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Nitrous Oxide Emission from Forest, Marsh, and Prairie Ecosystems¹

ABSTRACT

Measurements of N₂O emissions from seven natural ecosystem sites in the University of Wisconsin Arboretum (Madison, WI) were conducted during 1979, 1980, and early 1981. Nitrous oxide emissions during summer and autumn 1979 averaged 0.6, 0.7, 1.5, 7.7, 18.0, 0.2, and 8.5 ng N₂O-N in m^–2 s^–1 from a burned and an unburned tall-grass prairie, a deciduous forest, a coniferous forest, a drained and an undrained marsh, and a wet meadow, respectively; the N₂O fluxes from the same sites from March to November 1980 averaged 0.6, 0.6, 4.3, 10.1, 41.3, 0.3, and 8.5 ng N₂O-N m^–2 s^–1, respectively. Although soil temperatures were near freezing, N₂O emissions were as high during the spring thaw as they were during the rest of the year. Other N₂O flux maxima were observed following periods of heavy rainfall during the summer. The source of inorganic N in these soils is largely mineralization of soil organic matter and plant residue. The quantities of N₂O lost and the mechanisms responsible for N₂O evolution are a complex combination of environmental and substrate conditions that control mineralization of N as well as subsequent nitrification and possibly denitrification.

Key Words: nitrogen • nitrification • denitrification • spatial variability • temporal variability • ozone layer

¹ Research supported by the College of Agric. and Life Sci., Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, and by the Natl. Sci. Foundation, Grant no. DEB-7817404.

² Research Associate and Professor, Dep. of Soil Sci., Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706. The senior author is presently Assistant Professor, Dep. of Agron., Univ. of Georgia, Georgia Stn., Griffin (Experiment), GA 30212.

Received for publication April 18, 1983.

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