In a new invited review, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Diego Abalos, and João Serra — who are all part of SmartField — collaborate with other international experts Laurent Philippot, Whendee L. Silver, and Stephen Ogle to synthesize 30 years of global research on agricultural soil nitrous oxide N2O emissions.
- While the last three decades have greatly advanced our understanding of production, microbial pathways and biogeochemical modeling, significant gaps remain in scaling measurements and implementing robust mitigation practices. This synthesis directly reflects SmartField’s mission to connect mechanistic field science with national-scale greenhouse gas inventories and tangible mitigation strategies for agriculture, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl explains.
The review covers topics such as:
- Advances in measurement technologies from manual chambers to laser spectroscopy, micrometeorology and real-time isotopic analysis
- Understanding temporal “hot moments” (e.g., freeze–thaw and rewetting events) and spatial “hotspots” in agricultural landscapes
- Insights into microbial ecology, truncated pathways and the role of novel N2O sinks (such as nosZ clade II organisms)
- Biological mitigation avenues, including biological nitrification inhibitors (BNIs) and targeted inoculants
- Evolution of process-based models and the transition toward IPCC Tier 3 national inventory reporting
- Next-generation modeling integrating data assimilation, model ensembles and artificial intelligence/machine learning
The review is published in Global Change Biology.