Mapping crop-specific emission factors highlights hotspots of ammonia mitigation in China

Editorial Material Multidisciplinary Sciences

How to feed the world while reducing nitrogen pollution

Longlong Xia et al.

Summary: An analysis of over 1,500 field observations has identified a set of agricultural practices that can enhance the efficiency of nitrogen fertilizers, leading to increased crop yields and reduced environmental pollution.

NATURE (2023)

添加到收藏夹

Article Agriculture, Multidisciplinary

Improved global agricultural crop- and animal-specific ammonia emissions during 1961-2018

Yuyu Yang et al.

Summary: Agriculture is a major contributor to ammonia (NH3) emissions, which have negative impacts on air quality and human health. However, there is still uncertainty regarding the global pattern of NH3 emissions, particularly with regards to specific crops and animals. This study developed an improved agricultural NH3 emissions inventory from 1961 to 2018, revealing that global NH3 emissions averaged at 39.2 Tg N yr-1 and were driven by livestock production (58.4%) and cropland (41.6%). Cattle, rice, maize, and wheat were identified as key contributors to agricultural NH3 emissions. The study also highlighted the shifting hotspots of NH3 emissions from the United States and European Union to China and India in recent years. These findings enhance our understanding of NH3 dynamics in agriculture and provide important insights for the formulation of NH3 pollution prevention and control policies.

AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT (2023)

添加到收藏夹

Article Environmental Sciences

Crop-specific ammonia volatilization rates and key influencing factors in the upland of China- A data synthesis

Zhipeng Sha et al.

Summary: An integrated data analysis of 1302 observations from 236 published articles between 1980 and 2021 was conducted to investigate the NH3 loss potential and its influencing factors in soil-upland crop systems in China. The average NH3 volatilization rates (AVR) for maize, wheat, openfield vegetables, and greenhouse vegetables were estimated as 7.8%, 5.3%, 8.4%, and 1.8%, respectively. The major influencing factors identified were fertilizer placement, meteorological conditions (especially temperature and rainfall), and soil properties (especially soil organic matter). Subsurface nitrogen application showed lower AVR compared to surface application. High nitrogen recovery efficiency and N agronomic efficiency were associated with low AVR. Thus, high nitrogen application rates, inefficient application methods, and the use of loss-prone nitrogen fertilizer types contribute to high AVR in major Chinese croplands.

JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (2023)

添加到收藏夹

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Ageing threatens sustainability of smallholder farming in China

Chenchen Ren et al.

Summary: The rapid demographic ageing in rural areas has negatively affected agriculture, resulting in a decrease in farmland size, agricultural productivity, and farmers' income. However, promoting new farming models can reverse these negative consequences by increasing farmland size, agricultural productivity, and farmers' income, while reducing fertilizer loss.

NATURE (2023)

添加到收藏夹

Article Food Science & Technology

Maximizing Earth's feeding capacity

Longlong Xia et al.

Summary: Optimizing nitrogen fertilizers is crucial in meeting the challenge of food security while ensuring planetary sustainability. Improved nitrogen management practices and dietary shifts have the potential to significantly enhance Earth's food production capacity.

NATURE FOOD (2023)

添加到收藏夹

Article Engineering, Environmental

Ammonia Emissions from Croplands Decrease with Farm Size in China

Chen Wang et al.

Summary: Farm size affects NH3 emissions through its influence on nitrogen fertilizer input and agricultural practices. A study based on 863,000 surveys conducted in China in 2017 found that, on average, NH3 emissions decrease by 0.07% for each 1% increase in average farm size. This reduction is mainly attributed to a decrease in nitrogen fertilizer use and the adoption of more efficient fertilization practices. The largest decrease in NH3 emissions is observed in maize cultivation, with less pronounced changes in rice cultivation and no significant changes in wheat production. The north of China generally exhibits lower NH3 emissions factors with increasing farm size, particularly in the northeast.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2022)

添加到收藏夹

Article Engineering, Environmental

Improved Estimates of Ammonia Emissions from Global Croplands

Xiaoying Zhan et al.

Summary: The study improved estimates of crop-specific NH3 emissions globally and highlighted the potential impact of improving fertilization schemes in reducing global cropland NH3 emissions by three-quarters. It also identified that a small proportion of global harvested areas, primarily in China, India, and Pakistan, have the potential to contribute to 64% of emissions reduction.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Biodiversity Conservation

Global soil-derived ammonia emissions from agricultural nitrogen fertilizer application: A refinement based on regional and crop-specific emission factors

Ruoya Ma et al.

Summary: This study quantifies the global emissions of soil NH3 from agricultural N fertilizer use and finds that south-eastern Asia has the highest NH3 EFs for synthetic N fertilizer, while Europe has the lowest. China, India, and America contribute over 60% of global agricultural NH3 emissions from synthetic N fertilizer use.

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Green & Sustainable Science & Technology

Ammonia emission from staple crops in China as response to mitigation strategies and agronomic conditions: Meta-analytic study

Ahmed I. Abdo et al.

Summary: The study found that in China, ammonia volatilization mainly comes from wheat, maize, and rice, with maize having the highest ammonia volatilization rate. Climate conditions and soil properties have a significant impact on ammonia volatilization, and reducing nitrogen fertilizer application appropriately has better effects on maize and rice.

JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Environmental Sciences

An empirical model to estimate ammonia emission from cropland fertilization in China

Chen Wang et al.

Summary: This study developed a highly detailed empirical regression model for NH3 emissions based on 1443 field observations in China, showing that total NH3 emissions from cropland fertilizer application amounted to 4.3 Tg NH3 in 2017, with vegetables, maize, and rice being the largest emitters. More emission hotspots were found in South China, and emission peaks were estimated to occur three months earlier than previous studies. Incorporating these findings will improve the modeling of air quality and impacts on ecosystems.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Agronomy

Estimating ammonia emissions from cropland in China based on the establishment of agro-region-specific models

Hua Wu et al.

Summary: This study developed agroregion-specific models and a national model to reduce uncertainties in estimating NH3 emissions from cropland in China, and found significant spatial variability in NH3 emissions, primarily influenced by crop type, N fertilizer type and rate, timing of fertilization, soil properties, precipitation, and air temperature.

AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Agriculture, Multidisciplinary