Zhou Feng's research group from the School of Urban Environment and Environmental Engineering published a paper on Nature Food to quantify the global farmland nitrous oxide emission reduction potential

On October 21, 2021, Zhou Feng's research group from the School of Urban and Environmental Sciences of Peking University published a research paper entitled " Global mapping of crop-specific emission factors highlights hotspots of nitrous oxide mitigation " on Nature Food , revealing for the first time global farmland oxidation The spatial differentiation of nitrous (N ₂ O) emission factor (EF) and its biogeochemical mechanism have quantified the global farmland N ₂ O emission reduction potential .

Nitrous oxide (N ₂ O) is a potent greenhouse gas with a single-molecule warming potential 300 times (100-year time scale) higher than that of carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ).

The potential of farmland N ₂ O reduction depends on the EF and the nitrogen application threshold.
Accurately determining the spatial pattern of EF and quantifying the nitrogen application threshold that takes into account food and environmental safety are the main challenges currently faced
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The study found that the spatial differentiation of farmland N ₂ O EF is up to 2 orders of magnitude, and there are multiple high EF regions in the observable blind areas in the past (such as Central America, Southeast Asia, and Northern Europe); whether it is on a global or regional scale, environmental conditions (humidity index) , SOC and clay content) are the dominant factors in the regional differentiation of farmland N ₂ O EF, rather than traditional agronomic management measures (Figure 1).
In layman's terms, natural conditions regulate the “water-soil-air” interface chemistry.
Process to shape the pattern of N ₂ O emission factors, and regulate the degree of influence of agronomic management on emission factors; without affecting crop yields, global farmland soil N ₂ O can be reduced by 30%, which is equivalent to that of China and the United States.
Sum of N ₂ O emissions from farmland soils , of which 65% of the global emission reduction potential is concentrated in 20% of the planted area (subtropical humid climate or glycol and strong leaching soil, Figure 2), in other words, “small area, "Great potential" provides a scientific basis for realizing the synergistic benefits of environment and food security
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Figure 1 Multi-scale driving factors for the spatial differentiation of farmland nitrous oxide emission factors
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Figure 2 Global farmland nitrous oxide emission reduction potential (Note: the figure in the figure represents the cumulative emission reduction potential achieved by 20% of the global crop harvest area)

Cui Xiaoqing, a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, is the first author, and Zhou Feng is the corresponding author
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Paper information : Cui, X.

Data source: https://doi.

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