Ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions from a subtropical wheat field under different nitrogen fertilization strategies

Minimizing soil ammonia（NH_3） and nitrous oxide（N_2O） emission factors（EFs） has significant implications in regional air quality and greenhouse gas（GHG） emissions besides nitrogen（N） nutrient loss.The aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of different N fertilizer treatments of conventional urea,polymer-coated urea,ammonia sulfate,urease inhibitor（NBPT,N-（n-butyl） thiophosphoric triamide）-treated urea,and nitrification inhibitor（DCD,dicyandiamide）-treated urea on emissions of NH_3 and GHGs from subtropical wheat cultivation.A field study was established in a Cancienne silt loam soil.During growth season,NH_3 emission following N fertilization was characterized using active chamber method whereas GHG emissions of N_2O,carbon dioxide（CO_2）,and methane（CH_4） were by passive chamber method.The results showed that coated urea exhibited the largest reduction（49%） in the EF of NH_3-N followed by NBPT-treated urea（39%） and DCD-treated urea（24%） over conventional urea,whereas DCD-treated urea had the greatest suppression on N_2O-N（87%） followed by coated urea（76%） and NBPT-treated urea（69%）.Split fertilization of ammonium sulfate-urea significantly lowered both NH_3-N and N_2O-N EF values but split urea treatment had no impact over one-time application of urea.Both NBPT and DCD-treated urea treatments lowered CO_2-C flux but had no effect on CH_4-C flux.Overall,application of coated urea or urea with NPBT or DCD could be used as a mitigation strategy for reducing NH_3 and N_2O emissions in subtropical wheat production in Southern USA.