Nitrous oxide emissions from trees planted on a closed landfill site

A. Fraser-McDonald; C. Boardman; T. Gladding; S. Burnley; V. Gauci; A. Fraser-McDonald; C. Boardman; T. Gladding; S. Burnley; V. Gauci

doi:10.3934/environsci.2023018

AIMS Environmental Science

2023, Volume 10, Issue 2: 313-324. doi: 10.3934/environsci.2023018

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Research article

Nitrous oxide emissions from trees planted on a closed landfill site

1.
School of Engineering and Innovation, The Open University, Walton Hall, Kents Hill, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK
2.
Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR), School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK

Received: 15 November 2022 Revised: 10 March 2023 Accepted: 30 March 2023 Published: 14 April 2023

Trees growing in natural and managed environments have the capacity to act as conduits for the transport of greenhouse gases produced belowground to the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions have been observed from tree stems in natural ecosystems but have not yet been measured in the context of forested former landfill sites. This research gap was addressed by an investigation quantifying stem and soil N₂O emissions from a closed UK landfill and a comparable natural site. Measurements were made by using flux chambers and gas chromatography over a four-month period. Analyses showed that the average N₂O stem fluxes from the landfill and non-landfill sites were 0.63 ± 0.06 μg m^–2 h^–1 and 0.26 ± 0.05 μg m^–2 h^–1, respectively. The former landfill site showed seasonal patterns in N₂O stem emissions and decreasing N₂O fluxes with increased stem sampling position above the forest floor. Tree stem emissions accounted for 1% of the total landfill N₂O surface flux, which is lower than the contribution of stem fluxes to the total surface flux in dry and flooded boreal forests.
- landfill,
- tree stem N₂O,
- nitrogen cycle,
- spatial variability,
- temporal variability,
- GHG emissions
Citation: A. Fraser-McDonald, C. Boardman, T. Gladding, S. Burnley, V. Gauci. Nitrous oxide emissions from trees planted on a closed landfill site[J]. AIMS Environmental Science, 2023, 10(2): 313-324. doi: 10.3934/environsci.2023018

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Abstract

Trees growing in natural and managed environments have the capacity to act as conduits for the transport of greenhouse gases produced belowground to the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions have been observed from tree stems in natural ecosystems but have not yet been measured in the context of forested former landfill sites. This research gap was addressed by an investigation quantifying stem and soil N₂O emissions from a closed UK landfill and a comparable natural site. Measurements were made by using flux chambers and gas chromatography over a four-month period. Analyses showed that the average N₂O stem fluxes from the landfill and non-landfill sites were 0.63 ± 0.06 μg m^–2 h^–1 and 0.26 ± 0.05 μg m^–2 h^–1, respectively. The former landfill site showed seasonal patterns in N₂O stem emissions and decreasing N₂O fluxes with increased stem sampling position above the forest floor. Tree stem emissions accounted for 1% of the total landfill N₂O surface flux, which is lower than the contribution of stem fluxes to the total surface flux in dry and flooded boreal forests.

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