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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
environmental science
Spatially explicit estimates of N2O emissions from croplands suggest climate mitigation opportunities from improved fertilizer management
Global Change Biology, Volume 22, No. 10, Year 2016
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Description
With increasing nitrogen (N) application to croplands required to support growing food demand, mitigating N2O emissions from agricultural soils is a global challenge. National greenhouse gas emissions accounting typically estimates N2O emissions at the country scale by aggregating all crops, under the assumption that N2O emissions are linearly related to N application. However, field studies and meta-analyses indicate a nonlinear relationship, in which N2O emissions are relatively greater at higher N application rates. Here, we apply a super-linear emissions response model to crop-specific, spatially explicit synthetic N fertilizer and manure N inputs to provide subnational accounting of global N2O emissions from croplands. We estimate 0.66 Tg of N2O-N direct global emissions circa 2000, with 50% of emissions concentrated in 13% of harvested area. Compared to estimates from the IPCC Tier 1 linear model, our updated N2O emissions range from 20% to 40% lower throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe, to >120% greater in some Western European countries. At low N application rates, the weak nonlinear response of N2O emissions suggests that relatively large increases in N fertilizer application would generate relatively small increases in N2O emissions. As aggregated fertilizer data generate underestimation bias in nonlinear models, high-resolution N application data are critical to support accurate N2O emissions estimates. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Authors & Co-Authors
Gerber, James S.
United States, Minneapolis
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Carlson, Kimberly M.
United States, Minneapolis
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
United States, Honolulu
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Makowski, David
France, Versailles
Centre de Recherche Île-de-france - Versailles-grignon
Mueller, Nathaniel D.
United States, Cambridge
Harvard University
Havlik, Petr
Austria, Laxenburg
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg
Herrero, Mario
Australia, Canberra
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Launay, Marie
France, Avignon
Centre de Recherche Inrae Provence-alpes-côte D’azur
Smith, Pete D.
United Kingdom, Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
West, Paul C.
United States, Minneapolis
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Statistics
Citations: 110
Authors: 9
Affiliations: 9
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/gcb.13341
ISSN:
13541013
Research Areas
Food Security