NO, N2O, CH4 and CO2 fluxes in winter barley field of Japanese Andisol as affected by N fertilizer management

The study was carried out at the experimental station of the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences to investigate gas fluxes from a Japanese Andisol under different N fertilizer managements: CD, a deep application (8 cm) of the controlled release urea; UD, a deep application (8 cm) of the conventional urea; US, a surface application of the conventional urea; and a control, without any N application. NO, N2O, CH4 and CO2 fluxes were measured simultaneously in a winter barley field under the maize/barley rotation. The fluxes of NO and N2O from the control were very low, and N fertilization increased the emissions of NO and N2O. NO and N2O from N fertilization treatments showed different emission patterns: significant NO emissions but low N2O emissions in the winter season, and low NO emissions but significant N2O emissions during the short period of barley growth in the spring season. The controlled release of the N fertilizer decreased the total NO emissions, while a deep application increased the total N2O emissions. Fertilizer-derived NO–N and N2O–N from the treatments CD, UD and US accounted for 0.20±0.07%, 0.71±0.15%, 0.62±0.04%, and 0.52±0.04%, 0.50±0.09%, 0.35±0.03%, of the applied N, respectively, during the barley season. CH4 fluxes from the control were negative on most sampling dates, and its net soil uptake was 33±7.1 mg m−2 during the barley season. The application of the N fertilizer decreased the uptake of atmospheric CH4 and resulted in positive emissions from the soil. CO2 fluxes were very low in the early period of crop growth while higher emissions were observed in the spring season. The N fertilization generally increased the direct CO2 emissions from the soil. N2O, CH4 and CO2 fluxes were positively correlated (P<0.01) with each other, whereas NO and CO2 fluxes were negatively correlated (P<0.05). The N fertilization increased soil-derived global warming potential (GWP) significantly in the barley season. The net GWP was calculated by subtracting the plant-fixed atmospheric CO2 stored in its aboveground parts from the soil-derived GWP in CO2 equivalent. The net GWP from the CD, UD, US and the control were all negative at −243±30.7, −257±28.4, −227±6.6 and −143±9.7 g C m−2 in CO2 equivalent, respectively, in the barley season.