Direct Estimation of Nitrogen Gases Emitted from Flooded Soils During Denitrification of Applied Nitrogen

Denitrification losses measured by direct method (measuring the evolution of (N2+N2O)-15N) were compared with the apparent denitrification losses (calculated from the difference between the total N loss and ammonia loss), for fertilizers applied to flooded soils. The direct measured denitrification losses from potassium nitrate were 23.0%, 40.0%, and 63.1-79.7% of applied N in rice field, and in incubations of 7 cm deep layer of soil and 2 cm deep layer of soil, respectively; while the corresponding apparent denitrification losses were 96.0%, 98.4%, and 97.7-97.9%, respectively. In field experiments with urea, the direct measured denitrification losses ranged from 0.1-1.8%, which were much less than the apparent denitrification losses (41.3-45.7%). Such discrepancies were primarily due to the entrapment of the gaseous products of denitrification in the soil as revealed by the facts: (1) stirring the floodwater and the surface soil markedly increased the fluxes of (N2+N2O)-15N from urea or potassium nitr