Hot moment emissions of N₂O suppressed by higher native soil organic matter

Abstract

Enhancing organic matter in arable soils supports soil productivity and offers potential as a greenhouse gas sink. However, the benefit of increasing soil organic matter (SOM) could be offset by stimulation of N₂O emissions. How and to what extent the changes of native SOM affect N₂O emissions remains unclear. Here, we conducted experiments with soils from a 15-year field trial with different fertili-zation managements, resulting in contrasting soil organic carbon (SOC) content (7.4−10.7 g C kg⁻¹). We characterized the SOM molecular composition combining biomarkers approach and found that long-term fertilization decreased the nominal oxidation state of carbon and increased SOM molecular complexity, suggesting a declined chemical reactivity and bioavailability. We further investigated how native SOM differences affect N₂O and N₂ emissions using a fully robotized continuous flow system under changing oxygen conditions. Under simulated oxic-anoxic transition-induced N₂O “hot moment” events, soil with the lowest SOC emitted up to 187% more N₂O and 13% less N₂ than higher-SOC soils, with N₂O+N₂ losses 12% higher. Isotopomer analysis revealed a higher contribution of nitrifier denitrification in low-SOC soil during the anaerobic stage, accounting for 30.5%. Further investigation showed that the low-SOC soil had the highest N₂O/(N₂O+N₂) ratio, the lowest (nirK+nirS)/(nosZI+nosZII) ratio, and the lowest SOM molecular Shannon index and Evenness. Our study suggested that long-term fertilization increased native SOM content, which mitigated N₂O emission by promoting N₂O reduction to N₂ and reducing carbon bioavailability. These findings highlight the potential to achieve simultaneous SOC sequestration and N₂O mitigation through optimized field management practices.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

soil organic carbon / biomarker profiling / nitrous oxide emissions / hot moments

Highlight

	● Long-term chemical and organic fertilizers input altered the quantity and quality of SOM.
	● Soil with higher SOC content mitigates N2O emission during the oxic-anoxic transition.
	● Elevated N2O emissions may result from reduced N2O-to-N2 reduction and SOM stability.

References

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