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Research article2016Peer reviewed

Nitrous oxide and methane fluxes during the growing season from cultivated peat soils, peaty marl and gyttja clay under different cropping systems

Norberg, Lisbet; Berglund, Örjan; Berglund, Kerstin

Abstract

Drainage of peatlands affects the fluxes of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Organic soils used for agriculture contribute a large proportion of anthropogenic GHG emissions, and on-farm mitigation options are important. This field study investigated whether choice of a cropping system can be used to mitigate emissions of N2O and influence CH4 fluxes from cultivated organic and carbon-rich soils during the growing season. Ten different sites in southern Sweden representing peat soils, peaty marl and gyttja clay, with a range of different soil properties, were used for on-site measurements of N2O and CH4 fluxes. The fluxes during the growing season from soils under two different crops grown in the same field and same environmental conditions were monitored. Crop intensities varied from grasslands to intensive potato cultivation. The results showed no difference in median seasonal N2O emissions between the two crops compared. Median seasonal emissions ranged from 0 to 919 mu g N(2)Om(-2) h(-1), with peaks on individual sampling occasions of up to 3317 mu g N(2)Om(-2) h(-1). Nitrous oxide emissions differed widely between sites, indicating that soil properties are a regulating factor. However, pH was the only soil factor that correlated with N2O emissions (negative exponential correlation). The type of crop grown on the soil did not influence CH4 fluxes. Median seasonal CH4 flux from the different sites ranged from uptake of 36 mu g CH4 m(-2) h(-1) to release of 4.5 mu g CH4 m(-2) h(-1). From our results, it was concluded that farmers cannot mitigate N2O emissions during the growing season or influence CH4 fluxes by changing the cropping system in the field.

Keywords

CH4; crop management; greenhouse gas; gyttja; marl; N2O; organic soil; peat

Published in

Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B - Soil and Plant Science
2016, Volume: 66, number: 7, pages: 602-612
Publisher: TAYLOR & FRANCIS AS