Excessive use of nitrogen in Chinese agriculture results in high N(2)O/(N(2)O+N(2)) product ratio of denitrification, primarily due to acidification of the soils

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of fertilizer N, and decades of overuse has caused nitrate leaching and possibly soil acidification. We hypothesized that this would enhance the soils' propensity to emit N(2)O from denitrification by reducing the expression of the enzyme N(2)O reductase. We investigated this by standardized oxic/anoxic incubations of soils from five long-term fertilization experiments in different regions of China. After adjusting the nitrate concentration to 2 mM, we measured oxic respiration (R), potential denitrification (D), substrate-induced denitrification, and the denitrification product stoichiometry (NO, N(2)O, N(2)). Soils with a history of high fertilizer N levels had high N(2)O/(N(2)O+N(2)) ratios, but only in those field experiments where soil pH had been lowered by N fertilization. By comparing all soils, we found a strong negative correlation between pH and the N(2)O/(N(2)O+N(2)) product ratio (r(2) = 0.759, P < 0.001). In contrast, the potential denitrification (D) was found to be a linear function of oxic respiration (R), and the ratio D/R was largely unaffected by soil pH. The immediate effect of liming acidified soils was lowered N(2)O/(N(2)O+N(2)) ratios. The results provide evidence that soil pH has a marginal direct effect on potential denitrification, but that it is the master variable controlling the percentage of denitrified N emitted as N(2)O. It has been known for long that low pH may result in high N(2)O/(N(2)O+N(2)) product ratios of denitrification, but our documentation of a pervasive pH-control of this ratio across soil types and management practices is new. The results are in good agreement with new understanding of how pH may interfere with the expression of N(2)O reductase. We argue that the management of soil pH should be high on the agenda for mitigating N(2)O emissions in the future, particularly for countries where ongoing intensification of plant production is likely to acidify the soils.