Ammonia volatilization as the major nitrogen loss pathway in dryland agro-ecosystems

The losses of excessive reactive nitrogen (N) from agricultural production pose detrimental impacts on water, air and land. However, N budgets of agroecosystems are still poorly quantified, presenting a barrier to understand the N turnover in agriculture. Agricultural ammonia (NH3) volatilization has been recognized as a crucial contribution to the pollution of fine particulate matters over China through reacting with acid gases. Building on these challenges, the first national-scale model analysis was constructed on the N budgets to gain an overall insight into the current status of N flows in Chinese dryland systems towards sustainable N management. Total inputs of soil N in Chinese dryland soils were estimated at 121 kg N ha−1 in 2010, considering all pathways including N manure, fertilizer, atmospheric deposition and litter from crop residues. Atmospheric N deposition accounted for 25% of N fertilizer plus N manure in Chinese dryland soils, suggesting that N deposition could not be ignored when estimating total N inputs to Chinese dryland soils. The highest ratio of NH3 volatilization to total N outputs was found at 43 kg N ha−1 (∼21%) in Northern China, followed by 41 kg N ha−1 (∼20%) in Sichuan Basin and 25 kg N ha−1 (∼26%) in Northeastern China. The modeling results indicated that, if a 20% decrease in N fertilizer plus N manure was achieved, it would lead to a 24% (7–49%) reduction in NH3 volatilization. Substantial reductions of NH3 volatilization would also be achieved by making an improvement in changing management practices (controlled release fertilizer and full irrigation). The results would give an overall insight into N budgets in Chinese dryland soils. The constructed N budgets assisted with understanding agricultural N flows and NH3 pollution, and evaluated the impacts of human activities on N cycle towards a precise way to regulate agricultural management.