Pedosphere 22(4): 426--433, 2012
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2012 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
Nitrous oxide emission by agricultural soils: A review of spatial and temporal variability for mitigation
C. HÉNAULT1,2, A. GROSSEL1, B. MARY3, M. ROUSSEL3 and J. LÉONARD3
1 INRA, UR 272 Science du Sol, Centre de Recherches d'Orléans, CS 40001 Ardon, 45075 Orléans cedex 2 (France)
2 INRA-Université de Bourgogne, UMR 1229 Microbiologie du sol et de l'Environnement, 17 rue Sully, BP 86510, 21065 Dijon cedex (France)
3 INRA, US 1158 Agro-Impact, Pôle du Griffon, 180 rue Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, 02000 Barenton-Bugny (France)
ABSTRACT
      This short review deals with soils as an important source of the greenhouse gas N2O. The production and consumption of N2O in soils mainly involve biotic processes: the anaerobic process of denitrification and the aerobic process of nitrification. The factors that significantly influence agricultural N2O emissions mainly concern the agricultural practices (N application rate, crop type, fertilizer type) and soil conditions (soil moisture, soil organic C content, soil pH and texture). Large variability of N2O fluxes is known to occur both at different spatial and temporal scales. Currently new techniques could help to improve the capture of the spatial variability. Continuous measurement systems with automatic chambers could also help to capture temporal variability and consequently to improve quantification of N2O emissions by soils. Some attempts for mitigating soil N2O emissions, either by modifying agricultural practices or by managing soil microbial functioning taking into account the origin of the soil N2O emission variability, are reviewed.
Key Words:  agricultural practices, fertilization, greenhouse gas, N2O fluxes, soil-atmosphere interface
Citation: HÉnault, C., Grossel, A., Mary, B., Roussel, M. and LÉonard, J. 2012. Nitrous oxide emission by agricultural soils: A review of spatial and temporal variability for mitigation. Pedosphere. 22(4): 426-433.
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