Legacy effects cause systematic underestimation of N2O emission factors
Abstract Agricultural soils contribute ~52% of global anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, predominantly from nitrogen (N) fertilizer use. Global N2O emission factors (EFs), estimated using IPCC Tier 1 methodologies, largely rely on short-term field measurements that ignore legacy effects of...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58090-0 |
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| author | Haoyu Qian Zhengqi Yuan Nana Chen Xiangcheng Zhu Shan Huang Changying Lu Kailou Liu Feng Zhou Pete Smith Hanqin Tian Qiang Xu Jianwen Zou Shuwei Liu Zhenwei Song Weijian Zhang Songhan Wang Zhenghui Liu Ganghua Li Ziyin Shang Yanfeng Ding Kees Jan van Groenigen Yu Jiang |
| author_facet | Haoyu Qian Zhengqi Yuan Nana Chen Xiangcheng Zhu Shan Huang Changying Lu Kailou Liu Feng Zhou Pete Smith Hanqin Tian Qiang Xu Jianwen Zou Shuwei Liu Zhenwei Song Weijian Zhang Songhan Wang Zhenghui Liu Ganghua Li Ziyin Shang Yanfeng Ding Kees Jan van Groenigen Yu Jiang |
| author_sort | Haoyu Qian |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Agricultural soils contribute ~52% of global anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, predominantly from nitrogen (N) fertilizer use. Global N2O emission factors (EFs), estimated using IPCC Tier 1 methodologies, largely rely on short-term field measurements that ignore legacy effects of historic N fertilization. Here we show, through data synthesis and experiments, that EFs increase over time. Historic N addition increases soil N availability, lowers soil pH, and stimulates the abundance of N2O producing microorganisms and N2O emissions in control plots, causing underestimates of EFs in short-term experiments. Accounting for this legacy effect, we estimate that global EFs and annual fertilizer-induced N2O emissions of cropland are 1.9% and 2.1 Tg N2O-N yr−1, respectively, both ~110% higher than IPCC estimates. Our findings highlight the significance of legacy effects on N2O emissions, emphasize the importance of long-term experiments for accurate N2O emission estimates, and underscore the need for mitigation practices to reduce N2O emissions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-42cf10e7f8f4486cb7629a1b7ce9e107 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-42cf10e7f8f4486cb7629a1b7ce9e1072025-08-20T03:41:49ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-03-0116111110.1038/s41467-025-58090-0Legacy effects cause systematic underestimation of N2O emission factorsHaoyu Qian0Zhengqi Yuan1Nana Chen2Xiangcheng Zhu3Shan Huang4Changying Lu5Kailou Liu6Feng Zhou7Pete Smith8Hanqin Tian9Qiang Xu10Jianwen Zou11Shuwei Liu12Zhenwei Song13Weijian Zhang14Songhan Wang15Zhenghui Liu16Ganghua Li17Ziyin Shang18Yanfeng Ding19Kees Jan van Groenigen20Yu Jiang21Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production/Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology in Southern China, Nanjing Agricultural UniversityJiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production/Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology in Southern China, Nanjing Agricultural UniversityJiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production/Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology in Southern China, Nanjing Agricultural UniversityDepartment of Agronomy, College of Life Sciences and Resource Environment, Yichun UniversityMinistry of Education and Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Jiangxi Agricultural UniversitySuzhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Taihu Lake Region of Jiangsu/National Agricultural Experiment Station for Soil QualityJiangxi Institute of Red Soil and Germplasm ResourcesInstitute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-France Institute of Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking UniversityInstitute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of AberdeenCenter for Earth System Science and Global Sustainability/Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society/Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Boston CollegeJiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology/Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Cultivation and Physiology/Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops/Research Institute of Rice Industrial Engineering Technology, Agricultural College, Yangzhou UniversityCollege of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural UniversityCollege of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural UniversityInstitute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesInstitute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesJiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production/Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology in Southern China, Nanjing Agricultural UniversityJiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production/Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology in Southern China, Nanjing Agricultural UniversityJiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production/Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology in Southern China, Nanjing Agricultural UniversityInstitute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesJiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production/Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology in Southern China, Nanjing Agricultural UniversityDepartment of Geography, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of ExeterJiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production/Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology in Southern China, Nanjing Agricultural UniversityAbstract Agricultural soils contribute ~52% of global anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, predominantly from nitrogen (N) fertilizer use. Global N2O emission factors (EFs), estimated using IPCC Tier 1 methodologies, largely rely on short-term field measurements that ignore legacy effects of historic N fertilization. Here we show, through data synthesis and experiments, that EFs increase over time. Historic N addition increases soil N availability, lowers soil pH, and stimulates the abundance of N2O producing microorganisms and N2O emissions in control plots, causing underestimates of EFs in short-term experiments. Accounting for this legacy effect, we estimate that global EFs and annual fertilizer-induced N2O emissions of cropland are 1.9% and 2.1 Tg N2O-N yr−1, respectively, both ~110% higher than IPCC estimates. Our findings highlight the significance of legacy effects on N2O emissions, emphasize the importance of long-term experiments for accurate N2O emission estimates, and underscore the need for mitigation practices to reduce N2O emissions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58090-0 |
| spellingShingle | Haoyu Qian Zhengqi Yuan Nana Chen Xiangcheng Zhu Shan Huang Changying Lu Kailou Liu Feng Zhou Pete Smith Hanqin Tian Qiang Xu Jianwen Zou Shuwei Liu Zhenwei Song Weijian Zhang Songhan Wang Zhenghui Liu Ganghua Li Ziyin Shang Yanfeng Ding Kees Jan van Groenigen Yu Jiang Legacy effects cause systematic underestimation of N2O emission factors Nature Communications |
| title | Legacy effects cause systematic underestimation of N2O emission factors |
| title_full | Legacy effects cause systematic underestimation of N2O emission factors |
| title_fullStr | Legacy effects cause systematic underestimation of N2O emission factors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Legacy effects cause systematic underestimation of N2O emission factors |
| title_short | Legacy effects cause systematic underestimation of N2O emission factors |
| title_sort | legacy effects cause systematic underestimation of n2o emission factors |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58090-0 |
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