Effects of fertilizer application schemes and soil environmental factors on nitrous oxide emission fluxes in a rice-wheat cropping system, east China

Nitrous oxide (N(2)O) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) with agricultural soils representing its largest anthropogenic source. However, the mechanisms involved in the N(2)O emission and factors affecting N(2)O emission fluxes in response to various nitrogenous fertilizer applications remain uncertain. We conducted a four-year (2012–2015) field experiment to assess how fertilization scheme impacts N(2)O emissions from a rice-wheat cropping system in eastern China. The fertilizer treatments included Control (CK), Conventional fertilizer (CF), CF with shallow-irrigation (CF+SI), CF with deep-irrigation system (CF+DI), Optimized fertilizer (OF), OF with Urease inhibitor (OF+UI), OF with conservation tillage (OF+CT) and Slow-release fertilizer (SRF). N(2)O emissions were measured by a closed static chamber method. N(2)O emission fluxes ranged from 0.61 μg m(-2) h(-1) to 1707 μg m(-2) h(-1), indicating a significant impact of nitrogen fertilizer and cropping type on N(2)O emissions. The highest crop yields for wheat (3515–3667 kg ha(-1)) and rice (8633–8990 kg ha(-1)) were observed under the SRF and OF+UI treatments with significant reduction in N(2)O emissions by 16.94–21.20% and 5.55–7.93%, respectively. Our findings suggest that the SRF and OF+UI treatments can be effective in achieving maximum crop yield and lowering N(2)O emissions for the rice-wheat cropping system in eastern China.