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Modeling nitrous oxide emissions from irrigated agriculture: testing DayCent with high‐frequency measurements
Author(s) -
Scheer Clemens,
Del Grosso Stephen J.,
Parton William J.,
Rowlings David W.,
Grace Peter R.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
ecological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.864
H-Index - 213
eISSN - 1939-5582
pISSN - 1051-0761
DOI - 10.1890/13-0570.1
Subject(s) - irrigation , vertisol , environmental science , fertilizer , agronomy , soil water , soil science , biology
A unique high temporal frequency data set from an irrigated cotton–wheat rotation was used to test the agroecosystem model DayCent to simulate daily N 2 O emissions from subtropical vertisols under different irrigation intensities. DayCent was able to simulate the effect of different irrigation intensities on N 2 O fluxes and yield, although it tended to overestimate seasonal fluxes during the cotton season. DayCent accurately predicted soil moisture dynamics and the timing and magnitude of high fluxes associated with fertilizer additions and irrigation events. At the daily scale we found a good correlation of predicted vs. measured N 2 O fluxes ( r 2 = 0.52), confirming that DayCent can be used to test agricultural practices for mitigating N 2 O emission from irrigated cropping systems. A 25‐year scenario analysis indicated that N 2 O losses from irrigated cotton–wheat rotations on black vertisols in Australia can be substantially reduced by an optimized fertilizer and irrigation management system (i.e., frequent irrigation, avoidance of excessive fertilizer application), while sustaining maximum yield potentials.