Soil Emission of Nitrous Oxide and Its Mitigation

About this book

Nitrous oxide gas is a long-lived relatively active greenhouse gas (GHG) with an atmospheric lifetime of approximately 120 years, and heat trapping effects about 310 times more powerful than carbon dioxide per molecule basis. It contributes about 6% of observed global warming. Nitrous oxide is not only a potent GHG, but it also plays a significant role in the depletion of stratospheric ozone. Soil Emission of Nitrous Oxide and Its Mitigation describes the anthropogenic sources of N₂O with major emphasis on agricultural activities. It summarizes an overview of global cycling of N and the role of nitrous oxide on global warming and ozone depletion, and then focus on major source, soil borne nitrous oxide emissions.

The spatial-temporal variation of soil nitrous oxide fluxes and underlying biogeochemical processes are described, as well as approaches to quantify fluxes of N₂O from soils. Mitigation strategies to reduce the emissions, especially from agricultural soils, and fertilizer nitrogen sources are described in detail in the latter part of Soil Emission of Nitrous Oxide and Its Mitigation.

Contents

CHAPTER 1: THE ROLE OF NITROUS OXIDE ON CLIMATE CHANGE
1. Introduction
2. Greenhouse effect
3. Climate forcing
4. Nitrous oxide emissions
5. Conclusions
CHAPTER 2: GLOBAL NITROGEN CYCLE
1. Introduction
2. Discovery of N cycle: Historical perspective
3. Global N inventory
4. N fixation
5. Nitrogen cycling
6. Conclusions
CHAPTER 3: FORMATION AND RELEASE OF NITROUS OXIDE FROM TERRESTRIAL AND AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
1. Introduction
2. Nitrification
2.2. Heterotrophic nitrification
2.3. Chemolithotrophic ammonia oxidation
3. Denitrification
3.1. Respiratory denitrification
3.2. Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium
3.3. Chemodenitrification
3.4. Nitrifier denitrification
4. N₂O production by nitrification and denitrification
5. Conclusions
CHAPTER 4: NITROUS OXIDE FLUXES MEASUREMENT
1. Introduction
2. Measurement methods
2.1. Flux chambers
2.2. Sub-surface method
2.3. Mass balance method
2.4. Micrometeorological approaches
2.5. Comparison of chamber and micrometeorological approaches
3. Modeling approaches
3.1. Empirical models
3.2. Process-based models
4. Future research priorities
5. Conclusions
CHAPTER 5: GLOBAL SOURCES OF NITROUS OXIDE
1. Introduction
2. Natural sources
2.1. Soils under natural vegetation
2.2. Aquatic Sources
2.3. Wetlands
2.4. Riparian zones
3. Anthropogenic sources
3.1. Description of the sources
3.2. Agriculture
3.3. Indirect N₂O emission
3.4. Biomass burning
3.5. Tropical forest land conversion
3.6. Fossil fuel burning
4. Conclusion
5. Researchable issues
CHAPTER 6: LAND USE AND LAND MANAGEMENT EFFECTS ON NITROUS OXIDE FLUXES
1. Introduction
2. Cropland
2.1. Nitrous oxide formation in agricultural soils
2.2. Legumes and N₂O emissions|
2.3. Conversion of forest and grassland to cropland
2.4. Land management and N₂O emission
3. Grassland
3.1. Nitrogen inputs to grasslands
4. Forest
4.1. Factors affecting N₂O emissions from forest soils
4.2. Clear-cutting and N₂O emissions
5. Factors controlling N₂O production from soils
5.1. Moisture and aeration
5.2. Temperature
5.3. Soluble and mineralizable carbon
5.4. Soil pH and salinity
5.5. Soil nitrogen
5.6. Other nutrients
5.7. Conclusions
CHAPTER 7: NITROUS OXIDE EMISSIONS FROM RICE FIELDS
1. Introduction
2. Literature Survey on Nitrous oxide Emission from Rice Cultivation
3. Types of Rice Ecosystems
3.1. Irrigated rice ecosystem
3.2. Lowland rainfed rice ecosystem
3.3. Upland rice ecosystem
3.4. Deepwater or flood-prone rice ecosystem
4. Rice Soils
4.1. Nitrogen transformation in flooded soils
4.2. Processes contributing to nitrous oxide emission from rice fields
4.3. Assessment of special conditions driving N₂O emission in rice fields
4.4. Factors affecting N₂O emission from rice fields
4.5. Sampling techniques for measuring N₂O fluxes from rice fields
4.6. Problems of sampling and quantification of N₂O from rice fields
4.7. Effects of land management practices in non-rice growing season on N₂O emission from rice fields
5. Mitigation Options for N₂O Emissions from Rice fields
6. Conclusions
CHAPTER 8: NITROUS OXIDE SOURCES AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES
1. Introduction
2. Anthropogenic sources of nitrous oxide
2.1. Agriculture
2.2. Industrial processes
2.3. Other sources
3. Mitigation of nitrous oxide emissions from cropland
3.1. Cropland
3.2. Fertilizer use and crop yields enhancement
3.3. Water management
3.4. Organic and wetland soils
3.5. Biochar application
3.6. Indirect nitrous oxide emission from cropland
3.7. Role of plant breeding and biotechnology advances
4. Conclusions
5. Research needs
CHAPTER 9: MITIGATION OPTIONS FOR LIVESTOCK AND PASTURE LANDS
1. Introduction
2. Nitrogen input to grazed pasture
2.1 Biological N fixation
2.2 Animal excreta deposition in pasturelands
2.3 Animal manures and effluent application in pasturelands
2.4 Inorganic N fertilizers application in pasturelands
3. Nitrogen transformations and loss from pasture soils
4. Nitrous oxide emissions from livestock management system
4.1 Approaches to reduce gaseous nitrogen emission from livestock production systems
5. Conclusions
CHAPTER 10: THE ROLE OF FERTILIZER MANAGEMENT IN MITIGATING NITROUS OXIDE EMISSIONS
1. Introduction
2. Nitrogen use efficiency
2.1. Approaches to improve nitrogen use efficiency in agriculture
3. Enhanced efficiency fertilizers
3.1. Slow and controlled released fertilizers
3.2. Stabilized fertilizers
3.3. Advantages and disadvantages of enhanced efficiency fertilizers
4. Precision fertilization
5. Conclusions
CHAPTER 11: CONCLUSION: TOWARDS MANAGING AGRICULTURAL SOILS FOR MITIGATING N2O EMISSIONS
1. Introduction
2. Mitigation options
2.2. Management of nitrogen under animal agriculture
2.3. Barriers of achieving nitrogen efficiency
3. Policy issues on agricultural GHG mitigation
4. Research needs
5. Recommended practices for reducing N₂O emission

Customer Reviews