Reduced Snow Cover Increases Wintertime Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Emissions from an Agricultural Soil in the Upper U.S. Midwest

Ruan, Leilei; Robertson, G. Philip

doi:10.1007/s10021-016-0077-9

Title: Reduced Snow Cover Increases Wintertime Nitrous Oxide (N₂O) Emissions from an Agricultural Soil in the Upper U.S. Midwest

Journal Article · Mon Nov 21 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Ecosystems

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-016-0077-9· OSTI ID:1418519

Ruan, Leilei ^[1]; Robertson, G. Philip ^[1]

Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). W.K. Kellogg Biological Station; Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and Dept. of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences

Throughout most of the northern hemisphere, snow cover decreased in almost every winter month from 1967 to 2012. Because snow is an effective insulator, snow cover loss has likely enhanced soil freezing and the frequency of soil freeze–thaw cycles, which can disrupt soil nitrogen dynamics including the production of nitrous oxide (N₂O). Here, we used replicated automated gas flux chambers deployed in an annual cropping system in the upper Midwest US for three winters (December–March, 2011–2013) to examine the effects of snow removal and additions on N₂O fluxes. Diminished snow cover resulted in increased N2O emissions each year; over the entire experiment, cumulative emissions in plots with snow removed were 69% higher than in ambient snow control plots and 95% higher than in plots that received additional snow (P < 0.001). Higher emissions coincided with a greater number of freeze–thaw cycles that broke up soil macroaggregates (250–8000 µm) and significantly increased soil inorganic nitrogen pools. We conclude that winters with less snow cover can be expected to accelerate N₂O fluxes from agricultural soils subject to wintertime freezing.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: FC02-07ER64494

OSTI ID:: 1418519

Journal Information:: Ecosystems, Vol. 20, Issue 5; ISSN 1432-9840

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 27 works

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Data from: Reduced snow cover increases wintertime nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from an agricultural soil in the upper U.S. Midwest Ruan, L.; Robertson, G. P. Dryad, 3.533 Mb https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9c7s3.2	dataset	November 2016
Data from: Reduced snow cover increases wintertime nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from an agricultural soil in the upper U.S. Midwest Ruan, L.; Robertson, G. P. Dryad, 3.297 Mb https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9c7s3	dataset	March 2018

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
nitrous oxide (N2O)
snow cover
freeze–thaw cycles
soil nitrogen
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automated chambers
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climate change

Title: Reduced Snow Cover Increases Wintertime Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Emissions from an Agricultural Soil in the Upper U.S. Midwest

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