References

ACP

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

ACP

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

1680-7324

Copernicus Publications

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/acp-11-9333-2011

Trace gas fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O in a permanent grassland soil exposed to elevated CO2 in the Giessen FACE study

Kaleem Abbasi

¹ ² Müller

² ³

Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Faculty of Agriculture, Rawalakot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

Department of Plant Ecology, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26, 35392 Giessen, Germany

School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland

09 09 2011

11 17 9333 9342

2011

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This article is available from https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/11/9333/2011/acp-11-9333-2011.html

The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/11/9333/2011/acp-11-9333-2011.pdf

Long-term field observations showed that N2O fluxes observed shortly after N application were not significantly affected by elevated CO2 in the Giessen Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE) study. To further investigate this unexpected result a 15N tracer study was carried out under controlled conditions where in parallel treatments either the NH4+ pool (15NH4NO3) or the NO3− pool (NH415NO3) was enriched with 15N. Fluxes of CO2, CH4, and N2O as well as the 15N enrichment of the N2O were measured. Denitrifying Enzyme Activity (DEA), total denitrification (N2 + N2O) and N2-to-N2O ratios were quantified in separate experiments. Over the 57 day incubation, N2O fluxes averaged 0.090 ng N2O-N g−1 h−1 under ambient and 0.083 ng N2O-N g−1 h−1 under elevated CO2 (not significantly different). The N2O production processes were identified by a two-source model. Results showed that N2O must have also been produced by a third source – possibly related to organic N transformation – which was stimulated by elevated CO2. Soil CO2 fluxes were approximately 20 % higher under elevated CO2 than soil from ambient but the differences were not significant. CH4 oxidation rates were on average −1.75 ng CH4-C g−1 h−1 in the elevated and −1.17 ng CH4-C g−1 h−1 in the ambient indicating that elevated CO2 increased the CH4 oxidation by 49 % compared to ambient CO2 under controlled conditions. N fertilization increased CH4 oxidation by 3-fold in both CO2 treatments. CO2 did not have any significant effect on DEA while total denitrification and N2-to-N2O ratios increased by 36 and 33 %, respectively. The results indicate that shortly after N application elevated CO2 must have stimulated both the N2O production and reduction to N2 to explain the increased N2-to-N2O ratio and at the same time explain the non-responsiveness of the N2O emissions. Thus, the observed variation of the CO2 effect on N2O emissions throughout the year is possibly governed by the dynamics of the N2O reductase activity.

References 1

Abbasi, M. K. and Adams, W. A.: Gaseous N emission during simultaneous nitrification-denitrification associated with mineral N fertilization to a grassland soil under field conditions, Soil Biol. Biochem., 32, 1251–1259, 2000a.

Abbasi, M. K. and Adams, W. A.: Estimation of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in grassland soil associated with urea-N using 15N and nitrification inhibitor, Biol. Fertil. Soils, 31, 38–44, 2000b.

Ambus, P. and Robertson, G. P.: Fluxes of CH4 and N2O in aspen stands grown under ambient and twice-ambient CO2, Plant Soil, 209, 1–8, 1999.

Arnone III., J. A. and Bohlen, P. J.: Stimulated N2O flux from intact grassland monoliths after two growing seasons under elevated atmospheric CO2, Oecologia, 116, 331–335, 1998.

Baggs, E. M. and Blum, H.: CH4 oxidation and emissions of CH4 and N2O from Lolium perenne swards under elevated atmospheric CO2, Soil Biol. Biochem., 36, 713–723, 2004.

Baggs, E. M., Richter, M., Hartwig, U. A., and Cadisch, G.:. Nitrous oxide emissions from grass swards during the eight years of elevated atmospheric pCO2 (Swiss FACE), Global Change Biol., 9, 1214–1222, 2003a.

Baggs, E. M., Richter, M., Cadisch, G., and Hartwig, U. A.: Denitrification in grass swards is increased under elevated atmospheric CO2, Soil Biol. Biochem., 35, 729–732, 2003b.

Barnard, R., Barthes, L., Le Roux, X. L., Harmens, H., Raschi, A., Soussana, J. F., Winkler, B., and Leadley, P. W.: Atmospheric CO2 elevation has little effect on nitrifying and denitrifying enzyme activity in four European grasslands, Glob. Change Biol., 10, 488–497, 2004.

Barnard, R., Leadley, P. W., and Hungate, B. A.: Global change, nitrification, and denitrification: a review, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 19, GB1007, https://doi.org/1010.1029/2004GB002282, 2005.

Cheng, W., Yagi, K., Sakai, H., and Kobayashi, K.: Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations on CH4, and N2O emission from rice soil: An experiment in controlled-environment chambers, Biogeochem., 77, 351–373, 2006.

Clayton, H., McTaggart, I. P., Parker, J., Swan, L., and Smith, K. A.: Nitrous oxide emissions from fertilised grassland: a two year study of the effects of N-fertiliser form and environmental conditions, Biol. Fertil. Soils, 25, 252–260, 1997.

Dendooven, L., Splatt, P., Anderson, J. M., and Scholefield, D.: Kinetics of the denitrification process in a soil under permanent pasture. Soil Biol. Biochem., 26, 361–370, 1994.

Dijkstra, F. A., Morgan, J. A., LeCain, D. R., and Follett, R. F.: Microbially mediated CH4 consumption and N2O emission is affected by elevated CO2, soil water content, and composition of semi-arid grassland species, Plant Soil, 329, 269–281, 2010.

Dörr, H., Katruff, L., and Levin, I.: Soil texture parameterization of the methane uptake in aerated soils, Chemosphere, 26, 697–713, 1993.

Houghton, J. T., Meira, F. L. G., Treanton, L. B., Mamaty, I., Bonduki, Y., Griggs, D. J., and Callander, B. A.: Climate change 1995 – the science of climate change: contribution of Working Group 1 to the 2nd assessment report of the Intergovernmental panel on climate change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996.

Hu, S., Chapin III, F. S., Firestone, M. K., Field, C. B., and Chiariello, N. R.: Nitrogen limitation of microbial decomposition in a grassland under elevated CO2, Nature, 409, 188–191, 2001.

Hungate, B. A., Lund, C. P., Pearson, H. L., and Chapin, F. S.: Elevated CO2 and nutrient addition alter N cycling and N trace gas fluxes with early season wet-up in a California annual grassland, Biogeochem., 37, 89–109, 1997.

Hütsch, B. W.: Methane oxidation in arable soil as inhibited by ammonium, nitrite and organic manure with respect to soil pH, Biol. Fertil. Soils, 28, 27–35, 1998.

Ineson, P., Coward, P. A., and Hartwig, U. A.: Soil gas fluxes of N2O,CH4 and CO2 beneath Lolium perenne under elevated CO2: the Swiss free air carbon dioxide enrichment experiment, Plant Soil, 198, 89–95, 1998.

Inubushi, K., Cheng, W., Aonuma, S., Hoque, M., Kobayashi, K., Miura, S., Kim, H. Y., and Okada, M.: Effects of free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) on CH4, emission from a rice paddy field, Global Change Biol., 9, 1458–1464, 2003.

IPCC: "Climate change 2007: The physical science basis – Summary for policymakers", 1–21, IPCC Secretariat, Geneva, Switzerland, 2007.

Jäger, H. J., Schmidt, S. W., Kammann, C., Grünhage, L., Müller, C., and Hanewald, K.: The University of Giessen free-air carbon dioxide enrichment study: description of the experimental site and of a new enrichment system, J. Appl. Bot., 77, 117–127, 2003.

Kammann, C., Grünhage L., Jager, H. J., and Wachinger, G.: Methane fluxes from differentially manged grassland study plots: the important role of CH4 oxidation in grassland with a high potential for CH4 production, Environ Pollut., 115, 261–273, 2001.

Kammann, C., Müller, C., Grünhage, L., and Jäger, H. J.: Elevated CO2 stimulates N2O emissions in permanent grassland, Soil Biol. Biochem., 40, 2194–2205, 2008.

Kettunen, R., Saamio, S., Martikainen, P. J., and Silvola, J.: Increase of N2O fluxes in agricultural peat and sandy soil under elevated CO2 concentration: concomitant changes in soil moisture, groundwater table and biomass production of Phleum pretense, Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst., 74, 175–189, 2006.

Kolb, S., Carbrera, A., Kammann, C., Kämpfer, P., Conrad, R., and Jäckel, U.: Quantitative impact of CO2 enriched atmosphere on abundances of methanotrophic bacteria in a meadow soil, Biol. Fertil. Soils, 41, 337–342, 2005.

Lenhart, K.: The effects of long-term Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) on soil aggregation, soil carbon input, and ecosystem CO2 dynamics in a temperate grassland ecosystem, Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, 2008.

Moraghan, J. T. and Buresh, R. J.: Correction for dissolved nitrous oxide in nitrogen studies, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 41, 1201–1202, 1977.

Mosier, A. R.: Nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils, Fert. Res., 37, 191–200, 1994.

Mosier, A. R. and Mack, L.: Gas chromatographic system for precise, rapid analysis of nitrous oxide, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 44, 1121–1123, 1980.

Mosier, A. R., Schimel, D. S., Valentine, D. W., Bronson, K., and Parton, W.: Methane and nitrous oxide fluxes in native, fertilized, and cultivated grasslands, Nature, 350, 330–332, 1991.

Mosier, A. R., Morgan, J. A., King, J. Y., LeCain, D., and Milchunas, D. G.: Soil–atmosphere exchange of CH4, CO2, NOx, and N2O in the Colorado shortgrass steppe under elevated CO2, Plant Soil, 240, 201–211, 2002.

Mosier, A. R., Pendall, E., and Morgan, J. A.: Effect of water addition and nitrogen fertilization on the fluxes of CH4, CO2, NOx, and N2O following five years of elevated CO2 in the Colorado Shortgrass Steppe, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 3, 1703–1708, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-3-1703-2003">https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-3-1703-2003</a>, 2003.

Müller, C., Martin, M., Stevens, R. J., Laughlin, R. J., Kammann, C., Ottow, J. C. G., and Jäger, H. J.: Processes leading to N2O emissions in grassland soil during freezing and thawing, Soil Biol. Biochem., 34, 1325–1331, 2002.

Müller, C., Rütting, T., Abbasi, M. K., Laughlin, R. J., Kammann, C., Clough, T. J., Sherlock, R. R., Kattge, J., Jäger, H.-J., Watson, C. J., and Stevens, R. J.: Effect of elevated CO2 on soil N dynamics in a temperate grassland soil, Soil Biol. Biochem., 41, 1996–2001, 2009.

Post, W. M., Peng, T. H., Emanuel, W. R., King, A. W., Dale, V. H., and DeAngelis, D. L.: The global carbon cycle, Am. Sci., 78, 310–326, 1990.

Regan, K., Kammann, C., Hartung, K., Lenhart, K., Müller, C., Philippot, L., Kandeler, E., and Marhan, S.: Can differences in microbial abundances help explain enhanced N2O emissions in a permanent grassland under elevated atmospheric CO2?, Glob. Change Biol., 17, 3176–3186, 2011.

Reich, P. B., Knops, J., Tilman, D., Craine, J., Ellsworth, D., Tjoelker, M., Lee, T., Wedin, D., Naeem, S., Bahauddin, D., Hendrey, G., Jose, S., Wrage, K., Goth, J., and Bengston, W.: Plant diversity enhances ecosystem responses to elevated CO2 and nitrogen deposition, Nature, 410, 809–812, 2001.

Rolston, D. E., Fried, M., and Goldhame, D. A.: Denitrification measured directly from nitrogen and nitrous oxide gas fluxes, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 40, 259–266, 1976.

Rütting, T., Clough, T. J., Müller, C., Lieffering, M., and Newton, P. C. D.: Ten years of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide alters soil nitrogen transformations in a sheep-grazed pasture, Glob. Change Biol., 16, 2530–2542, 2010.

Smith, K. E., Runion, G. B., Prior, S. A., Rogers, H. H., and Torbert, H. A.: 2010. Effects of elevated CO2 and agricultural management on flux of greenhouse gases from soil, Soil Sci., 175, 349–356, 2010.

Steudler, P. A., Bowden, R. D., Melillo, J. M., and Aber, J. D.: Influence of nitrogen fertilisation on methane uptake in temperate forest soils, Nature, 341, 314–316, 1989.

Stevens, R. J., Laughlin, R. J., Atkins, G. J., and Prosser, S. J.: Automated determination of 15N-labelled dinitrogen and nitrous oxide by mass spectrometry, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 7, 981–988, 1993.

Stevens, R. J., Laughlin, R. J., Burns, L. C., Arah, J. R. M., and Hood, R. C.: Measuring the contributions of nitrification and denitrification to the flux of nitrous oxide from soil, Soil Biol. Biochem., 29, 139–151, 1997.

Tlustos, P., Willison, T. W., Baker, J. C., Murphy, D. V., Pavlikova, D., Goulding, K. W. T., and Powlson, D. S.: Short-term effects of nitrogen on methane oxidation in soils, Biol. Fertil. Soils, 28, 64–70, 1998.

Ullah, S., Frasier, R., King, L., Picotte-Anderson, N., and Moore, T. R.: Potential fluxes of N2O and CH4 from soils of three forest types in Eastern Canada, Soil Biol. Biochem., 40, 986–994, 2008.

van Kessel, C., Horwath, W. R., Hartwig, U. A., Harris, D., and Lüscher, A.: Net soil carbon input under ambient and elevated CO2 concentrations: isotopic evidence after 4 years, Glob. Change Biol., 6, 435–444, 2000.

Watson, R. T., Meira Filho, L. G., and Sanhueza, E.: Greenhouse gases: sources and sinks, in: Climate Change 1992. The Supplementary Report to the IPCC Scientific Assessment, edited by: Houghton, J. T., Callander, B. A., and Varney, S. K., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 24–46, 1992.

Welzmiller, J. T., Matthias, A. D., White, S., and Thompson, T. L.: Elevated carbon dioxide and irrigation effects on soil nitrogen gas exchange in irrigated sorghum, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 72, 393–401, 2008.

Zak, D. R., Pregitzer, K. S., King, J. S., and Holmes, W. E.: Elevated atmospheric CO2, fine roots and the response of soil microorganisms: a review and hypothesis, New Phytol., 147, 201–222, 2000.

Ziska, L. H., Moya, T. B., Wassmann, R., Namuco, O. S., Lantin, R. S., Aduna, I. B., Abao Jr., E., Bronson, K. F., Neue, H. U., and Olszyk, D.: Long-term growth at elevated carbon dioxide stimulates methane emission in tropical paddy rice, Glob. Change Biol., 4, 657–665, 1998.