Modeling denitrification nitrogen losses in China's rice fields based on multiscale field‐experiment constraints

Abstract Denitrification plays a critical role in soil nitrogen (N) cycling, affecting N availability in agroecosystems. However, the challenges in direct measurement of denitrification products (NO, N 2 O, and N 2 ) hinder our understanding of denitrification N losses patterns across the spatial scale. To address this gap, we constructed a data‐model fusion method to map the county‐scale denitrification N losses from China's rice fields over the past decade. The estimated denitrification N losses as a percentage of N application from 2009 to 2018 were 11.8 ± 4.0% for single rice, 12.4 ± 3.7% for early rice, and 11.6 ± 3.1% for late rice. The model results showed that the spatial heterogeneity of denitrification N losses is primarily driven by edaphic and climatic factors rather than by management practices. In particular, diffusion and production rates emerged as key contributors to the variation of denitrification N losses. These findings humanize a 38.9 ± 4.8 kg N ha −1 N loss by denitrification and challenge the common hypothesis that substrate availability drives the pattern of N losses by denitrification in rice fields.