Separating <scp> N ₂ O </scp> production and consumption in intact agricultural soil cores at different moisture contents and depths

Summary

Agricultural soils are a major source of the potent greenhouse gas and ozone depleting substance, N₂O. To implement management practices that minimize microbial N₂O production and maximize its consumption (i.e., complete denitrification), we must understand the interplay between simultaneously occurring biological and physical processes, especially how this changes with soil depth. Meaningfully disentangling of these processes is challenging and typical N₂O flux measurement techniques provide little insight into subsurface mechanisms. In addition, denitrification studies are often conducted on sieved soil in altered O₂ environments which relate poorly to <i>in situ</i> field conditions. Here, we developed a novel incubation system with headspaces