Isotope signatures of N2O emitted from vegetable soil: Ammonia oxidation drives N2O production in NH4+-fertilized soil of North China

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas. In North China, vegetable fields are amended with high levels of N fertilizer and irrigation water, which causes massive N2O flux. The aim of this study was to determine the contribution of microbial processes to N2O production and characterize isotopic signature effects on N2O source partitioning. We conducted a microcosm study that combined naturally abundant isotopologues and gas inhibitor techniques to analyze N2O flux and its isotopomer signatures [δ(15)N(bulk), δ(18)O, and SP (intramolecular (15)N site preference)] that emitted from vegetable soil after the addition of NH4(+) fertilizers. The results show that ammonia oxidation is the predominant process under high water content (70% water-filled pore space), and nitrifier denitrification contribution increases with increasing N content. δ(15)N(bulk) and δ(18)O of N2O may not provide information about microbial processes due to great shifts in precursor signatures and atom exchange, especially for soil treated with NH4(+) fertilizer. SP and associated two end-member mixing model are useful to distinguish N2O source and contribution. Further work is needed to explore isotopomer signature stability to improve N2O microbial process identification.