Nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture in perspective

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a major greenhouse gas and the most important ozone-depleting emittant of our century. Anthropogenic N2O emissions are dominantly derived from agricultural soils, and driven by increased nitrogen (N) inputs via fertilizers and manures. Here, we argue that the mitigation of N2O emissions should be considered within the broader agronomic and environmental context of agroecosystems. We present the results of three studies that illustrate our approach, which may lead to new approaches towards mitigating N2O emissions. First, we argue that the supply of other nutrients than N have to be considered too when minimizing N2O emissions. In an experiment with silage maize, cumulative N2O emissions were reduced by 58% (p