Substantial N2O emissions from peat decomposition and N fertilization in an oil palm plantation exacerbated by hotspots
It is unclear to what extent emissions of nitrous oxide (N _2 O) from drained histosols in the tropics may contribute to the atmospheric burden of greenhouse gases. In particular, there is a critical need to elucidate their magnitude in oil palm plantations on these soils. We examined spatio-tempora...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2017-01-01
|
| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa80f1 |
| _version_ | 1797748281948766208 |
|---|---|
| author | Satria Oktarita Kristell Hergoualc’h Syaiful Anwar Louis V Verchot |
| author_facet | Satria Oktarita Kristell Hergoualc’h Syaiful Anwar Louis V Verchot |
| author_sort | Satria Oktarita |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | It is unclear to what extent emissions of nitrous oxide (N _2 O) from drained histosols in the tropics may contribute to the atmospheric burden of greenhouse gases. In particular, there is a critical need to elucidate their magnitude in oil palm plantations on these soils. We examined spatio-temporal variations of N _2 O emissions from peat decomposition and nitrogen (N) fertilization in a plantation trial in Sumatra, which included three application rates: 0 (N0), 153 (N1) and 306 (N2) kg N ha ^−1 y ^−1 . The spatially stratified sampling design distinguished the area around the palms which received fertilizer (9% of the surface) from the rest of the plot which was unfertilized. Annual emissions were substantial with rates of 22.1 ± 5.7, 12.8 ± 2.7 and 26.6 ± 5.7 kg N _2 O-N ha ^−1 in the N0, N1 and N2 treatments, respectively. These equal 9.3 ± 2.4, 5.4 ± 1.1 and 11.2 ± 2.4 Mg CO _2 eq ha ^−1 y ^−1 , or 5–10 times emission rates in natural peatland forest. The site exhibited two persistent hotspots located in the unfertilized zone, contributing 33 and 46% of annual emissions in N0 and N2 while representing only 10% of the area sampled. The response of emissions to fertilization was exponential but restricted to the small N application area. At the plot scale and over the year, the impact of fertilized-induced emissions was minimal due to the prevalence of emissions from peat decomposition. Annual rates among treatments were similar when discarding the contribution of hotspots to evaluate N addition effect. High N _2 O emissions from peat decomposition in the tropics tend to be common within the restricted existing literature; which is in contrast with most recent IPCC emission factors. Our results emphasize the importance to integrate N _2 O emissions in greenhouse gas budgets of plantations on peat, despite the predominance of CO _2 in total emissions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:02:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-761a419c0eee4fe88c36cf02ff7f56b3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:02:39Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-761a419c0eee4fe88c36cf02ff7f56b32023-08-09T14:33:32ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262017-01-01121010400710.1088/1748-9326/aa80f1Substantial N2O emissions from peat decomposition and N fertilization in an oil palm plantation exacerbated by hotspotsSatria Oktarita0Kristell Hergoualc’h1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3181-2338Syaiful Anwar2Louis V Verchot3Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) , Jl. CIFOR, Situ Gede, Bogor 16115, Indonesia; Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) , Jl. Raya Darmaga, Bogor 16680, IndonesiaCenter for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) , Jl. CIFOR, Situ Gede, Bogor 16115, IndonesiaBogor Agricultural University (IPB) , Jl. Raya Darmaga, Bogor 16680, IndonesiaCenter for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) , Jl. CIFOR, Situ Gede, Bogor 16115, Indonesia; Center for International Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) , Km 17, Recta Cali-Palmira, Cali, ColombiaIt is unclear to what extent emissions of nitrous oxide (N _2 O) from drained histosols in the tropics may contribute to the atmospheric burden of greenhouse gases. In particular, there is a critical need to elucidate their magnitude in oil palm plantations on these soils. We examined spatio-temporal variations of N _2 O emissions from peat decomposition and nitrogen (N) fertilization in a plantation trial in Sumatra, which included three application rates: 0 (N0), 153 (N1) and 306 (N2) kg N ha ^−1 y ^−1 . The spatially stratified sampling design distinguished the area around the palms which received fertilizer (9% of the surface) from the rest of the plot which was unfertilized. Annual emissions were substantial with rates of 22.1 ± 5.7, 12.8 ± 2.7 and 26.6 ± 5.7 kg N _2 O-N ha ^−1 in the N0, N1 and N2 treatments, respectively. These equal 9.3 ± 2.4, 5.4 ± 1.1 and 11.2 ± 2.4 Mg CO _2 eq ha ^−1 y ^−1 , or 5–10 times emission rates in natural peatland forest. The site exhibited two persistent hotspots located in the unfertilized zone, contributing 33 and 46% of annual emissions in N0 and N2 while representing only 10% of the area sampled. The response of emissions to fertilization was exponential but restricted to the small N application area. At the plot scale and over the year, the impact of fertilized-induced emissions was minimal due to the prevalence of emissions from peat decomposition. Annual rates among treatments were similar when discarding the contribution of hotspots to evaluate N addition effect. High N _2 O emissions from peat decomposition in the tropics tend to be common within the restricted existing literature; which is in contrast with most recent IPCC emission factors. Our results emphasize the importance to integrate N _2 O emissions in greenhouse gas budgets of plantations on peat, despite the predominance of CO _2 in total emissions.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa80f1global warminggreenhouse gasesnitrous oxidenitrificationmineralizationfertilizer |
| spellingShingle | Satria Oktarita Kristell Hergoualc’h Syaiful Anwar Louis V Verchot Substantial N2O emissions from peat decomposition and N fertilization in an oil palm plantation exacerbated by hotspots Environmental Research Letters global warming greenhouse gases nitrous oxide nitrification mineralization fertilizer |
| title | Substantial N2O emissions from peat decomposition and N fertilization in an oil palm plantation exacerbated by hotspots |
| title_full | Substantial N2O emissions from peat decomposition and N fertilization in an oil palm plantation exacerbated by hotspots |
| title_fullStr | Substantial N2O emissions from peat decomposition and N fertilization in an oil palm plantation exacerbated by hotspots |
| title_full_unstemmed | Substantial N2O emissions from peat decomposition and N fertilization in an oil palm plantation exacerbated by hotspots |
| title_short | Substantial N2O emissions from peat decomposition and N fertilization in an oil palm plantation exacerbated by hotspots |
| title_sort | substantial n2o emissions from peat decomposition and n fertilization in an oil palm plantation exacerbated by hotspots |
| topic | global warming greenhouse gases nitrous oxide nitrification mineralization fertilizer |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa80f1 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT satriaoktarita substantialn2oemissionsfrompeatdecompositionandnfertilizationinanoilpalmplantationexacerbatedbyhotspots AT kristellhergoualch substantialn2oemissionsfrompeatdecompositionandnfertilizationinanoilpalmplantationexacerbatedbyhotspots AT syaifulanwar substantialn2oemissionsfrompeatdecompositionandnfertilizationinanoilpalmplantationexacerbatedbyhotspots AT louisvverchot substantialn2oemissionsfrompeatdecompositionandnfertilizationinanoilpalmplantationexacerbatedbyhotspots |