Cropland soil–plant systems control production and consumption of methane and nitrous oxide and their emissions to the atmosphere

Abstract

Croplands are an important source of atmospheric methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), both potent greenhouse gases. Reduction of cropland CH4 and N2O emissions is expected to mitigate climate change. However, large uncertainty remains in the assessment and prediction of these emissions, which prevents us from establishing appropriate mitigation options and strategies. The uncertainty is attributed mainly to the high spatiotemporal variability in emissions (e.g., emission spikes of N2O). Understanding and quantifying how hotspots of CH4 and N2O production in soil and then hot moments of their emissions occur would help reduce the uncertainty. This review focuses on soil–plant systems, particularly the rhizosphere, as possible hotspots of production and consumption of CH4 and N2O. It is well known that the rhizosphere controls CH4 emission strongly, though each process of production and consumption remains to be quantified. On the other hand, surprisingly little attention has been paid to N2O, besides the fact that plant roots strongly control nitrification and denitrification. We review the current knowledge of cropland CH4 and N2O emissions, and conclude that soil–plant interactions strongly affect cropland emissions of both gases, in which functions of plant roots affecting biogeochemical factors (e.g., availability of oxygen, labile organic carbon and inorganic nitrogen) in the rhizosphere and phenological changes are particularly important. In relation to the status of current knowledge, we discuss future research needed.