ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Biogeochemical Dynamics
This article is part of the Research TopicStable Isotopes in Ecosystem and Environmental StudiesView all articles
Closing the Denitrification Gap: Applying the ¹⁵N Gas Flux Method with an Artificial Atmosphere in Conventional and Regenerative Agriculture
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
- 2University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
- 3The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
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Denitrification is an elusive process that remains notoriously difficult to measure under field conditions, yet it plays a crucial role as the only natural terrestrial sink for reactive nitrogen —especially in agricultural systems where large amounts of fertilizer are applied. Direct measurements of N2 fluxes over extended periods (e.g. an entire year) remain rare in the current literature due to the technical challenges involved in measuring them. In this study, we quantified and characterized the denitrification emissions of two different land-use practices—conventional and regenerative agriculture (unfertilized)—using a recently developed custom method that combines a 15N isotopic tracer with an artificial atmosphere (improved 15N Gas Flux method). Using nine field campaigns spread across one year, our main objectives were to (i) assess the applicability of the method, (ii) derive a first annual estimate of denitrification, (iii) understand the controls on denitrification dynamics, and (iv) trace the contribution of denitrification to the loss of applied synthetic nitrogen fertilizer in conventional agriculture. Our newly developed method was successful at detecting denitrified N2 fluxes 90% of the time and enabled us to derive budgets of 22.12 and 2.41 kg N ha-1 year-1 in the arable field and the field under regenerative agriculture, respectively. Soil moisture and nitrate levels (particularly under fertilized conditions) were the main controls of the denitrification product ratio—defined as N2O/(N2O+N2)—underscoring the role of fertilization management in shaping the potential of denitrification to act as a sink for nitrous oxide. Finally, we estimated that 11% of the applied fertilizer in the conventional agriculture field was lost via denitrification and that 7.3% of this flux was emitted as N2O rather than N2.
Keywords: 15N gas flux method, Denitrification, Nitrogen Cycling, Nitrous oxide emission, Regenerative agriculture
Received: 20 Nov 2025; Accepted: 14 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Micucci, Sgouridis, Leake and Ullah. 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: Gianni Micucci
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