Laura Cardenas

Effects of soil moisture, temperature, and inorganic nitrogen on nitric oxide emissions from acidic tropical savannah soils

NO fluxes from soils with a wide range of soil moistures, soil inorganic-N concentrations, and soil temperatures were measured during the wet and the dry season at a Venezuelan savannah site. Maximum NO emissions ({approximately} 12 ngN m{sup {minus}2} s{sup {minus}1}) were observed at soil gravimetric moistures between 10% and 18%. Deviation from this optimum range results in decreased NO fluxes; very low emissions (< 2 ngN m{sup {minus}2} s{sup {minus}1}) were recorded at low (< 2%) and high (< 25%) soil moistures. Both NO production in soil and its transport within the soil play important roles in the emission of NO to the atmosphere. Under most conditions no temperature effect was observed. NO emission was strongly stimulated by the addition of NO{sub 3}{sup {minus}} and only very weakly by the addition of NH{sub 4}{sup +}; at low and moderate soil moistures, soil nitrate and the NO flux were positively correlated. At low (natural) soil nitrate content and comparable soil moisture and temperature, NO emissions were greater during the dry season than during the rainy season, suggesting that other factors (i.e., soil physical structure) may also govern NO flux from savannah soil. 29 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.

Laboratory study of the effects of two nitrification inhibitors on greenhouse gas emissions from a slurry-treated arable soil: impact of diurnal temperature cycle

An automated laboratory soil incubation system enabled the effects on gaseous emissions from a soil to be quantified accurately, when amended with slurry plus a nitrification inhibitor: dicyandiamide (DCD), or 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP). Nitrification inhibitors applied with slurry under simulated Portuguese conditions were very efficient in reducing N2O emission, and did not increase CH4 emissions significantly, when the soil was predominantly aerobic. The inhibitors were also indirectly effective in reducing N2O emissions due to denitrification during a subsequent anaerobic phase. All gaseous emissions followed strong diurnal patterns that were positively correlated with soil temperature and obeyed a Q10=2 relationship. The widespread use of DCD and DMPP inhibitors with slurry applied to Portuguese soils could have the potential to reduce N2O emissions from this source by ten- to 20-fold.

Effect of plowing on CO2, CO, CH4, N2O, and NO fluxes from tropical savannah soils

Using closed chamber techniques, soil fluxes of CO2, CO, CH4, N2O, and NO were measured in unplowed and plowed savannah soil from May 23 to June 11, 1991. During the measurement period the gravimetric soil moisture ranged from 1% to 10%, with an average of 2.7%. Results did not show any notable change in CO2, CH4, and N2O fluxes between unplowed and plowed soil, whereas a significant change in CO and NO fluxes was produced. For CO, nonperturbed soil switches from being a net source (16 ng m−2 s−1) to being a net sink (−5.3 ng m−2 s−1) after plowing, and in the case of NO the plowing leads to a dramatic increase (from 12.3 to 67.5 ng NO-N m−2 s−1) in the emissions. The addition of fertilizer (phosphate, ammonium, and potassium) to the plowed soil did not produce any significant effect. The simultaneous study of these five trace gases strongly suggests that in the short term, plowing of this savannah soil does not significantly alter the activity that produces trace gases and that the large changes in CO and NO fluxes are mainly related to an enhancement of the transport of gases within the soil and to a larger surface area in contact with the atmosphere.

Advances in the understanding of nutrient dynamics and management in UK agriculture

Current research on macronutrient cycling in UK agricultural systems aims to optimise soil and nutrient management for improved agricultural production and minimise effects on the environment and provision of ecosystem services. Nutrient use inefficiencies can cause environmental pollution through the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and of soluble and particulate forms of N, P and carbon (C) in leachate and run-off into watercourses. Improving nutrient use efficiencies in agriculture calls for the development of sustainable nutrient management strategies: more efficient use of mineral fertilisers, increased recovery and recycling of waste nutrients, and, better exploitation of the substantial inorganic and organic reserves of nutrients in the soil. Long-term field experimentation in the UK has provided key knowledge of the main nutrient transformations in agricultural soils. Emerging analytical technologies, especially stable isotope labelling, that better characterise macronutrient forms and bioavailability and improve the quantification of the complex relationships between the macronutrients in soils at the molecular scale, are augmenting this knowledge by revealing the underlying processes. The challenge for the future is to determine the relationships between the dynamics of N, P and C across scales, which will require both new modelling approaches and integrated approaches to macronutrient cycling.

Intercomparison of Formaldehyde Measurements in Clean and Polluted Atmospheres

Three different techniques used tomeasure atmospheric formaldehyde were compared duringa field campaign carried out at a clean maritime siteon the West coast of Ireland. Two spectroscopictechniques Differential Optical AbsorptionSpectroscopy (DOAS) and Tunable Diode Laser AbsorptionSpectroscopy (TDLAS), together with a glass coil/Hantzschreaction/fluorescence technique, wereemployed for measurements of atmospheric formaldehydeof the order of a few hundred pptv. The betteragreement was observed between the fluorescence andDOAS instruments.Two DOAS instruments were compared to the glasscoil/Hantzsch reaction/fluorescence technique at asemi-polluted site on the North Norfolk coast, U.K.,where concentrations of formaldehyde were observed atlevels up to 4 ppbv. A very good agreement wasobserved between the two instruments.The glass coil/Hantzsch reaction/fluorescence and theTDLAS instruments were also deployed simultaneously inorder to measure indoor air inside a mobile laboratorylocated at the Imperial College Silwood Park site nearAscot, U.K. The doors of the mobile laboratory wereleft open in order to obtain the backgroundformaldehyde concentrations. Closing them afterwardsallowed us to observe the increase in concentrationsas a result of indoor emissions. The agreement betweenthe two instruments was outstanding (correlationcoefficient was 99%).The results from this study showed that of the fourinstruments included in this intercomparison the glasscoil/Hantzsch reaction/fluorescence technique provedthe most suitable for continuous measurements offormaldehyde in the background atmosphere.

An assessment of nitrification inhibitors to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from UK agriculture

A trial was conducted consisting of 14 experiments across sites in England of contrasting soil type and annual rainfall to assess the effectiveness of nitrification inhibitors (predominantly dicyandiamide (DCD) but limited assessment also of 3, 4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) and a commercial product containing two pyrazole derivatives) in reducing direct nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from fertilizer nitrogen (N), cattle urine and cattle slurry applications to land. Measurements were also made of the impact on ammonia (NH3) volatilization, nitrate (NO3−) leaching, crop yield and crop N offtake. DCD proved to be very effective in reducing direct N2O emissions following fertilizer and cattle urine applications, with mean reduction efficiencies of 39, 69 and 70% for ammonium nitrate, urea and cattle urine, respectively. When included with cattle slurry a mean, non-significant reduction of 56% was observed. There were no N2O emission reductions observed from the limited assessments of the other nitrification inhibitors. Generally, there were no impacts of the nitrification inhibitors on NH3 volatilization, NO3− leaching, crop yield or crop N offtake. Use of DCD could give up to 20% reduction in N2O emissions from UK agriculture, but cost-effective delivery mechanisms are required to encourage adoption by the sector. Direct N2O emissions from the studied sources were substantially lower than IPCC default values and development of UK country-specific emission factors for use in inventory compilation is warranted.

Interactions among agricultural production and other ecosystem services delivered from European temperate grassland systems.

Global demand for food is increasing as is the recognition that this must be achieved with minimal negative impacts on the environment or other ecosystem services (ESs). Here we develop an understanding of the relationships among ESs delivered within temperate agricultural grassland systems in lowland Europe. We reviewed the refereed literature on pair-wise interactions between nine different ESs. These were agricultural production, climate regulation, air quality regulation, water quality regulation, hydrological regulation, soil erosion regulation, nutrient cycling, biodiversity conservation, and landscape quality. For each pair, we sought information on how each ES responds to changes in the other. Each interaction was assigned to one of five categories: (i) no direct relationship between the driving ES on the responding ES, (ii) the driving ES has a negative impact on the responding ES, (iii) the driving ES has a positive impact on the responding ES, (iv) the evidence of direction of effect is inconclusive, because of either inadequate information or contradictions in the literature, and (v) there is no current evidence in the current literature for a relationship. Negative relationships resulted only from the effects of increasing the intensity of agricultural production on other ESs. Available evidence infers that erosion regulation and good nutrient cycling were the only two driving ESs shown to enhance agricultural production implying that their protection will enhance our ability to meet future food needs. In order for agriculture to become more sustainable, we need to develop agricultural methods that can minimize the negative impacts of these win–lose relationships.

UK emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide

Signatories of the Kyoto Protocol are obliged to submit annual accounts of their anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, which include nitrous oxide (N2O). Emissions from the sectors industry (3.8 Gg), energy (14.4 Gg), agriculture (86.8 Gg), wastewater (4.4 Gg), land use, land-use change and forestry (2.1 Gg) can be calculated by multiplying activity data (i.e. amount of fertilizer applied, animal numbers) with simple emission factors (Tier 1 approach), which are generally applied across wide geographical regions. The agricultural sector is the largest anthropogenic source of N2O in many countries and responsible for 75 per cent of UK N2O emissions. Microbial N2O production in nitrogen-fertilized soils (27.6 Gg), nitrogen-enriched waters (24.2 Gg) and manure storage systems (6.4 Gg) dominate agricultural emission budgets. For the agricultural sector, the Tier 1 emission factor approach is too simplistic to reflect local variations in climate, ecosystems and management, and is unable to take into account some of the mitigation strategies applied. This paper reviews deviations of observed emissions from those calculated using the simple emission factor approach for all anthropogenic sectors, briefly discusses the need to adopt specific emission factors that reflect regional variability in climate, soil type and management, and explains how bottom-up emission inventories can be verified by top-down modelling.

Novel laser spectroscopic technique for continuous analysis of N2O isotopomers--application and intercomparison with isotope ratio mass spectrometry.

RATIONALE Nitrous oxide (N(2)O), a highly climate-relevant trace gas, is mainly derived from microbial denitrification and nitrification processes in soils. Apportioning N(2)O to these source processes is a challenging task, but better understanding of the processes is required to improve mitigation strategies. The N(2)O site-specific (15)N signatures from denitrification and nitrification have been shown to be clearly different, making this signature a potential tool for N(2)O source identification. We have applied for the first time quantum cascade laser absorption spectroscopy (QCLAS) for the continuous analysis of the intramolecular (15)N distribution of soil-derived N(2)O and compared this with state-of-the-art isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). METHODS Soil was amended with nitrate and sucrose and incubated in a laboratory setup. The N(2)O release was quantified by FTIR spectroscopy, while the N(2)O intramolecular (15)N distribution was continuously analyzed by online QCLAS at 1 Hz resolution. The QCLAS results on time-integrating flask samples were compared with those from the IRMS analysis. RESULTS The analytical precision (2σ) of QCLAS was around 0.3‰ for the δ(15)N(bulk) and the (15)N site preference (SP) for 1-min average values. Comparing the two techniques on flask samples, excellent agreement (R(2)= 0.99; offset of 1.2‰) was observed for the δ(15)N(bulk) values while for the SP values the correlation was less good (R(2 )= 0.76; offset of 0.9‰), presumably due to the lower precision of the IRMS SP measurements. CONCLUSIONS These findings validate QCLAS as a viable alternative technique with even higher precision than state-of-the-art IRMS. Thus, laser spectroscopy has the potential to contribute significantly to a better understanding of N turnover in soils, which is crucial for advancing strategies to mitigate emissions of this efficient greenhouse gas.

Carbon dioxide and methane fluxes from a barley field amended with organic fertilizers under Mediterranean climatic conditions

A field experiment was carried out in a non-irrigated barley crop (Hordeum vulgare L. cv Bornova) with the aims of evaluating the effects of applying organic and inorganic fertilizers on soil carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes and assessing the residual effect of these fertilizers after the first rainfall events of autumn. Both soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes seemed to be dependent on temperature. The soils were a net sink for CH4 and the application of inorganic fertilizers reduced the sink potential. CO2 emissions increased following the application of fertilizers and after the first rainfall events in the autumn. The use of digested pig slurry caused a reduction of the CO2 equivalents produced per unit of crop yield.