Pedosphere 31(2): 303--313, 2021
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2021 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
Nitrapyrin effectiveness in reducing nitrous oxide emissions decreases at low doses of urea in an Andosol
Mayela MONGE-MUÑOZ1, Segundo URQUIAGA2, Christoph MÜLLER3,4, Juan Carlos CAMBRONEROHEINRICHS1, Mohammad ZAMAN5, Cristina CHINCHILLA-SOTO1, Azam BORZOUEI6, Khadim DAWAR7, Carlos E. RODRÍGUEZ-RODRÍGUEZ1, Ana Gabriela PÉREZ-CASTILLO1
1Environmental Pollution Research Center(CICA), University of Costa Rica, Montes de Oca 11501(Costa Rica)
2Embrapa Agrobiology, Rod. BR 465, km 7, Seropédica, RJ, CEP 23891-000(Brazil)
3Institute of Plant Ecology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff Ring 26, Giessen 35392(Germany)
4School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4(Ireland)
5Soil and Water Management&Crop Nutrition Section, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna International Centre, Vienna 1400(Austria)
6Nuclear Agriculture Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute(NSTRI), Karaj 3148644111(Iran)
7Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Peshawar 25000(Pakistan)
ABSTRACT
      In the tropics, frequent nitrogen (N) fertilization of grazing areas can potentially increase nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The application of nitrification inhibitors has been reported as an effective management practice for potentially reducing N loss from the soil-plant system and improving N use efficiency (NUE). The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the co-application of nitrapyrin (a nitrification inhibitor, NI) and urea in a tropical Andosol on the behavior of N and the emissions of N2O from autotrophic and heterotrophic nitrification. A greenhouse experiment was performed using a soil (pH 5.9, organic matter content 78 g kg-1, and N 5.6 g kg-1) sown with Cynodon nlemfuensis at 60% water-filled pore space to quantify total N2O emissions, N2O derived from fertilizer, soil ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-), and NUE. The study included treatments that received deionized water only (control, CK) and two doses of 15N-enriched urea (65 (UR) and 129 mg N kg-1 (UD)) without or with 350 g nitrapyrin for each 100 kg N (UR + NI and UD + NI). No significant differences were observed in soil NH4+ content between the UR and UR + NI treatments, probably because of soil mineralization and immobilization (influenced by high soil organic matter content). Nitrapyrin application failed to maintain a stable pool of labeled NO3- due to the additional NO3- produced by heterotrophic nitrification, which is not effectively inhibited by nitrapyrin. After 56 d, N2O emissions in UR (0.51 ±0.12 mg N2O-N kg-1) and UR + NI (0.45 ±0.13 mg N2O-N kg-1) were not significantly different; by contrast, emissions were 36.3% lower in UD + NI than in UD. It was concluded that the soil organic N mineralization and heterotrophic nitrification are the main processes of NH4+ and NO3- production. Additionally, it was found that N2O emissions were partially a consequence of the direct oxidation of the soil's organic N via heterotrophic nitrification coupled to denitrification. Finally, the results suggest that nitrapyrin would likely exert significant mitigation on N2O emissions only if a substantial N surplus exists in soils with high organic matter content.
Key Words:  autotrophic nitrification,heterotrophic nitrification,mineral N,15N tracer,nitrification inhibitor,tropical grass
Citation: Monge-Muñoz M, Urquiaga S, Müller C, Cambronero-Heinrichs J C, Zaman M, Chinchilla-Soto C, Borzouei A, Dawar K, Rodríguez-Rodríguez C E, Pérez-Castillo A G. 2021. Nitrapyrin effectiveness in reducing nitrous oxide emissions decreases at low doses of urea in an Andosol. Pedosphere. 31(2):303-313.
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