen fertilization on nitrous oxide emissions

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this