%0 Journal Article
%A Lafuente, Ángel
%A Recio, Jaime
%A Ochoa-Hueso, Raúl
%A Gallardo, Antonio
%A Pérez-Corona, Esther
%A Manrique Eol, Esteban
%A Durán, Jorge
%T Simulated nitrogen deposition influences soil greenhouse gas fluxes in a Mediterranean dryland
%D 2020
%@ 0048-9697, ESSN 1879-1026
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/6611
%X Soil nitrogen (N) availability is a key driver of soil-atmosphere greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange, yet we are far from understanding how increases in N deposition due to human activities will influence the net soilatmosphere fluxes of the three most important GHGs: nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). We simulated four levels of N deposition (10, 20 and 50 kg N ha−1 yr−1 , plus unfertilised control) to evaluate their effects on N2O, CH4 and CO2 soil fluxes in a semiarid shrubland in central Spain. After 8 years of experimental fertilisation, increasing N availability led to a consistent increase in N2O emissions, likely due to simultaneous increases in soil microbial nitrification and/or denitrification processes. However, only intermediate levels of N fertilisation reduced CH4 uptake, while increasing N fertilisation had no effects on CO2 fluxes, suggesting complex interactions between N deposition loads and GHG fluxes. Our study provides novel insight into the responses of GHGs to N deposition in drylands, forecasting increases in N2O emissions, and decreases in CH4 uptake rates, with likely consequences to the on-going climate change.
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