Register      Login
Soil Research Soil Research Society
Soil, land care and environmental research
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > SR > SR23070
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)
Contents Vol 62(1)

Revised emission factors for estimating direct nitrous oxide emissions from nitrogen inputs in Australia’s agricultural production systems: a meta-analysis

Peter Grace https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4136-4129 A * , Daniele De Rosa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0441-7722 A B , Iurii Shcherbak A , Alice Strazzabosco https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6667-5188 A , David Rowlings https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1618-9309 A , Clemens Scheer https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5396-2076 A , Louise Barton https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7187-4168 C , Weijin Wang D , Graeme Schwenke https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2206-4350 E , Roger Armstrong https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4728-9935 F , Ian Porter G and Michael Bell H
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Qld 4000, Australia.

B European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, VA 21027, Italy.

C University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

D Queensland Department of Environment and Science, Dutton Park, Qld 4102, Australia.

E New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Calala, NSW 2340, Australia.

F Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries, Horsham, Vic. 3400, Australia.

G Latrobe University, 5 Rings Road, Bundorra, Vic. 3086, Australia.

H University of Queensland, Gatton, Qld 4343, Australia.

* Correspondence to: pr.grace@qut.edu.au

Handling Editor: Iris Vogeler

Soil Research 62, SR23070 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR23070
Submitted: 20 April 2023  Accepted: 27 October 2023  Published: 27 November 2023

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Agricultural soils are a major source of emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O).

Aim

Quantify direct N2O emissions from Australian agricultural production systems receiving nitrogen (N) inputs from synthetic and organic fertilisers, crop residues, urine and dung.

Method

A meta-analysis of N2O emissions from Australian agriculture (2003–2021) identified 394 valid emission factors (EFs), including 102 EFs with enhanced efficiency fertilisers (EEFs).

Key results

The average EF from all N sources (excluding EEFs) was 0.57%. Industry-based EFs for synthetic N fertiliser (excluding EEFs) ranged from 0.17% (non-irrigated pasture) to 1.77% (sugar cane), with an average Australia-wide EF of 0.70%. Emission factors were independent of topsoil organic carbon content, bulk density and pH. The revised EF for the non-irrigated cropping (grains) industry is now 0.41%; however, geographically-defined EFs are recommended. Urea was the most common N source with an average EF of 0.72% compared to urine (0.20%), dung (0.06%) and organo-mineral mixtures (0.26%). The EF for synthetic N fertilisers in rainfed environments increased by 0.16% for every 100 mm over 300 mm mean annual rainfall. For each additional 50 kg N ha−1 of synthetic fertiliser, EFs increased by 0.13%, 0.31% and 0.38% for the horticulture, irrigated and high rainfall non-irrigated cropping industries, respectively. The use of 3,4 dimethylpyrazole-phosphate (DMPP) produced significant reductions in EFs of 55%, 80% and 84% for the horticulture, non-irrigated and irrigated cropping industries, respectively.

Conclusions and implications

Incorporation of the revised EFs into the 2020 National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) produced a 12% increase in direct N2O emissions from the application of synthetic N fertilisers. The lack of country-specific crop residue decomposition data is a major deficiency in the NGA.

Keywords: DMPP, emission factors, inventory, meta-analysis, nitrification inhibitors, nitrogen fertiliser, nitrous oxide.

References

Abalos D, Recous S, Butterbach-Bahl K, De Notaris C, Rittl TF, Topp CFE, Petersen SO, Hansen S, Bleken MA, Rees RM, Olesen JE (2022) A review and meta-analysis of mitigation measures for nitrous oxide emissions from crop residues. Science of The Total Environment 828, 154388.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Angus JF, Grace PR (2017) Nitrogen balance in Australia and nitrogen use efficiency on Australian farms. Soil Research 55, 435-450.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Australian Government Emissions Information System (2023) AGEIS activity table-1990-2020-agriculture-fertiliser. Available at ageis.climatechange.gov.au

Barton L, Kiese R, Gatter D, Butterbach-Bahl K, Buck R, Hinz C, Murphy DV (2008) Nitrous oxide emissions from a cropped soil in a semi-arid climate. Global Change Biology 14, 177-192.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Barton L, Murphy DV, Kiese R, Butterbach-Bahl K (2010) Soil nitrous oxide and methane fluxes are low from a bioenergy crop (canola) grown in a semi-arid climate. GCB Bioenergy 2, 1-15.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Barton L, Murphy DV, Butterbach-Bahl K (2013) Influence of crop rotation and liming on greenhouse gas emissions from a semi-arid soil. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 167, 23-32.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Barton L, Hoyle FC, Stefanova KT, Murphy DV (2016) Incorporating organic matter alters soil greenhouse gas emissions and increases grain yield in a semi-arid climate. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 231, 320-330.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Bartoń K (2023) MuMIn: multi-model inference. R package version 1.47.5. Available at https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=MuMIn

Bouwman AF (1996) Direct emission of nitrous oxide from agricultural soils. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 46, 53-70.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Chadwick DR, Cardenas LM, Dhanoa MS, Donovan N, Misselbrook T, Williams JR, Thorman RE, McGeough KL, Watson CJ, Bell M, Anthony SG, Rees RM (2018) The contribution of cattle urine and dung to nitrous oxide emissions: quantification of country specific emission factors and implications for national inventories. Science of The Total Environment 635, 607-617.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Chalk PM, Smith CJ (1983) Chemodenitrification. In ‘Gaseous loss of nitrogen from plant-soil systems’. (Eds JR Simpson, JR Freney) pp. 65–89. (Springer Netherlands: Dordrecht)

Charles A, Rochette P, Whalen JK, Angers DA, Chantigny MH, Bertrand N (2017) Global nitrous oxide emission factors from agricultural soils after addition of organic amendments: a meta-analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 236, 88-98.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Denmead OT, Macdonald BCT, Bryant G, Naylor T, Wilson S, Griffith DWT, Wang WJ, Salter B, White I, Moody PW (2010) Emissions of methane and nitrous oxide from Australian sugarcane soils. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 150, 748-756.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (2022) National inventory report 2020, Vol. 1. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra. p. 428.

De Rosa D, Rowlings DW, Biala J, Scheer C, Basso B, McGree J, Grace PR (2016) Effect of organic and mineral N fertilizers on N2O emissions from an intensive vegetable rotation. Biology and Fertility of Soils 52, 895-908.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

De Rosa D, Rowlings DW, Biala J, Scheer C, Basso B, Grace PR (2018) N2O and CO2 emissions following repeated application of organic and mineral N fertiliser from a vegetable crop rotation. Science of The Total Environment 637–638, 813-824.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Fan D, He W, Smith WN, Drury CF, Jiang R, Grant BB, Shi Y, Song D, Chen Y, Wang X, He P, Zou G (2022) Global evaluation of inhibitor impacts on ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils: a meta-analysis. Global Change Biology 28, 5121-5141.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Gilsanz C, Báez D, Misselbrook TH, Dhanoa MS, Cárdenas LM (2016) Development of emission factors and efficiency of two nitrification inhibitors, DCD and DMPP. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 216, 1-8.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Grace P, Shcherbak I, Macdonald B, Scheer C, Rowlings D (2016) Emission factors for estimating fertiliser-induced nitrous oxide emissions from clay soils in Australia’s irrigated cotton industry. Soil Research 54, 598-603.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Grace PR, van der Weerden TJ, Rowlings DW, Scheer C, Brunk C, Kiese R, Butterbach-Bahl K, Rees RM, Robertson GP, Skiba UM (2020) Global research alliance N2O chamber methodology guidelines: considerations for automated flux measurement. Journal of Environmental Quality 49, 1126-1140.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Harris RH, Armstrong RD, Wallace AJ, Belyaeva ON (2016) Effect of nitrogen fertiliser management on soil mineral nitrogen, nitrous oxide losses, yield and nitrogen uptake of wheat growing in waterlogging-prone soils of south-eastern Australia. Soil Research 54, 619-633.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hoben JP, Gehl RJ, Millar N, Grace PR, Robertson GP (2011) Nonlinear nitrous oxide (N2O) response to nitrogen fertilizer in on-farm corn crops of the US Midwest. Global Change Biology 17, 1140-1152.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

IPCC (2006) N2O emissions from managed soils, and CO2 emissions from lime and urea application. In ‘2006 IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories’. (Eds HS Eggleston, E Buendia, L Miwa, K Tgara, K Tanabe) pp. 11.1–11.54 (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies: Hayama)

IPCC (2019) N2O emissions from managed soils, and CO2 emissions from lime and urea application. In ‘2019 refinement to the 2006 IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories’. (Eds E Buendia, K Tanabe, A Kranjc, J Baasansuren, M Fukuda, S Ngarize, A Osako, Y Pyrozhenko, P Shermanau, S Federici) pp. 11.1–11.48 (IPCC: Switzerland)

Jamali H, Quayle W, Scheer C, Baldock J (2016) Mitigation of N2O emissions from surface-irrigated cropping systems using water management and the nitrification inhibitor DMPP. Soil Research 54, 481-493.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Kim D-G, Hernandez-Ramirez G, Giltrap D (2013) Linear and nonlinear dependency of direct nitrous oxide emissions on fertilizer nitrogen input: a meta-analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 168, 53-65.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Ma BL, Wu TY, Tremblay N, Deen W, Morrison MJ, McLaughlin NB, Gregorich EG, Stewart G (2010) Nitrous oxide fluxes from corn fields: on-farm assessment of the amount and timing of nitrogen fertiliser. Global Change Biology 16, 156-170.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

McSwiney CP, Robertson GP (2005) Nonlinear response of N2O flux to incremental fertilizer addition in a continuous maize (Zea mays L.) cropping system. Global Change Biology 11, 1712-1719.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Millar N, Urrea A, Kahmark K, Shcherbak I, Robertson GP, Ortiz-Monasterio I (2018) Nitrous oxide (N2O) flux responds exponentially to nitrogen fertilizer in irrigated wheat in the Yaqui Valley, Mexico. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 261, 125-132.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Muller J, De Rosa D, Friedl J, De Antoni Migliorati M, Rowlings D, Grace P, Scheer C (2023) Combining nitrification inhibitors with a reduced N rate maintains yield and reduces N2O emissions in sweet corn. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 125, 107-121.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Nakagawa S, Schielzeth H (2013) A general and simple method for obtaining R2 from generalized linear mixed-effects models. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 4, 133-142.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Poole N (2017) Management strategies for improved productivity and reduced nitrous oxide emissions (AOTGR2-0014), Final Report. Department of Agriculture, Canberra.

Ray A, Forrestal P, Nkwonta C, Rahman N, Byrne P, Danaher M, Richards K, Hogan S, Cummins E (2023) Modelling potential human exposure to the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide through the environment-food pathway. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 101, 107082.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

R Core Team (2021) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Australia. Available at https://www.R-project.org/

Rose TJ, Wood RH, Rose MT, Van Zwieten L (2018) A re-evaluation of the agronomic effectiveness of the nitrification inhibitors DCD and DMPP and the urease inhibitor NBPT. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 252, 69-73.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Salazar Cajas M (2019) Developing sugarcane-legume companion cropping systems to minimise nitrous oxide emissions. PhD Thesis, The University of Queensland.

Scheer C, Grace PR, Rowlings DW, Payero J (2013) Soil N2O and CO2 emissions from cotton in Australia under varying irrigation management. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 95, 43-56.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Scheer C, Rowlings DW, Grace PR (2016) Non-linear response of soil N2O emissions to nitrogen fertiliser in a cotton-fallow rotation in sub-tropical Australia. Soil Research 54, 494-499.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Schwenke GD, Herridge DF, Scheer C, Rowlings DW, Haigh BM, McMullen KG (2015) Soil N2O emissions under N2-fixing legumes and N-fertilised canola: a reappraisal of emissions factor calculations. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 202, 232-242.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Shcherbak I, Grace P (2014) Determination of emission factors for estimating fertilizer-induced nitrous oxide emissions from Australia’s rural production systems. Technical Report. Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra.

Shcherbak I, Millar N, Robertson GP (2014) Global metaanalysis of the nonlinear response of soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions to fertilizer nitrogen. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111, 9199-9204.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Signor D, Cerri CEP, Conant R (2013) N2O emissions due to nitrogen fertilizer applications in two regions of sugarcane cultivation in Brazil. Environmental Research Letters 8, 015013.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Soares JR, Souza BR, Mazzetto AM, Galdos MV, Chadwick DR, Campbell EE, Jaiswal D, Oliveira JC, Monteiro LA, Vianna MS, Lamparelli RAC, Figueiredo GKDA, Sheehan JJ, Lynd LR (2023) Mitigation of nitrous oxide emissions in grazing systems through nitrification inhibitors: a meta-analysis. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 125, 359-377.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Takeda N, Friedl J, Rowlings D, De Rosa D, Scheer C, Grace P (2021) Exponential response of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions to increasing nitrogen fertiliser rates in a tropical sugarcane cropping system. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 313, 107376.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

van der Weerden TJ, Luo J, de Klein CAM, Hoogendoorn CJ, Littlejohn RP, Rys GJ (2011) Disaggregating nitrous oxide emission factors for ruminant urine and dung deposited onto pastoral soils. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 141, 426-436.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Wang WJ, Moody PW, Reeves SH, Salter B, Dalal RC (2008) Nitrous oxide emissions from sugarcane soils: effects of urea forms and application rate. In ‘Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists, 30’. pp. 87–94.

Wang WJ, Reeves SH, Salter B, Moody PW, Dalal RC (2016) Effects of urea formulations, application rates and crop residue retention on N2O emissions from sugarcane fields in Australia. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 216, 137-146.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Westermann M (2017) Effect of soil amendments on greenhouse gas emissions from subtropical soils. PhD Thesis, The University of Queensland.