Abstract
The design of an inexpensive device for creating mixtures of gases in different but known proportions and perfusing them through soil cores is described. Soil in cores were perfused with gas mixtures containing 0, 2, 10, 33, 81 and 100% O2 plus 0.1% CO2 made up to 100% with He for 48 hours at a rate which ensured that the air-filled pore volume of the soil was replaced once every 3.3 minutes. After this period the N2O emission from the soil was measured. There was significant N2O flux from all soils within the first 12 hours, including those which had been exposed to 100% O2. The amount of N2O emitted over 324 hours increased with decreasing O2 concentration in the perfusing gas mixture, although the initial (0 to 108 hours) rate of N2O emission from the 100% O2 treatment was significantly greater than that of the 33 and 81% O2 treatments N2O emissions from soil exposed to 0, 2 and 10% O2 were linear with time, whereas the rate of N2O emission from soil exposed to the greater O2 concentrations increased significantly after 210 hours.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson I C and Levine J S 1986 Relative rates of nitrous oxide production by nitrifiers, denitrifiers and nitrate respirers. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 51, 938–945.
Blackmer A M, Bremner J M and Schmidt E L 1980 Production of nitrous oxide by ammonia-oxidizing chemoautotrophic microorganisms in soil. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 40, 1060–1066.
Cicerone R J 1987 Changes in stratospheric. Science 237, 35–42.
Davidson E A, Swank W T and Perry T O 1986 Distinguishing between nitrification and denitrification as sources of gaseous nitrogen production in soil. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 52, 1280–1286.
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 1990 Greenhouse gases and aerosols. In Climate Change. Eds. J T Houghton, G J Jenkins and J J Ephraums. p 27. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Laing D 1976 Soils of the country round Perth, Arbroath and Dundee. HMSO, Edinburgh, UK.
Lloyd D, Davies K I P and Boddy I 1987 Persistance of bacterial denitrification capacity under aerobic conditions — the rule rather than the exception. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 45, 185–190.
Parsons R, Raven J A and Sprent J I 1992 A simple open flow system used to measure acetylene reduction activity of Sesbania rostrata stem and root nodules. J. Exp. Bot. 43, 595–604.
Payne W J 1981 The status of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide as intermediates in denitrification. In Denitrification, Nitrification and Atmospheric Nitrous Oxide. Ed. C C Delwiche. pp 85–103. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, USA.
Poth M and Focht D D 1985 15N kinetic analysis of N2O production by Nitrosomonas europaea: an examination of nitrifier denitrification. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 49, 1134–1141.
Robertson L A and Kuenen J G 1984 Aerobic denitrification: a controversy revived. Arch. Microbiol. 139, 351–354.
Robertson G P and Tiedje J M 1987 Nitrous oxide sources in aerobic soils; nitrification, denitrification and other biological processes. Soil Biol. Biochem. 19, 187–193.
Van Breemen N and Feijtal T C J 1990 Soil processes and properties involved in the production of greenhouse gases, with special relevance to soil taxonomic systems. In Soils and the Greenhouse Effect. Ed. A F Bouwmann. pp 195–223. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, USA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Anderson, L., Parsons, R., Hopkins, D.W. (1996). An Open Gas-Flow System for Investigating the Response of Nitrous Oxide Fluxes from Soil Cores to Different Oxygen Concentrations. In: Van Cleemput, O., Hofman, G., Vermoesen, A. (eds) Progress in Nitrogen Cycling Studies. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 68. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5450-5_82
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5450-5_82
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6292-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-5450-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive