Revisiting the relationships between soil nitrous oxide emissions and microbial functional gene abundances

A conceptual framework proposes that soil N₂ O emissions are more likely related to microbial functional gene abundances based on laboratory experiments than in-situ observations. This framework has largely contributed to reconciling the disputation on linking soil N₂ O emissions with functional gene abundances, but the direct evidence is lacking. Wei et al. (2023) provided new evidence to support this framework, showing that O₂ dynamics were a better predictor of in-situ soil N₂ O emissions than were functional gene abundances. Before the observations can inform N₂ O modeling and support sustainable nitrogen management, however, some additional efforts are needed to revisit the relationships between in-situ soil N₂ O emissions and functional gene abundances.