Unlocking soil nitrous oxide sink through labile carbon.

Authors

Yiping Xu, Deqiang Zhao, Huadong Zang, Jørgen E Olesen, Yiqi Luo, Pete Smith, Shunli Zhou, Yuan Wen

Published in

Science advances. Volume 12. Issue 35. Pages eaef6792. Aug 28, 2026. Epub Aug 28, 2026.

Abstract

Nitrous oxide (N₂O), a potent greenhouse gas and the dominant ozone-depleting substance, is primarily emitted from soils. Understanding atmosphere-to-soil N₂O uptake is crucial for harnessing the soil's natural sink potential, yet its quantification and mechanistic drivers remain poorly constrained. Here, we disentangled gross N₂O emission and uptake using the ¹⁵N₂O pool dilution method, revealing key drivers in five cropland soils across China and in labile carbon-amended soils. In particular, the ratio of gross N₂O uptake to emission-driven by the soil labile carbon to inorganic nitrogen [dissolved organic carbon/dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DOC/DIN)] ratio-showed pronounced variability (0.28 to 0.79), revealing a powerful but previously underestimated lever for regulating net N₂O fluxes. Mechanistically, an elevated DOC/DIN ratio promoted complete denitrification by increasing electron supply, stimulating oxygen-depleting respiration, and enhancing nosZ gene abundance, achieving up to 51% N₂O mitigation. Our findings underscore soils as dynamic N₂O regulators and propose a carbon-nitrogen-coupled regulation framework, where labile carbon plays a critical role in regulating N₂O dynamics.

PMID:
42664330
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 29 Aug 2026.

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