Reduction of N2O emissions by DMPP depends on the interactions of nitrogen sources (digestate vs. urea) with soil properties

The inhibition of nitrification by mixing nitrification inhibitors (NI) with fertilizers is emerging as an effective method to reduce fertilizer-induced nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The additive 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) apparently inhibits ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) more than ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA), which dominate the nitrification in alkaline and acid soil, respectively. However, the efficacy of DMPP in terms of nitrogen sources interacting with soil properties remains unclear. We therefore conducted a microcosm experiment using three typical Chinese agricultural soils with contrasting pH values (fluvo-aquic soil, black soil and red soil), which were fertilized with either digestate or urea in conjunction with a range of DMPP concentrations. In the alkaline fluvo-aquic soil, fertilization with either urea or digestate induced a peak in N2O emission (60 μg N kg−1 d−1) coinciding with the rapid nitrification within 3 d following fertilization. DMPP almost eliminated this peak in N2O emission, reducing it by nearly 90%, despite the fact that the nitrification rate was only reduced by 50%. In the acid black soil, only the digestate induced an N2O emission that increased gradually, reaching its maximum (20 μg N kg−1 d−1) after 5–7 d. The nitrification rate and N2O emission were both marginally reduced by DMPP in the black soil, and the N2O yield (N2O-N per NO2−+NO3−-N produced) was exceptionally high at 3.5%, suggesting that the digestate induced heterotrophic denitrification. In the acid red soil, the N2O emission spiked in the digestate and urea treatments at 50 and 10 μg N kg−1 d−1, respectively, and DMPP reduced the rates substantially by nearly 70%. Compared with 0.5% DMPP, the higher concentrations of DMPP (1.0 to 1.5%) did not exert a significantly (P<0.05) better inhibition effect on the N2O emissions in these soils (either with digestate or urea). This study highlights the importance of matching the nitrogen sources, soil properties and NIs to achieve a high efficiency of N2O emission reduction.