ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Biogeochemical Dynamics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1510520
This article is part of the Research TopicRegenerative Agriculture for Soil Health, Greenhouse Gas Mitigation, and Climate ActionView all 4 articles
Variation in soil nitrous oxide emission with nitrogen application rates under reclaimed water irrigation
Provisionally accepted
- 1Zhejiang Water Conservancy and Hydropower College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
- 2Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute (CRSRI), Wuhan, China
- 3China Agricultural University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
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Different nitrogen application rates and fertilizer types influence soil nitrogen transformation pathways, thereby affecting nitrous oxide (N2O) production and emissions. Reclaimed water (RW), due to its chemical composition, may further modulate these processes. In this study, a disturbed soil incubation experiment was conducted using two irrigation water types (RW and deionized water (CW)), three nitrogen fertilizer forms (ammonium sulfate (NH4 + ), potassium nitrate (NO3 -), and sodium nitrite (NO2 -)), and two nitrogen application rates (200 and 400 mg N kg⁻¹) to examine the dynamics of soil N2O emissions. The study found that, compared to CW, high fertilization levels (400 mg N kg -1 ) of NH4 + under RW treatment significantly increased cumulative soil N2O emissions by 25.04%, primarily by enhancing the abundance of the ammonia monooxygenase gene in ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA-amoA), the ammonia monooxygenase gene in ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB-amoA), and the nitrite reductase gene (nirS). However, at low fertilization levels (200 mg N kg -1 ) of NH4 + , there is no significant differences in cumulative N2O emissions. Under NO3 -treatment, although RW increased the abundance of AOA-amoA and AOB-amoA, it did not lead to higher soil NO or N2O emissions at either high or low NO3 - concentrations. In contrast, under NO2 -treatment, RW increased the abundance of AOA-amoA and AOB-amoA compared to CW, significantly enhancing cumulative soil N2O emissions by 27.56% and 39.25%, respectively. In conclusion, RW irrigation does not elevate soil N2O emissions with nitrate-based fertilizers. However, careful management of nitrification rates is required with ammonium-based fertilizers, including the use of nitrification inhibitors and improved soil aeration, to minimize NO2 -accumulation and related environmental risks.
Keywords: Water Quality, Fertilizer type, Fertilizer level, Soil nitrous oxide, soil nitrogen transformation-related genes
Received: 14 Oct 2024; Accepted: 14 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chi, Wei and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chenchen Wei, Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute (CRSRI), Wuhan, China
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