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- Title
Emissions of nitrous oxide from the leaves of grasses.
- Authors
Bowatte, Saman; Newton, Paul; Theobald, Phil; Brock, Shona; Hunt, Chris; Lieffering, Mark; Sevier, Scott; Gebbie, Steve; Luo, Dongwen
- Abstract
Aims: Nitrous oxide (NO) emissions from pastoral agriculture are considered to originate from the soil as a consequence of microbial activity during soil nitrification and denitrification. However, recent studies have identified the plant canopy as a potentially significant source of NO emissions to the atmosphere. Understanding the extent and mechanisms of plant emissions may provide new mitigation opportunities as current options only target soil microbial processes. Methods: We developed an experimental apparatus and protocol to partition NO emissions between the leaves of grasses and the soil and measured emissions from ten common grass species found in New Zealand pastures. Results: The chamber design enabled us to identify measurable changes in NO concentration over a period of 1 h and to distinguish a range of emissions from 0.001 to 0.25 mg NO-N/m leaf area/h. There was a 10-fold variation among species; Holcus lanataus, Lolium perenne and Paspalum dilatatum had the highest leaf NO emissions and Poa annua the lowest. Conclusions: Grasses do emit NO from their leaves and the rate that this occurs varies among grass species. The emission does not appear to arise from formation of NO in plant leaves but more likely reflects transport of NO from the soil. Differences in emission rates appear to arise from a plant influence on the rate of formation of NO in the soil rather than the rate of transportation through the plant.
- Subjects
NITROUS oxide; GRASSES; MICROBIAL physiology; NITRIFICATION; NITROGEN in soils; PLANT canopies
- Publication
Plant & Soil, 2014, Vol 374, Issue 1/2, p275
- ISSN
0032-079X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11104-013-1879-6