Data‐driven estimates of fertilizer‐induced soil NH3, NO and N2O emissions from croplands in China and their climate change impacts

Abstract Gaseous reactive nitrogen (Nr) emissions from agricultural soils to the atmosphere constitute an integral part of global N cycle, directly or indirectly causing climate change impacts. The extensive use of N fertilizer in crop production will compromise our efforts to reduce agricultural Nr emissions in China. A national inventory of fertilizer N‐induced gaseous Nr emissions from croplands in China remains to be developed to reveal its role in shaping climate change. Here we present a data‐driven estimate of fertilizer N‐induced soil Nr emissions based on regional and crop‐specific emission factors (EFs) compiled from 379 manipulative studies. In China, agricultural soil Nr emissions from the use of synthetic N fertilizer and manure in 2018 are estimated to be 3.81 and 0.73 Tg N yr −1 , with a combined contribution of 23%, 20% and 15% to the global agricultural emission total of ammonia (NH 3 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and nitric oxide (NO), respectively. Over the past three decades, NH 3 volatilization from croplands has experienced a shift from a rapid increase to a decline trend, whereas N 2 O and NO emissions always maintain a strong growth momentum due to a robust and continuous rise of EFs. Regionally, croplands in Central south (1.51 Tg N yr −1 ) and East (0.99 Tg N yr −1 ) of China exhibit as hotspots of soil Nr emissions. In terms of crop‐specific emissions, rice, maize and vegetable show as three leading Nr emitters, together accounting for 61% of synthetic N fertilizer‐induced Nr emissions from croplands. The global warming effect derived from cropland N 2 O emissions in China was found to dominate over the local cooling effects of NH 3 and NO emissions. Our established regional and crop‐specific EFs for gaseous Nr forms provide a new benchmark for constraining the IPCC Tier 1 default EF values. The spatio‐temporal insight into soil Nr emission data from N fertilizer application in our estimate is expected to advance our efforts towards more accurate global or regional cropland Nr emission inventories and effective mitigation strategies.