Soil pH-increase strongly mitigated N2O emissions following ploughing of grass and clover swards in autumn: A winter field study

Emissions from crop residues contribute largely to the total estimated N2O emissions from agriculture. Since low soil pH increases N2O production by impairing the last denitrification step, liming has been suggested as a mitigation strategy; however, it may also increase N2O emissions by enhancing mineralization and nitrification. To gain field-based empirical knowledge, we measured N2O fluxes with an autonomous field-flux robot in limed and control plots before and after autumn ploughing of 3-year-old grass, clover grass or red clover swards under different N fertilization regimes. Dolomite applied before establishing the swards raised soil pHCaCl2 from ~4.8 to ~5.8 in limed plots. Higher pH halved emissions from ploughed leys despite higher soil mineral N contents. It also reduced emissions before ploughing. We observed substantial N2O fluxes after ploughing, with peaks during a relatively warm wet period after freezing and higher peaks during diurnal snow melt over frozen soil. Average N2O fluxes were strongly positively correlated with high herbage yields in the preceding growing seasons rather than with the presence of clover. The yield-scaled average N2O fluxes were strongest in low pH soils at all yield levels; this was a true effect of soil pH on N2O, as herbage yields were not increased by liming. Here, yield-scaled flux was defined as the average N2O flux after ploughing divided by the dry matter. Fluxes in red clover plots were similar to those in grass plots, despite the lower C/N ratio and higher total amount of N in clover residues. However, clover in mixtures with grass increased yields and N2O emissions. This suggests that higher ley production enhanced microbial activity, including nitrifiers and denitrifiers, and that the pH effect on facilitating complete denitrification to N2 overrode any effect on mineralization and nitrification, thus resulting in N2O mitigation. [Display omitted] •Increasing soil pHCaCl2 from 4.8 to 5.8 halved N2O emission from ploughed leys.•N2O emission increased with higher herbage yields before ploughing.•Higher pH mitigated N2O emission at all yield levels.•Complete reduction to N2 likely overrode effects of enhanced mineralization + nitrification.•High N2O fluxes from frozen soil during snow melting.